Your Midget (1969-79) has a split hydraulic braking system. The reservoir
is split in half, with the larger section feeding the front brakes and the
smaller section feeding the rears. The section that was empty is leaking,
the section that still had fluid is not. That is the safety feature and how
it should work, so that in theory, you always have 1/2 of your braking in
case of a system failure. The fact that fluid is on your pedal means that
the master cylinder is where the leak is. Time to rebuild (a pain) the
master cylinder or replace (more costly, but less frustrating). There are
several vendors on the list that can provide you with either a rebuild kit,
or a replacement master cylinder. NOTE: The rear wheel cylinders usually
aren't far behind, or may already be leaking and you just haven't discovered
it yet. ALSO, if they've never been replaced, it is time for new flex lines
to the front brakes and at the rear. Flex lines, wheel cylinders and a new
master cylinder, Castrol DOT 4, and about 4 hours. Have fun with the E
clips on the wheel cylinders. If you've never done them before, find a
spridget'eer that has to come help.
DavidR.
----- Original Message -----
From: <ryan.kubanoff@comcast.net>
To: "spridgets" <spridgets@autox.team.net>
Sent: Sunday, February 08, 2009 4:17 PM
Subject: [Spridgets] leaking master cylinder?
>I took the midget out for a ride today in the lovely 50+ degree weather
>(first
> time in 2 weeks) .B As i backed out of the driveway i noticed the brakes
> were
> spongy but when i pumped them they were fine.B When i came home i checked
> and
> saw that the front half of the master cylinder was empty and the back half
> was
> filled but only to the top of the divider.B I also noticed that the brake
> pedal shaft was wetB as was the pedal pad.B I refilled the master
> cylinder
> and the brakes came back strong.B What am I looking at here? whats wrong
> and
> how do i fix it?
>
> Ryan
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