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2002 prius brake fluid leak

Discussion in 'Generation 1 Prius Discussion' started by Taxiridefun, Mar 18, 2024.

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  1. Taxiridefun

    Taxiridefun Junior Member

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    Hello! my name is Kathy. I live in Tucson Arizona and I have a 2002 Toyota Prius. recently, the word" break "was on my Dash. It's the word that shows up in red, when you put your emergency brake on. Well it came on, and it stayed on. I noticed the brake fluid reservoir, was low. So I took off the undercover and on the passenger front wheel the brake fluid is slow dripping from the center that i show with green mark. At least it looked like thats where the drop came from right before i took the photo? I do not know yet what that part is called, so Can anyone give me any information on what steps i should utilize to diagnose the problem? to realize what i need to repair? It has 104,000 miles. I change the oil every 3,000 miles. I changed the transmission fluid about 9 months ago. Changed and cleaned mas sensor, put new plugs in. The inverter pump went out about 3 months ago. Put new one in, bled the inverter fluid then. Flushed radiator, put new fluid in. Im happy there is this great forum! Thank you.
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    #1 Taxiridefun, Mar 18, 2024
  2. ChapmanF

    ChapmanF Senior Member

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    What appears dark and wet in your photo is the bottom of the shock absorber.

    The brake caliper, which is visible in your photo at the left (look for the 11VN stamped on it) appears light and dry. The brake fluid hose that you see, looping up to the top of the photo and then down attaching to the caliper, also appears light and dry.

    One possibility is that you have not found a brake fluid leak here, but you have found a leaking shock absorber. Those are filled with a kind of oil. That would explain why the wetness is all found at the bottom of the shock absorber. The brake fluid leak may still be somewhere else in the car.

    Another possibility, less likely but I have seen it happen, is that there really is a leak in the brake hose or steel line nearby, but one that only opens under high pressure, and happens to be squirting the brake fluid onto the shock absorber, only when the brake pedal is pressed hard.

    You may be able to see that happen when someone presses the brake pedal, but if you try, use mirrors or a phone camera, or wrap absorbent paper around the line and look for a wet spot appearing when the pedal is pressed.

    Under no circumstances get any part of your body anywhere near when someone applies pressure with a suspected leak of that kind. The brake fluid reaches very high pressures when the pedal is pressed, and a jet of fluid from a leak of that kind can inject through your skin. Those are dangerous injuries that can seem minor at first but turn grisly without immediate surgery.
     
    #2 ChapmanF, Mar 18, 2024
  3. Tombukt2

    Tombukt2 Senior Member

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    Smell the brake fluid reservoir with the top off it won't hurt your nose. Now go look where you looked at your leak and your oil stain Do you smell the smell you just smelled all in that area If yes then more than likely that is brake fluid and like chap said it does look like it's probably coming out when the brakes are squeezing that was coming out all the time your reservoir would probably be a lot lower than it was more than likely with it coming out under pressure and generally not just sitting well many times you're not really using much pressure on the brakes in the Prius so there's always that the shock absorber oil it's a possibility generally it doesn't soak the whole business so nice like that but it could be I would hate to think my generation 1 would have such a nice shock pump and spillover that it would look this good but I guess it's possible I guess these early Prius could take strut cartridges if they wanted to and today you'd buy a whole assembly I imagine but I don't think you're there yet I think you do have a break leak It does look like.
     
    #3 Tombukt2, Mar 18, 2024
  4. Taxiridefun

    Taxiridefun Junior Member

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    #4 Taxiridefun, Mar 18, 2024
  5. Taxiridefun

    Taxiridefun Junior Member

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    Okay see where I put the green mark right before I took the picture I drop a fluid dropped right from that spot and there is a spot on my garage floor but I couldn't detect any smell and my brake fluid reservoir was full and now it's between full and the low mark what is that part that I put the Green Dot on thank you for responding
     
    #5 Taxiridefun, Mar 18, 2024
  6. ChapmanF

    ChapmanF Senior Member

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    You put the green dot on the bottom of your shock absorber.
     
    #6 ChapmanF, Mar 18, 2024
    Tombukt2 likes this.
  7. Taxiridefun

    Taxiridefun Junior Member

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    ¹25th
    IMG_20240318_144758.jpg
     
    #7 Taxiridefun, Mar 18, 2024
  8. Taxiridefun

    Taxiridefun Junior Member

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    What is this part called with the drop of fluid ready to drop? Is that part of the shock? Or brake system?
     
    #8 Taxiridefun, Mar 18, 2024
  9. Taxiridefun

    Taxiridefun Junior Member

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    #9 Taxiridefun, Mar 18, 2024
  10. Tombukt2

    Tombukt2 Senior Member

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    Yep you're marking the shock but if you know the smell of brake fluid glycol brake fluid you just know it and down in that area after a drive there is a little bit of warmth and the smell of that brake fluid will waft up and hit your nose and well a person that does this kind of work a little bit just knows shock oil is going to produce probably no smell not like gear oil or any of that and it's not going to be subjected or doesn't react to heat the way brake fluid does Just a little bit of heat and brake fluid starts to emit a smell very distinct odor kind of like the same thing antifreeze does another glycol product most people never forget when they burn up an engine one time they'll never forget that smell or they're completely oblivious and don't even realize there was a smell either is possible.
     
