Brake fluid on floor...

[White Nightmare]

Hey guys, I have a weird dilemma and was wondering if anyone know what it might be. I just purchased the car (85 325e) and ever sense the day I bought it the clutch and brakes felt weird. The car will stop and the clutch does work. So today I decided to check the brake fluid. It seemed low so I put some in. I soon realized that it wasn't really filling up. I looked under car and saw nothing. Went inside the car and my drivers side floor was full of brake fluid. What does this sound like ? Thank you guys very much.

-Chris

[Van Westervelt]

Master Cyl.

[White Nightmare]

Thanks for the info. Do you think this will help my clutch problem as well ? The clutch works fine but starts to grab really early. I was told it might be one of the clutch cylinders. Thanks again.

-Chris

[browntown]

clutch master cylinder

[Mike325]

clutch master cylinder

Yep, it's leaking pretty badly too.

[White Nightmare]

So are you guys saying that its my clutch cylinder and not my brake cylinder ???

[strad]

So are you guys saying that its my clutch cylinder and not my brake cylinder ???

Yes. You have a brake master cylinder mounted in the engine compartment, a clutch master cylinder mounted near the top of the clutch pedal inside the car, and a clutch slave cylinder mounted on the trans. Your clutch master cylinder is the one that's leaking onto the driver's floor.

[DJB]

Odds are that it's not the clutch input cylinder (AKA master cylinder) itself.

There is a plastic elbow that connects the blue silicone hose to the metal casting. It's likely cracked.

21-52-1-151-697 Plastic hose fitting for clutch master cylinder $0.75/$0.64

Or it may be the hose itself has split. There should be about 1" of slack to trim it back. Otherwise you'll be replacing the hose
21-52-1-163-714 Reservoir to clutch input cylinder hose, 7.5x13mm $6.20/$5.27

Do not use generic hose from the parts store -- it will soften and swell with long term exposure to brake fluid.

You don't need to unbolt anything to install the hose, and it's easier to fish out from behind the brake booster than it looks.

You must clean up the brake fluid as soon as you are finished with the repair. Otherwise you will have problems for years, since that fluid isn't going to dry on its own. Blot with paper towels, then repeatedly soak with water and vacuum up. Luckily it's winter and the carpet will dry on it's own.

[White Nightmare]

Odds are that it's not the clutch input cylinder (AKA master cylinder) itself.

There is a plastic elbow that connects the blue silicone hose to the metal casting. It's likely cracked.

21-52-1-151-697 Plastic hose fitting for clutch master cylinder $0.75/$0.64

Or it may be the hose itself has split. There should be about 1" of slack to trim it back. Otherwise you'll be replacing the hose
21-52-1-163-714 Reservoir to clutch input cylinder hose, 7.5x13mm $6.20/$5.27

Do not use generic hose from the parts store -- it will soften and swell with long term exposure to brake fluid.

You don't need to unbolt anything to install the hose, and it's easier to fish out from behind the brake booster than it looks.

You must clean up the brake fluid as soon as you are finished with the repair. Otherwise you will have problems for years, since that fluid isn't going to dry on its own. Blot with paper towels, then repeatedly soak with water and vacuum up. Luckily it's winter and the carpet will dry on it's own.

Thanx for the info guys. I also thought it might be the hose from the master to the res. If the clutch master was leaking then I would assume the clutch wouldn't work at all. No pressure build up. Plus everything leaked into the cabin way to quick for it to be a bad seal. I will check things out tomorrow and post my findings. Thanx again guys.

-Chris

[White Nightmare]

DJB you sir are the man. I got the master out (what a PITA) and sure enough that part was broke in half, the hose was just hanging there. I went to the dealer and bought the new part (84 cents). I haven't hooked everything back up yet to ensure that the master its self is still usable but it should be fine. Thank you again.

-Chris

[Mike325]

Good to hear that you got the parts needed to fix it. I would recommend changing the master out. It was a bitch to get out remember? Do you want it going bad in a few thousand miles? No sir, you don't;)

[White Nightmare]

Good to hear that you got the parts needed to fix it. I would recommend changing the master out. It was a bitch to get out remember? Do you want it going bad in a few thousand miles? No sir, you don't;)

Yea I should have swapped out the master while I was down there but I don't have a lot of cash so at the moment im trying to penny pinch it. Im sure not before long I will have to get back down there and do it all again. The worst part was bleeding the bloody thing. It took me for ever before I even saw fluid come out. After everything was done thought the clutch felt great. Thanx again for the info guys.

-Chris

[DJB]

Well, you should have been able to replace the plastic elbow without removing the master cylinder. The mounting bolts can be easily seen, but it's very difficult to get a socket or wrench on them. I wouldn't recommend preventively replacing the clutch input and output cylinders unless you know parts of the system are corroded. If you flush the fluid every two years the hydraulic system will last a very long time.

[Nick]

Had the exact same problem.
That little plastic bastard is a piece of shit.

[White Nightmare]

Well, you should have been able to replace the plastic elbow without removing the master cylinder. The mounting bolts can be easily seen, but it's very difficult to get a socket or wrench on them. I wouldn't recommend preventively replacing the clutch input and output cylinders unless you know parts of the system are corroded. If you flush the fluid every two years the hydraulic system will last a very long time.

Yea I figured I didn't need to pull it to get it out but it would have been extremely difficult to remove the part that was stuck in the master while it was still in the car. Also, when I put the master back in it was easier to get to the brake line fitting under the booster with a tool called a crows foot. It really made life grand and would have helped out a lot when I was removing the master in the first place.

Had the exact same problem.
That little plastic bastard is a piece of shit.

Yes that part is a piece of shit. I was just really happy that my local dealer had one in stock. You would think that bmw would have had a copper bard in the place of that plastic piece.

-Chris