[phyrrus9]

So, after doing a top end rebuild on my 88 MX6 I went for a test drive and realized I had no brakes. This wasn't a safety problem (I can always downshift) but an annoyance and a mystery. I checked my master and found the reservoir to be empty. Easy fix, right? Sure, just refill it and go. Not really. As a mechanic I not only had to find a solution but also prevent it from happening again, which meant finding why it lost fluid. Obviously it was a leak somewhere. I dyed the fluid and looked for leaks, but there were none. I could use my breaks but I knew I had air in the lines. I went to get a set of line wrenches to do the job and by the time I got home my brakes were fine again. Cylinder was overfull (which made no sense). Alright, so the brakes were fine now, and the missing fluid re appeared. Somebody HAD to have playing a joke on me. I just shrugged it off. Well, two days later the cylinder was dry again. It was clear that I had a leak. This time I dyed the fluid with red food coloring (don't do this, it isn't the same as brake fluid) so that when I pressurized it I would see it "bleeding" out. Still no leaks. I kept driving. On my way home from work that night I noticed a red puddle around the driver side rear tire. I had found my leak. When I got home I stuck my finger under the drum and it came back blood red. Alright, so leak found, but why did the brakes start working again and where did the extra fluid come from? I answered the first question immediately, the brake leak was never fixed, so the brakes slowly bled themselves. The second one I didn't notice until I had it apart. They werent leaking from a line, but from a torn boot on the wheel cylinder, and it filled the drum with fluid. When the air went out, fluid went in. It's quite weird.

Alright, so got the new part, and removed the tire from the car, but the drum just WOULD NOT budge. I hammered it, torched it, oiled it, etc for about 3 hours straight and no progress. This isn't something normally done on a front wheel drive rear drum vehicle, but I actually had to take a chisel and pry off the axle seals and remove the axle nut (which someone so kindly welded on for me). Once off, I finally got it apart. It looked like this inside:



At that point I was appalled. It had obviously been leaking for a few thousand miles. The fluid and brake dust has covered it all in oily sludge (which is also why that brake didnt work immediately). I ended up having to purge the lines to clear them of dirt, but that isn't the real struggle. The struggle was getting the old part out...Had to pull all the springs (with my hands and a screwdriver because I don't have a drum tool), then the brake line wouldnt come loose, so I took the part out with the line attached and had to torch it for a good 30 minutes before I could get it loose.

I got it all back together (after numerous times having to put it back together and drive to the store for different tools), and it works perfect now.


I'm curious, anybody else have any stories of annoying repairs?