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So I went to a car meet last night and this gentleman admiring my speedster came to me and said “you might have a brake leak and it’s spreading all over your back passenger side wheel.” I went out to look and saw shiny oil-like substance all over my beautiful baby moons, tires and spots all over the back body. (See attached)

I’m posting it here because I don’t know if this is something I should bring directly to Greg @Vintage Motorcars Inc and if it’s even safe to drive 45mins away … or is this something relatively simple any vw mechanic can/should be able to handle. I know Greg is a busy man and didn’t want to ask such a newbie question, so might as well start with SOC  community. (if youre reading this Greg… hi 👋 )

appreciate everyone’s helpful feed back as I am lost when it comes to these things.

brian

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Images (4)
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  • 74DEDFC5-82CF-4C36-9028-06184C6EE641
  • 104EB851-BCFB-45F6-A3A6-F892E410EE7D
  • 509AE64D-6493-49A7-B9FF-52A12608ADFF
Last edited by BETTYLU356Speedster
Original Post

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First things first: get it off of the paint ASAP!  If it is brake fluid that will damage or destroy your paint.

Next, if you aren't comfortable checking it out yourself, have it flatbedded to a mechanic you trust.  If it is a brake system leak you could suddenly find yourself without brakes.

It could be a leak of transaxle grease leak through a bad seal.  That would be messy, but not as damaging as brake fluid.  You can tell my the texture and smell whether it's grease or brake fluid, but if you don't know how to do that then have a professional look at it.

Last edited by Lane Anderson

First things first: get it off of the paint ASAP!  If it is brake fluid that will damage or destroy your paint.

Next, if you aren't comfortable checking it out yourself, have it flatbedded to a mechanic you trust.  If it is a brake system leak you could suddenly find yourself without brakes.

It could be a leak of transaxle grease leak through a bad seal.  That would be messy, but not as damaging as brake fluid.  You can tell my the texture and smell whether it's grease or brake fluid, but if you don't know how to do that then have a professional look at it.

thank you! Cleaning it off now!… and to your other point, no I do not know how to do it. Sorry I’m useless and more afraid of ruining it more or breaking something else if I touch anything. 😞

brian

Last edited by BETTYLU356Speedster
@jncspyder posted:

@BETTYLU356Speedster do a search on here concerning disc brake questions....i recently had to replace both rear brake calipers which are EMPI  e-brake style and are basically not rebuildable...you r situation may differ from mine....but the these leaks very rarely remedy themselves....ck out so cal imports in long beach for the parts

Same

Mine had less than 1000 miles on them.

Both leaked outta the return spring area.

Total garbage.

@thedak yep....that is where the fiddly little seals live that are not worth the time and effort to try to fix....cheaper to just replace with NON EMPI PRODUCT...i was a bit more fortunate...only right rear & made it to 6K miles...but end result the same....gotta do both...we gotta lobby willwood brakes  to design a e-brake caliper to fit our application on our e-brake  design

@BETTYLU356Speedster

You didn't say wether or not you have four wheel disc brakes or dry brakes in the rear? I'm guessing you have four wheel discs because it looks like you have wide-fives.

First things first though. Start with the most likely cause of the issue before you start worrying about replacing disc brake calipers etc. The most likely repair is a loose air bleeder valve or where the hard line connects to the soft line. If not that it could be something more involved like a bad seal in the caliper. But before you order a set of brakes and all of the other parts get a mechanic to look at it and advise you on what the issue is. If you need parts let Greg direct you on what you might need.

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