1998 Dodge Dakota Master cylinder/fluid

Tiny
SCHWANTZ78
  • MEMBER
  • 1998 DODGE DAKOTA
Brakes problem
1998 Dodge Dakota 6 cyl Two Wheel Drive Automatic 153K miles

The fluid in the master cylinder has a layer of a jelly substance(like a hair gel). What causes this and how is it properly repaired? The truck also has a low break pedal and almost no stoping power.
Saturday, September 5th, 2009 AT 1:11 AM

2 Replies

Tiny
KHLOW2008
  • MECHANIC
  • 41,814 POSTS
Hi schwantz78,

Thank you for the donation.

The brake fluid has been contaminated with oil. The low brake pedal is most probably due to the master cylinder seals being damaged by the contaminated oil.

Use a sponge to absorb the oil and clean the master cylinder reservoir. Top up with fresh fliud and check if oil is present. You might have to clean the resevoir a few times to get all the oil out.

Replace the master and bleed system and recheck the braking power and if oil is still present in reservoir.
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Saturday, September 5th, 2009 AT 1:52 PM
Tiny
CARADIODOC
  • MECHANIC
  • 33,867 POSTS
Once the fluid is contaminated with petroleum product, you MUST replace everything in the hydraulic system that has rubber parts or seals.

Three rubber hoses, two calipers, two wheel cylinders, master cylinder / reservoir, combination valve, and height-sensing proportioning valve. All steel lines must be flushed and dried. RWAL valve assembly or hydraulic control unit if you have rear wheel antilock brakes or four wheel antilock brakes.

I've been involved with three vehicles with fluid contamination. You will not achieve satisfactory results if you only replace a few items at a time. You will just keep on replacing sticking or leaking items until you finally replace everything at once, ... Or scrap the vehicle due to excessive expense.

Caradiodoc
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Monday, September 7th, 2009 AT 1:50 AM

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