On Sat, 5 Apr 2008 13:17:58 -0500, "Neil" <nospam@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
>Thanks to everyone for the excellent advice that's been given regarding
our
>situation. We're definitely going to get the car fixed or else just park
it.
>But now there's a slight situation.
>
>I talked to the shop that gave the quote, and it was $130, not $110,
which
>is fine. Only thing is, I asked him what would be replaced. He said the
>wheel cylinders. I asked about the brake shoes, and he said that they
just
>have a little brake fluid on them, so he would just clean them off. I
asked,
>"What if they're soaked in brake fluid?" And he said that he would still
>just clean them off. As long as they're not falling apart, he said, they
>should be fine.
>
>Does that sound right to you? Leave the brake shoes and just clean them
off?
Sounds iffy to me. Cleaning them off will get the fluid on the
surface. As your son drives the car, the shoes will wear down and if
the fluid has permeated into the shoes, he'll be back -almost- to
square one with the brakes (just that the cylinders should not be
leaking).
>I took the car in this morning to another place to get a second opinion.
He
>was going to give me a free brake inspection for the rear brakes. But
then,
>when he got to it, he said that the rear drum had bearings, and he would
>have to repack the bearings, which would be a half hour of labor, and
would
>have to charge me for that. So he didn't take the drum off. But, he said
>that he saw brake fluid leaking out of the drum which, he said, indicated
>that brake fluid was definitely in the drum, and, therefore, on the
shoes.
>(Since that was all I needed to know, I didn't need for him to take the
drum
>off.)
>
>So, if there's so much brake fluid in the drum that it's leaking out the
>other side, there must be a fair amount of fluid on the shoes. Would just
>cleaning the shoes be enough?
>
>Thanks!
I'm not sure if cleaning would be enogh, but brakes are the one system
you should never take chances with. I'd play it safe and go ahead and
replace the shoes and possiblly the drums also if they have been
soaked in the fluid.
--
--
"Foley, we should have known it was you...."
--From the movie Beverly Hills Cop.
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