globy123

Hi. I have a 99 Civic Sedan. I took it to a shop to replace the brake fluid and they looked at my rear brakes. When they looked at the rear cylinders there was some brake fluid inside the boot on both sides.

The outside of the boot is completely dry but when they push the boot to the side with a screwdriver there was some brake fluid on the insides of the boot. Should I replace the rear brake wheel cylinders or should I just leave them as they are?

Charlie Moua

iTrader: (3)

WTF is "rear brake cylinders"

if you could get the proper term, i think you would get more people to help.
Also when you find out the proper term, edit your orignal post.

globy123

it's the wheel cylinder in the rear brakes

Charlie Moua

iTrader: (3)

do you have rear dis or drums?

globy123

rear drums

srmofo

dont worry man, the people that arent completely clueless knew what you were talking about.

anyways, some dampness behind the boot is normal. its the way the seals slide back and forth, it will just leave a residue on the walls and after a while it builds up. however if they popped the boot off, and it ran out (more than a few drops) its time to replace them. They may last another 2 years or they may last another week, noone knows, but I can tell you that they are showing signs that seals are on the way out. If you replace them now, and the shoes are still good then you can just do the wheel cylinders....but if you wait till they pop completely and they soak your shoes you will be replacing those as well.

If it was mine I would wait until you need to replace the shoes, but its your ride and that can be a bit of a safety issue if they blow out and you're on the highway or in a panic stop situation...no brake pressure = no brakes

srmofo

he said they're wheel cylinders, obviously its rear drums

globy123

When he removed the boots the fluid did not run out, you could just see some yellow liquid around but it wasn't that much and it wasn't dripping. The outside was completely dry. The rear brake shoes are actually almost worn out so I'm going to have to replace the brake shoes soon. He said they will probably last for another 3-6 months. When the wheel cylinders fail does all the brake fluid leak out or is it just drops of brake fluid that leak out the boot? I will keep my eye on the brake fluid on the master cylinder.

He also mentioned that the front rotors have about 0.6millimeters rust circle on the outside of the rotors. I saw the rotors and yes there was about 0.6mm of rust around the outside of the rotors. Should I replace the rotors? I replaced these rotors on August 2005 and when I replaced the rotors I did not replace the pads together so do the pads need to be sanded down for the new rotors if I decide to replace the rotors? I put new pads on September 2006.

Since 80% of the braking is done by the front brake I think I should concentrate on the front brakes.