Oct 13, 2018
RAY: This was submitted by Jeff Matthews.
"Some years ago," he says, "my significant other complained that her Honda Accord would occasionally commence bucking, snorting, and choking after a stop. It would keep that up for a couple of minutes, then the problem would go away for a few weeks. I looked at the usual things, but since I was never there when it happened, I couldn't figure it out. Then one fall," he says, "I was getting the old jalopy ready for the state safety inspection, so I jacked it up and jiggled the wheels and did all the kinds of things that you usually do, and when I let it down off the jack stands, a nearly empty can of brake fluid rolled out from under the front seat."
"I said, 'Hmm. That's interesting.' I went into the house and asked my wife one question. When she gave me the answer, I knew what was wrong with her car."
The question is: What was the question?
RAY: "I asked her one question, and when she gave me the answer, I knew what was wrong with her car." What was the question?
How often do you add brake fluid?
And the reason he asked that question was this: Somewhere along the line, he surmises she went to the gas station and her brake light was on because the fluid level was down.
She buys a can of fluid from the attendant and watches him fill up the reservoir. Figuring this is part of the regular maintenance of the car, whenever the light goes on she tops it up, never bothering to ask, "Where's the brake fluid going?" It's like, well, you add oil from time to time. And she was constantly adding brake fluid to a leaking master cylinder. And the master cylinder was leaking into the power-brake booster. And every once in a while, when she came to a stop, especially an abrupt one, or if the level of fluid in there--where there's not supposed to be any--was high enough, that fluid would get sucked into the engine and make the thing try to combust the brake fluid, which would cause it to stumble and choke and maybe even stall. And then, once it worked its way through, accompanied by this belch of smoke out the tailpipe, everything would be right. And the subsequent stops wouldn't be a problem, because she'd have to wait until enough fluid accumulated in the booster to cause the problem again.
So the question was: How often do you add brake fluid to the car?
