Hey guys i was about to drive to Wildwood beach in NJ in my 98 sc400 and right before i hit the parkway my brakes became very soft. I had to push the brakes all the way down for it to work. Also my brake light came on. Luckily i had some brake fluid in my trunk and i put that in. I put ss brakelines in it about 3 months ago along with ls400 bbk and there was no issue. But im thinking the brake master cyclinder is started to go. What do you guys think?

 

obvious question, but did you notice any leaks anywhere (in the bay, underneath the car, etc)? how low was the brake fluid in the reservoir, and was there any chance that air got into the system?

It could very well just need a fresh bleed

 

are the ss lines leaking?

 

X2 for the questions that LoveSCs asked and I'd also look around the wheels for leaks from your SS lines. Additionally, have you noticed any pedal softness gradually creeping in over time or was it just all of a sudden?

 

prob have air in your lines....I would re-bleed the entire system

 

It leaks underneath the car when i tap the breaks and when i press the break it sprays. It sprays a lot the harder and longer i hold the breaks. The break fluid went from maximum to below minimum in the time i moved my car out the driveway lol. I am going to re- bleed the system today.

Very very minimal

it was gradually getting softer. I noticed it when i was at a light. I stopped my car and all the sudden i felt my car moving forward luckily i responded fast enough to pull the ebrake fast enough. It got so soft i was flooring the brakes. But i pumped the brakes and it leaks right under the brake master cyclinder. Its like a puddle when i pump the breaks in one spot.

Im going to do it today see what happens. thanks

 

Any amount of brake line leak is major. Stop that first and then bled.

 

Agreed! Can't play around with brake leaks. If it's from the master cylinder/booster area probably the master cylinder. Make sure there isn't fluid in the booster as well.

Good luck

 

Yeah as OBEEWON said. ANY leak is huge, its under a lot of pressure and will come out very rapidly. There isn't even that much fluid in the whole system anyway. From brand new bone dry system to full is MAYBE a liter... Fix the leak, that's the actual problem. Then bleed it since leaks cause air..

 

where is the leak? you said minimal at the lines but its leaking from the master too? where on the master, and where on the lines? is the banjo bolt properly torqued with crush washers?

 

UPDATE:

So i found out what the problem was. When me and my friends were installing my coil overs they pushed the rotors down to hard which put a lot of strain on the ss brake line. I remember that same day i thought it was going to break. So the SS would was leaking right under the brake master area. It just so happened to be driver side front line making it look like it was the brake master lol.

Thanks everyone for trying to help me out, I appreciate it.