I've been having a terrible time with barkes. My booster is about 5 years old, the master cylinder is only a year old. Last weekend after chasing a vacuum problem, I completely drained the entire system of what looked like roiginal fluid. I was very careful not to let the levels in the m/c drop too low as it was draining. After it ran clear on all wheels, I buttoned it up, the pressure bled each wheel for air. Man, I had super brakes for about 2 days. Yesterday, after spending two days piddling around and cleaning up for a car show, the brake pedal was bottoming out. I pulled the m/c cover and the front res. was nearly empty. There is no evidence of a leak anywhere. What should I look for?
Thanks, Wes

If there are no external leaks then the brake fluid is leaking out the back of the master cylinder and into the power booster. Bought a '69 el Camino last fall and the booster was loaded with brake fluid.

If the booster has fluid in it, can it be emptied and reused?

Not usually, the brake fluid will eventually eat away at the rubber diaphram. You could have it rebuilt or just buy a reman one.

Jeff

You might want to remove the front drums and inspect the wheel cylinders closely. Sometimes when they first begin to leak, there is so much brake lining dust that it absorbs the fluid leaking and there will be no evidence of fluid leaking with the wheel and tire still on the car. This happened to me once. But if it has disc on front, then I agree the master must be leaking into the booster.