Greetings all, have a weird situation going on with the brakes in my '83 truck, When driving and stopping I have noticed that brake fluid is seeping out from around the master cylinder lid. I have noticed fluid loss in the reservoir and periodically top it off. I replaced the gasket on the lid today and the fit seems to be snugger when closed. AT this point I have had no issues with stopping power with this truck and no soft pedal symptoms.

My concerns would be : 1. Is this a indication of a master cylinder going bad AND 2. CAn someone point me to the right way to self bleed brake as I will most likely not have a assistant present when I do this.

Reason being, the truck had sat for sometime before I purchased it and the master cylinder is a replacement one. And would like to make sure that during the time I had been driving it I have not introduced air into the system. Hope I made some sense.

Thanks in advance for your advice, time ,and efforts

 

Tried to self bleed the brakes, the only way to get any fluid out is to remove the bleeder screw completely, any suggestions?

 

Hi,

I have an 83 also, and had the same problem.

My master cyl and booster were replaced twice. and it was still leaking severely from the top gasket.
I bought a new gasket, and it helped a lot, but still dribbles. Braking power improved a bit. Next, I am going to try putting a little gasket sealant on it.
Your master cyl is not going bad though.

As for the self bleeding procedure, you need to buy the self-bleeding screws.
But, it's so much easier with a helper to pump the pedal.

 

I did replace the top gasket (Advance auto had one in stock) and the problem has disappeared with the leakage. Now to bleed them......

 

Your bleed screws are pluged up, take one to the parts store and get four
new ones. While at the parts store look for one of the vacuum pumps that
are made for brake bleeding.It don't get no easier than that.

 

I replaced the 2 rear bleeder screws over the weekend, the passenger rear gets only a trickle out and the rest shoot out fluid when a friend and I bled them, plan to replace the front two bleeder screws when I get paid this weekend, I do not think they are holding.

 

You dont have to replace the bleeders if you dont wreck them in the process of removal.
Remove them from the caliper or wheel cylinder and Just take a small pick or piece of wire and clean the junk out of them. If you get a hand vacuum pump you can bleed them yourself. I just flushed my lines myself in about 30 minutes, including cleanup. The week flow may mean you have air in the line.

 

With reservoir cap off, the brakes will grafity bleed on their own, thats if the screws are not plugged up. It takes a little time but will push out all the air.

If you need to change or rebuild the master cylinder, that process requires bench bleeding before installation, usually the cylinders come with a little kit and instructions.

 

Thanks for the input, so far it seems to be doing much better, also had to spray penetrating oil into the parking brake cable to frre them up, ( you really have no idea how bad the rear brakes were , and NEVER reverse mount a stereo speaker next to the parking brake pedal) It sounds bad and doesn't allow the pedal to come up properly ( done by a previous owner)