Reader Question
Hi Austin, I was told I had a leak in my break seal on my Lexus GS300…what does this mean and what should I do about it? There is something causing my car to be leaking brake fluid.
Thanks…great site! Arnold
Hi there Arnold
I assume you are having to add brake fluid to your vehicle on a regular basis and that your mechanic or someone told you you had a leak in the brake system.
There are many places that can leak brake fluid, and I highly suggest you have someone take all 4 wheels off the vehicle so you can get an idea of what is really going on with your brakes and determine how much life is left on the brake pads.
The brake master cylinder, the part where you physically add the brake fluid under the hood could also be a culprit for leaks as well as the front rubber brake hoses and the brake calipers where there are seals that could leak. The image in this post IS the brake master cylinder.
This is what the brake calipers look like, 1 per each wheel.
Let me know what you find out once you remove the wheels and get a visual brake inspection done. Since this is a 4 wheel disc vehicle I would expect to either see a leak at the master cylinder, the rubber front brake hoses or the brake calipers themselves…although that is kind of rare to see these days.
I would also kinda suspect that if there is a fluid leak you are probably due for a brake job anyway and will require replacing the brake pads at this time as well. If ANY grease or brake fluid got on the brake pads, replace them, they will always squeak and cause issues later on no matter how hard you try to get the fluid off.
This is a pretty good straight forward video about tracking down brake fluid leaks. Take a look.
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