Lotus Elan and Lotus Elan Plus 2 Forums

I had my +2 jacked up at the rear and sitting on axle stands so I could replace the diff mountings. That was all completed OK but I found that the brake fluid resevoir on the master cylinder had succeeded in emptying itself in the period it was jacked up at the back. (I had just serviced the car prior to doing the diff work and had checked the fluid levels.) With the car sitting level, I refilled the resevoir and a few hours later when I checked it, the damned thing was empty again :angry: .

There is no fluid around the resevoir, inside the car or on the garage floor so I can only think it is something to do with the servo.

Anybody out there got any idea of what's happening? If it is the servo how do I check it?

For info -
> I replaced all the caliper seals about 6 months ago and changed the pads. The brakes were working very well.
> The vacuum pipe between the engine and the servo has been removed because I am going to replace it. (it was feeling a bit soft)

Regards,

Hamish.

The usual places for it to go are:

In to the servo
In to the carpet / sound proofing in the drivers footwell

Hamish,
In my experience the servo only fills the vacuum chamber when it is used and as you are not driving the car its sounds unlikely it is going into the servo although I am not saying it is impossible.
You could take off the servo (leave the pipes connected) and shake it to see if you can hear fluid slopping around, or as you have the vacuum line disconnected try putting something into the chamber to try and detect if fluid is in there..........example.....thin pipe and blow in to see if you can hear bubbles, maybe a strip of blotting paper (does blotting paper absorb brake fuid?)
Think I would be more inclined to look for an external leak.
Brian.