The right front bake line burst at the wheel on my mother's 92. I found out from the dealer today that the brake warning light will only indicate a problem with the booster? if the level is low in itself and not the reservoir or something to that effect. Of course it also indicates that the emergency brake is on. This is a frightening thought. I had thought that there were two separate systems and if one went out, braking with two wheels would still be available.
In addition the emergency brake did seem to pull up fine when parked, but the mechanic told me today that the drums weren't in contact and he couldn't stop the car until he threw it into neutral.
This problem started somewhat suddenly at a light the day before total failure. I found that the pedal was sinking too low. Things did not seem to get worse until the next day when they suddenly got so bad the car hardly slowed down at all. After filling the almost empty reservoir it poured out under the wheel well.
I was told today that this problem happened because my mother doesn't put enough mileage on the car and water gets into the fluid and causes corrosion. I don't remember if he specified highway trips or stop and go but I'm thinking that stop and go would help more. I have a 93 and don't put too much mileage on it right now because I work very close to my home. I wonder if I'm likely to have a problem too. I also wonder if she should have the fluid changed once a year or so. I think she puts on 3 to 4 thousand miles a year.
Any comments on the above?
Thanks,
Marc
I