Odd brake fluid episode.

[Kira]

I just saw my friend's son's girlfriend's 2007 Toyota Camry 4 cyl. w/208K.

The battery was filthy. The engine air cleaner top was misaligned on the box bottom and had a broken bolt tab.

The coolant looked tired and the P/S fluid was darker than I keep mine.

THE KICKER was the brake fluid. The reservoir is a plastic cylinder with a single black line. The line is relatively low down. It goes about 1/4 way up the reservoir

I saw no fluid and peeled off the rubber lid. No fluid did I see. I filled it to the level mark then watched it disappear downward.

I did this twice more and then some to get it to stay on the level mark.

The next day it was above the low mark and about half way up the reservoir.

WHAT GIVES? We saw no evidence of leakage and indeed kept our eyes peeled.

They went home and I didn't hear that they crashed so I guess it's OK.

Any ideas?

 

[Ursatdx]

You should have suggested a brake system inspection.
Might need pads, etc.
Tough to find leaks with a lack of fluid.

 

[Kira]

I filled it and then we drove a few errands. We saw no spot on any of 4 parking lots.

The "kids" were readying themselves for Saturday Night Partying before attending a Sunday Giants game so the otherwise working brakes carried the day.

She mentioned having had some brake work done so I backed off. I did send her (and her BF) an email reminder.

 

[HangFire]

Originally Posted by Kira


WHAT GIVES? We saw no evidence of leakage and indeed kept our eyes peeled.

They went home and I didn't hear that they crashed so I guess it's OK.

Any ideas?


As some air bubbles worked their way upwards, the fluid level went down.

It's scary we share the streets with people that think it's OK to drive like that. Good for you for intervening.

 

[Hall]

Hopefully nothing goes wrong especially after you touched it....

 

[HangFire]

Originally Posted by hallstevenson
Hopefully nothing goes wrong especially after you touched it....

I get a little tired of the liability aspect being thrown in people's faces here. I've helped, well, bunches of people with every level of automobile service, and not once been blamed for anything. There's always a first time, I guess, but I've gotten nothing but gratitude.

 

[Hall]

You must have missed it where I said "hopefully".

My point was, someone that takes care of their vehicle, or more accurately, does not take care of, is likely the type to start pointing fingers if something did go wrong.

 

[cos]

Kira,
Nice catch on the brake fluid.

Yrs ago I checked the oil level on Mercedes that my friend was driving but that she did not own. There was nothing on the dipstick! I ended up putting in five qts of oil. My friend didn't seem to think it was a big deal. Oh well, at least the engine didn't blow while she was behind the wheel.

 

[AC1DD]

Originally Posted by HangFire
Originally Posted by hallstevenson
Hopefully nothing goes wrong especially after you touched it....

I get a little tired of the liability aspect being thrown in people's faces here. I've helped, well, bunches of people with every level of automobile service, and not once been blamed for anything. There's always a first time, I guess, but I've gotten nothing but gratitude.



Lucky you....for now. When it finally goes wrong don't say you weren't warned.

 

[clinebarger]

The brake booster may be full of brake fluid from a leaky master cylinder?

 

[Astro14]

Originally Posted by clinebarger
The brake booster may be full of brake fluid from a leaky master cylinder?


+1

Then it gets sucked into the engine under vacuum, burned, and never leaks out...

 

[Kira]

Yeah, a leaking master cylinder is what I'm going to mention to them.

Regarding liability questions: That is so, so true.

Fortunately I grew up with the mother and father of the lad. People on this board who are cursed with total memory will remember my having found two Saab 9000's for the lad. His parents are the same people who demanded our 9-5 wagon for their younger son since one of the 9000's clearly saved the life of the elder son.

But I gotta tell you, I have a neighbor who's Accord is under my care. I did a rear pad slap and told him they'd wear away fast and that a bigger job was around the corner. They indeed wore out but in the dead heat of the Summer I steered him to our local, trusted, proven service station for their complete brake job. I didn't want to make a mistake. My concerns included liability as well as inconveniencing the old folk.
After all, this is their only car......their casino ride!

And by the way cos: I too checked another's oil only to find NONE on the dipstick. It was a Saturn which took 4 quarts of oil. I added three.
So after I caught up with them I checked the oil in that family's cars. I found varying levels of lowness (0.5 qt. to 1.75 qt.)

One of these people thanked me. Another told me never to touch her car again. People can surely be worthy of dirty name calling.

 

[Gebo]

Kira, you are doing good things. Keep up the good work.

Often, I could use another pair of eyes. I went 6 months after purchasing a used car reading the outside of my Brake Fluid reservoir thinking it was full. One day I decided to manually check it and it was almost empty.
The white plastic reservoir was darkened right up to the "full" line giving the appearance of it being full. You probably would have spotted that before I did.

Oh, you might want to tell her parents. It could be very uncomfortable if something bad were to happen and her parents find out you knew about it and didn't tell them.

 

[Yah-Tah-Hey]

I believe in being helpful but have found that when you touch another person's vehicle, you automatically become the sacrificial scapegoat. Anything that goes wrong with that vehicle months and years down the road will be YOUR fault because you were the last one to work on it period. No matter how neglected the vehicle has been, it's your fault.

 

[The Critic]

Originally Posted by AC1DD
Originally Posted by HangFire
Originally Posted by hallstevenson
Hopefully nothing goes wrong especially after you touched it....

I get a little tired of the liability aspect being thrown in people's faces here. I've helped, well, bunches of people with every level of automobile service, and not once been blamed for anything. There's always a first time, I guess, but I've gotten nothing but gratitude.



Lucky you....for now. When it finally goes wrong don't say you weren't warned.

Why is why you should always perform a complete inspection on the vehicle and advise the driver of every item that is potentially less-than-perfect...