Brake Fluid Usage

[Stephen Kormilo]

At 12:03 PM 29/01/01 -0500, you wrote:
>Date: Mon, 29 Jan 2001 07:50:26 -0800
>To: Quattro list <quattro at audifans.com>
>From: "Adrian Johnson" <ad at tibco.com>
>Subject: Brake Fluid Usage
>
>Listers,
>
>I now have about 9,000 miles on my A4 Avant and for the second time I find
>my brake fluid level has reached the minimum marker. That means that it's
>gone from Max to Min *twice* in 9,000 miles. I haven't noticed any wet
>patches under the car and at the 5,000 mile service I asked for the brake
>system to be inspected for leaks but they say they didn't find anything amiss.
>
>The owner's book says that the level will fall as the brake pads wear but
>should it drop this quickly? Have any A4 owners had similar experiences?
>
>TIA,
>
>Adrian.

I have nearly 33,000 km on my A4 and the brake fluid hasn't fallen below 
the 'min' mark.  Right now it's about half way between 'max' & 
'min'.   AFAIK my dealer hasn't topped the reservoir up.  Even if he did it 
would have been about a year ago at the 24,000 km maintenance 
service.  Since then the car has been to a High Performance Driving School 
with lots of hard brake usage.  Twice in 9,000 miles seems excessive.  If 
there are no visible leaks at the wheel cylinders, then that leaves only 
the hoses or the Master Cylinder.  Brake fluid can leak along the MC 
actuation rod and down the firewall for quite a while without being detected.



Stephen Kormilo                            Silver '98.5 Audi A4 2.8QM
Instructor, Electronics Technology
Red River College
Winnipeg, MB
CANADA

email: skormilo at rrc.mb.ca
OR:    srkormilo at home.com