Brake fluid leak following clutch change

hi there i have a mysterious brake fluid leak.

Left my Disco into an indy few weeks back for clutch and flywheel change.

A few weeks later the handbrake light came on so I checked the brake fluid reservoir......And it was on the min mark. Thankk god for that warning light.

Inspected all the brake lines under the bonnet from servo to abs modulator. No leaks or corrosion or anything.

Got underneath her and noticed brake fluid was leaking around the gearbox join onto the bell housing.

Could it be leaking from here or is my leak further up and just running down around the gearbox and dripping off?

Never had any brake fluid leaks before this.

Nothing underneath clutch or brake pedal and cannot see any obvious leaks in engine, even with the sound proof cover off.

Anybody else experience this or have any idea whats going on. I have to top up the reservoir every couple days with about 200ml of fluid.

slave cylinder leaking ? clutch system is fed from brake reservoir

Its bone dry, no drips or leaks at all.

you said fluid was leaking out of bell housing,that would be clutch slave cylinder

Dublindisco said:

hi there i have a mysterious brake fluid leak.

Left my Disco into an indy few weeks back for clutch and flywheel change.

A few weeks later the handbrake light came on so I checked the brake fluid reservoir......And it was on the min mark. Thankk god for that warning light.

Inspected all the brake lines under the bonnet from servo to abs modulator. No leaks or corrosion or anything.

Got underneath her and noticed brake fluid was leaking around the gearbox join onto the bell housing.

Could it be leaking from here or is my leak further up and just running down around the gearbox and dripping off?

Never had any brake fluid leaks before this.

Nothing underneath clutch or brake pedal and cannot see any obvious leaks in engine, even with the sound proof cover off.

Anybody else experience this or have any idea whats going on. I have to top up the reservoir every couple days with about 200ml of fluid.

Click to expand...

err!!!!!!!!!

discodrivercumbria said:

err!!!!!!!!!

Click to expand...

Anything to add..??

Writing this from a phone under a very cold disco.

do you use it daily?

Does the level go down if it is just sat?

200ml is a lot over a couple of days and you should see a pool under it in the morning or at least a wet patch where it is being blown over something leaking onto something, be careful, brake fluid eats through paint and you need all the protection you can get against the rust!!!

Just had it up on a friends lift, the brake fluid appears to be leaking from the seal where the gearbox joins onto the engine

Anybody seen this before??

Dublindisco said:

Just had it up on a friends lift, the brake fluid appears to be leaking from the seal where the gearbox joins onto the engine

Anybody seen this before??

Click to expand...

have you read what i posted ? clutch slave cylinder will be leaking in to bell housing

:5bbeatdeadhorse5:

Ah I got ya now, i thought if the slave cylinder was leaking it would be dripping out of the actual cylinder onto the ground... Sorry I know diddly squat about clutches.

Its dripping out so fast now every 2 days the reservoir is empty and i have to refill and re bleed with the two man method.

Time to get me a slave cylinder so, thanks.

Quick update on this.

Changed the slave cylinder (£9 part) and it took all of 15 mins.

Then I bled the system using the 2 person method with no issues.

Parked it up, drove it, parked it up again and checked the fluid level in the reservoir and its still at max mark. No leaks or drips.

The leak is fixed.

Thanks for all advice, and if you see brake fluid leaking out of the bottom of the bell housing, its most likely your slave cylinder that's shot.

Oh and another thing I learned. If driving along and your handbrake light comes on, your brake fluid is running low. Would have been clueless otherwise.