wheel cylinders leaking?

If the lines weren't flushed, dirt in them will cause early seal failures.

Mike

No.

Especially not if they're re-manufactured (honed) rather than new, or if they're a chromed piston not stainless, or if they're old pistons in rebuilt calipers, or if you live somewhere with road salt.

The brake line goes into the back of the wheel cylinder, and is exposed on the OUTSIDE of the brake backing plate. If the line is leaking, there will be fluid on the outside of the backing plate. Fluid on the inside and soaking the brake linings can really only come from the cylinders themselves. I'd wonder if there's excessive moisture in the system that caused the new cylinders to corrode rapidly. Brake fluid should be flushed periodically anyway, especially if the vehicle is driven rarely and/or in cold or damp climates.

How big are the brake drums now? Excessive wear and/or turning will cause the wheel cylinders to leak as the shoes wear and the wheel cylinders overextend.

Don't know how big the drums are now. The shoes were replaced same time as the cylinders about 28k mi. ago and still would have had lots of miles left on them if not saturated with fluid. The car's driven daily in south Florida so no ice/salt.

Maybe it was just a poorly manufactured part? Or along the lines of "work paid for but not done", would there be any markings on a cylinder (95 Toyota Celica) that would identify it as original equipment?

Thanks for the responses....