Brakes: Brake Fluid Loss

[Harv]

The last two times that I drove my '64 R1 GT, after it sat for a week or so, the Master Cyl was empty. I've noticed no puddles or external leakage. Is the fluid going out thru the Hydrovac? ....................... Harv

[jd-stude]

The hydrovac can suck the brake fluid out of the brake system. When my car was doing it there was alot of white smoke out of the left side exhaust when I first started it up.

Ken

[studebaker-R2-4-me]

It happened to me in South Bend last spring. This is the reason not to use silicon based brake fluid in Hydrovac cars. Too many of them are missing the check valve.

Pull the vacuum tube from the hydrovac to the manifold and carefully drain the brake fluid away from the fender skirt. Cut a small piece of tubing and tape up the end of it to seal maintaining the vacuum. You may have to run the engine for 15 minutes or more to burn all the brake fluid from the engine if there is no check valve in your system.

SI has brand new manufactured Hydrovac in stock. These are not rebuilt but you will need to chase down some metric nuts to attach it to the bracket.

Good luck

Allen

[Harv]

Ken / Allen, Thanks for the quick follow-up reply. I haven't noticed any smoke after start or during the initial warm-up. I'll look for that. Also I'll check the vacuum line to see if it is wet with brake fluid. This car uses standard Dot-3 fluid, not silicone. I read some of the threads on the silicone getting into the engine and causing some grief. Thanks, Harvey