Brake fluid leak/Brown liquid on the car mat ?

[nmh1977]

Hello people,

I bought a A4 2.0 TDi mulitronic in phantom black on an 05' from and Audi used centre 1 month ago. Today I notice little brown trickles of fluid on the car mat. I rubbed it into the car mat and its made a lovely little brown stain. There appears to be no problem with the braking, is this likely to be a sign of brake fluid leak ?

I called Roadside assistance and they had a look at the brake pedal link to the cylinder and stated they could see no sign of a leak. However, I am certain it has come from inside of the car as the leak appear directly under the brake pedal and the other areas of the car mat are spotless.

If this is'nt a brake fluid leak what could it be. Anyone able to shed any light on this ?

Thanks

nick

:confused:

[Crasher]

I can't see how brake fluid would get back there unless the servo was full of fluid and so would have required some pretty serious topping up. If it was a manual I could explain it but not an auto, you need to get that looked at.

[nmh1977]

Thanks,
Thats what I presumed. The bloke checked the seals etc, but from my understanding the fluid would have needed to leak into the servo and then into the master cylinder, unless I am incorrect in my understanding.

I have booked it into an Audi centre, but they seem very reluctant to take it in for some reason.

[Crasher]

Actually from the master cylinder into the servo and by repeated toping up, filling the servo up to the point it gets out into the car but I really can’t see that happening although I have seen it on old Golf 2’s. What worries me is if it is rusty water from your servo being full of water, I have seen that a lot but not on one that new. Where are you?

[nmh1977]

Took it to Audi in Harold Wood. Apparently they could'nt see the brown marks on the grey mat. So i went down and had to point it out to them. Apparently they checked the servo, and master cylinder etc and could figutre out where the drops had come from.

So I'm going to stick in some white paper or cloth in place of the car mat to see if any more fluid leaks in the foot area.

[Crasher]

I was just working on one and it occurred to me what it must be, power steering fluid.

[nmh1977]

Apparently the Audi technicians checked the master cylinder, servo, rod and brake pedal link as well as steering column in 1 hrs and could'nt find any problems. I gave the car mat a good hosing down in the garden and even used detergent and the light brown stains won't budge.

I can't see this being brake fluid now in this case. Also the stains are positioned directly under the brake pedal. I followed the marks up to try and find the point above the drops and came to the plastic column covering. So I'm still puzzeled by this mysterious occurance.

No probs with the steering so i've resorted to using a white sheet and will monitor for the next couple of weeks to see if anything else occurs.

[Crasher]

This is rusty water, classic rust staining symptoms. This will be due to water in the servo from the plenum chamber filling up with water. The servo then sits in the water and due to the powerful vacuum pump, draws in tiny amounts of water through the seam of the two halves. The servo then fills up with water and eventually this will lead to internal corrosion and the front nearside brake sticking on. This is currently the subject of a recall to deal with the blocked drain tubes. You must instruct the garage to remove the master cylinder and check inside the servo for water damage.