Got up this morning, got in the 98 disco, took off and as I was coming up to the light I hit the brakes and the pedal went to the floor. Had to pull the ebrake, which I know you're not supposed to do but it was either that or plow through 4 lanes of traffic and hope I get lucky. Limped it to walmart. Got out and the brake fluid was empty. Got some and filled it up and it immediately started leaking from the rubber gasket closest to the cabin. Never done this before. It did get very cold last night and maybe it caused it to shrink a little. My question is, can I just replace those rubber seals that the reservoir sits on or do I need to replace the whole thing?

Thanks

 

Cold had nothing to do with it.
If you have fluid coming down between the booster and the fire wall, you will need to replace both the master cylinder and the booster at the same time cause brake fluid will ruin the diaphram inside the booster.

 

No it's not. It's dripping from the 2nd rubber grommet thing underneath the master cylinder resavoir.

 

Call PTSchram. I'll bet he's got a reservoir kit for it.

 

Thanks a bunch. I will.

 

Is our reservoir not a 'dual' reservoir? This is exactly why they invented such a thing in that if you have a catastophic failure of the front or rear brakes (broken line, etc) then at least you won't lose your brakes entirely as the reservoirs are seperate. I need to take a closer look at mine.

 

Well when I mean no brakes I really mean I hit the brakes, it went to the floor and I kept rolling with very minimal stopping power. I would have not stopped before the intersection. It will come to a stop after about 20-30 yards going about 40. It wasn't a total failure but if this had happened while my fiance was driving or if there was a person in front of me it would have been very bad news.

 

Yes we have a dual reservoir, I think it was required sometime in the '70's?

Did you pump the brakes or just hold your foot to the floor?
Pumping your brakes will build up pressure again, holding it to the floor just pushes all the brake fluid out faster and does nothing to help you stop.

I REALLY wish they taught this is drivers education these days as well as how to stop on wet roads with no ABS.
So many accidents are caused by people who have no idea what to do when their ABS goes out.

 

Yeah I pumped them on the way home to stop. But when there is a really bad leak, as bad as this one it doesn't do much. I've never had a master cylinder seal fail like this. I have a new one on the way. For now it sits in the driveway.

 

Did you go with an overhaul kit or get all-new? Post up a link to what you ordered...I need to do this job too.