    #10 Tombukt2, Mar 18, 2024
  11. Tombukt2

    Tombukt2 Senior Member

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    Yeah that's definitely the bottom of your shock If that fluid is really that brown like I say you should be able to put that dot on your finger and smell it and know if it's brake fluid immediately or maybe your husband or your son or do that at a garage and walk up to the guy smell this does that smell like brake fluid see if he thinks you're joking anyway I would hate to think a shock has spewed enough oil to be dripping from the shock tube Not going to say that's impossible but that's good either way the repair will be close to similar in cost believe it or not if someone's paying for it.
     
    #11 Tombukt2, Mar 18, 2024
  12. Taxiridefun

    Taxiridefun Junior Member

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    Ok thank you so new picture I just posted shows a drop of fluid so it could be the shock absorber is leaking because when I really looked at my reservoir my brake fluid is not low it's at the full and I could have sworn it was lower but it's not
     
    #12 Taxiridefun, Mar 18, 2024
  13. Taxiridefun

    Taxiridefun Junior Member

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    Thank you for responding so now I have to figure out what that fluid is correct? I didn't even know shock absorbers had a fluid in them
     
    #13 Taxiridefun, Mar 18, 2024
  14. Taxiridefun

    Taxiridefun Junior Member

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    It's not a thick fluid and it has no smell it does not I I don't detect any smell and I did open my brake fluid and try and smell it but it didn't seem like it has much of a smell either but maybe I should dip something in my brake fluid reservoir and smell it but then I got under there further and I see a wetter spot up higher that's not on the shock absorber so I have to investigate I have to take a picture I really
     
    #14 Taxiridefun, Mar 18, 2024
  15. ChapmanF

    ChapmanF Senior Member

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    That is an even closer photo of the bottom of your shock absorber.

    Checking the brake fluid level in a Prius can surprise people, because the system has a pump in it that removes fluid from the reservoir and stores it in an accumulator. That makes the level look low. When the car sits turned off for some time, the fluid slowly returns from the accumulator to the reservoir, and the level looks higher again.

    The level marks on the reservoir are positioned for the "zeroed down" condition, when there is no pressure left in the accumulator and all the fluid is back in the reservoir. At other times, the level will look lower.

    Also, it is natural for the fluid level to slowly drop over tens of thousands of miles as the brake pads are worn thinner. When those are replaced with new ones, the level will return to the max line (assuming nothing else happened to change the fluid level).
     
    #15 ChapmanF, Mar 18, 2024
  16. Taxiridefun

    Taxiridefun Junior Member

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    IMG_20240318_151751.jpg
     
    #16 Taxiridefun, Mar 18, 2024
  17. Taxiridefun

    Taxiridefun Junior Member

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    Did not know that about the break fluid level in a Prius no wonder I could have sworn it was lower and now it's full because it's been sitting here in the garage for a couple days but see this wetness I believe that's my water pump isn't it but what could that other fluid be I wonder I just don't know that's that fluid that's dripping down that's not that's not my radiator fluid because it's pink it's a mystery I wonder
     
    #17 Taxiridefun, Mar 18, 2024
  18. Taxiridefun

    Taxiridefun Junior Member

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    And the red brake word on the dash it it never goes off now but that's the only warning nothing else has come up just the red word b r a k e voice to text but no no other warnings have come up on my Dash I have to figure it out I have to figure out if that's brake fluid and then the other leak I see a tiny red spot at the top bolt on the right which would be radiator fluid put back to the break light something has to be going on with the brakes if that word break stays on now on my Dash and doesn't go off and if I try and reset my emergency brake that light will go off but it doesn't stay off a couple blocks down the road around the corner and it's back on
     
    #18 Taxiridefun, Mar 18, 2024
  19. ChapmanF

    ChapmanF Senior Member

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    That photo is of the timing chain cover on the front of your engine.

    Maybe you could wipe it with a white napkin or something to get a better idea what it is wet with.
     
    #19 ChapmanF, Mar 18, 2024
  20. Taxiridefun

    Taxiridefun Junior Member

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    Okay so I tried to wipe that and it is dry I could not get any substance off of it and the red mark in the upper right corner of the bolt that's some kind of seal or something and my radiator leak is coming directly from the hose going to the radiator where it clamps so I wiped all the red radiator leaking stuff off and then I went for a drive and the red light the red brake light is not on it didn't come on once not a single time and then I came home pop the hood I saw a new red radiator fluid and it's coming from the radiator hose but that picture of the timing chain is that a concern because I could not get anything off of it I did just what you before you even said it I took a paper towel and tried to wipe it is that just Road driving dirt or is that a does that look like something leaking that I have to figure out because it's not wet and I checked my brake fluid reservoir after I went for the drive and it is lower now it's not you know dangerously low but like you said some of the brake fluid has left the reservoir and it was full right on the full line when I left and so then I looked at the shocks on the driver's side it does not have that round piece that's dripping something like the passenger side but the rubber thing below the big spring at the top of the tire that rubber whatever it is it's all tore up on the driver's side but I did not see any wet leakage on the driver side I'm going to try and take a picture but not right this moment so then I checked the passenger side where it was leaking there wasn't anything dripping so that's what's happening the radiator leak is from the hose I'm like 6% certain I'm going to undo the clamp and push it further it doesn't look like it's it looks like it needs to get pushed a little bit further in now my only question is that dark spot on the transmission chain cover is that a concern or is it just residual dirt thank you for your help I'm so grateful
     
    #20 Taxiridefun, Mar 18, 2024
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