Ford - Explorer :: 1998 - Brake Fluid Leaking In Cold Weather
Jan 24, 2014
I have a 1998 Ford Explorer. 215K miles. Original Owner. When it is cold there is a very light leaking of brake fluid at the base of the master cylinder where it meets the brake booster. This morning it was 14 degrees and there was a much bigger leak. Filled it back up and went to work. I'm thinking its about time I took care of it. I've had the the master cylinder replaced once at Goodyear Auto Service Center years ago.
I'll post a picture later but having the leak where it is. Would that be a replacement of both the master cylinder and brake booster? How can you tell? Or is it better just to change out both. Having done more work on my car over years I feel I can do the work myself. Plus the master cylinder is only like $50 and $60 for the brake booster.
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I have a 5.0 Explorer 1998 and it has a problem for which I cannot find a definite solution, everyone says a different thing. The problem is that when the weather is hot, sometimes the engine does a strange thing. You ride the car for some time, especially if you do it on a high speed so the engine is really hot (but no overheating symptoms) - and then you kill the engine and leave it for a few minutes - to walk into a store, let's say.
After that you attempt to start the engine... sometimes it starts, but there were several times when it refused to catch, it cranks, at first tries to start, but stalls... then it just cranks without even attempting to start. And I had one occasion when it stopped working right in the middle of the road while crawling in traffic, but it was really HOT outside. Luckily, all other cases were in our town, so I could at least walk home. So, the problem seems to overheating of something, as in normal or cold weather it never happens. And every time, after the car is left to stay in place for some time, an hour or more, cannot say exactly - it starts perfectly!
I am really tried of this and want to eliminate the reason. But I am hearing so many different opinions about this problem. I thought that it could be the overheating of the fuel pump. But then it would stop working while moving, not after you shut the engine off and the pump cannot be still working and overheating. The only place where the heat can build up when you stop and turn the engine off is under the hood, as the fan stops, the coolant pump stops and the air isn't blowing as the car isn't moving. But the pump is in the tank! And I never ride on empty fuel tank, I always keep some level, lately I tried to keep it even higher, but yesterday it refused to start when the tank was almost half-full. Also, if it was just dying - a dying fuel pump gives certain symptoms like slow acceleration, engine shaking and trying to stall when you press the pedal, sudden stalling, uneven idling etc. In this case, nothing like this. The car's behavior is absolutely normal, acceleration good, normal idle. It happens ONLY under certain conditions, involving heat.
Other people say that it can be due to low pressure in the fuel ramp and the gasoline is starting to boil at some moment, when the temperature under the hood rises to a certain point. As a reason they name the pump (but as I said, I doubt it) or the fuel pressure control valve - don't know its exact name, it's a valve which maintains a certain pressure in the fuel ramp and releases excessive pressure by returning some fuel to the tank. However, when this valve gets stuck and doesn't maintain pressure, it mostly influences the cold start, as the fuel pressure drops and you have to crank for a long time while the pump is building the pressure again. But my car has never had any problems with the cold start, it's always instantaneous. Also, when this problem occurs and you start the engine after it cools down, it catches instantly which means THERE IS pressure in the ramp. So I don't believe in low pressure, gasoline boiling and resulting vapor jams.
And finally, I read that it may be caused by defective/dying engine temperature or crankshaft position sensors. As for the temp sensor, I will replace it tomorrow anyway. I am also thinking of having a look at the crankshaft sensor, where it's located on 5.0 V8?
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When it's cold outside my car will start up, but not stay running. The only way I can get it to stay running is to keep my food on the gas for up to five minutes. Once the vehicle is warmed up, it stays running. If I start it every hour or so, it will run fine. It's just when it's been sitting out in around zero degree weather overnight for example.
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I took my 1993 Ford Explorer for an oil change they told me I also needed a rear differential service and a transmission service, so I told them to go ahead (this was on a wednesday). On friday the car broke down leaking transmission fluid (reddish oil). The clutch was making a sound when pushed in and we were not able to shift. I towed it back to the place where the oil was changed the gentelman open something under the car and he said that it had transmission fluid. He got on the car turned on and push the clutch when he did that a lot of fluid began coming out (reddish oil). He said it was the clutch that went out. We think they messed up the transmission. I towed the truck to a garage and the guy mentioned something about a plug related to the transmission. Could the oil people have done something wrong to the transmission that made the car break down???
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'99 Explorer 5.0 doesn't want to start in the cold weather, below 30. After it finally starts it runs great and will start all day. It cranks fast but it doesn't get driven every day.
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I had a small leak in my 94 Explorer which was getting on the compressor pulley and being splattered around the engine compartment. The fluid was green like antifreeze--which didn't make sense; why would antifreeze be leaking from the air con compressor? But as an experiment, I got a non-AC belt and ran the truck without the compressor pulley turning, and the leak has stopped! The level in the coolant overflow tank has dropped an inch or two in the last 500 or so miles. Is it possible that antifreeze is getting into the air con system somehow, like through an internal leak in the heater core?
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I have 2007 sport trac 4.0 liter V6. I have noticed for the past week or so that I have antifreeze leaking from the bottom of the radiator and I had to add some coolant to it the other day(1/2 gallon). I know it is the radiator leaking and not the overflow so I am going to go head and order me a radiator and change it. I have read that some of the replacement radiators was not lasting but about a year before they leaked.From what I have read on the internet a lot of ford owners is having this same problem with the radiator leaking at around 60,000 miles. Also there is no transmission dip stick to check the fluid, will I lose enough fluid that it hurt the transmission. I have just had the 60,000 mile transmission service done.
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I had an 02 Explorer for years now and absolutely love it. It has almost 170,000 miles on it and is definitely showing its age. There's alot of rust underneath and ive been replacing things as they break. For about a year now I've been dealing with the transmission leaking fluid. This vehicle doesn't have a transmission dipstick and has to be filled from underneath. When I have the transmission full of fluid it works perfectly until recently. Now, when I go up a hill the transmission goes into an almost neutral state.
The R.P.M's will go up past 4000 and I'll have to stop. It doesn't misfire or bog down, just acts as if the tranny is in neutral. Sometimes I just sit there for a minute and its fine, other times I haven't been as lucky. In one instance I had to sit there for about 20 minutes, in another I disconnected the battery to reset everything, and on another instance it would stall out the moment I put it in gear. I know it's a little low on fluid and will be getting it filled again soon. I plan on possibly getting a new transmission this winter, but gotta keep it going till then.
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The power steering fluid in my 2004 Nissan Frontier crew cab leaks as the weather turns cold, the colder it gets the worse it leaks.
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The colder it gets the harder it takes to start my 2000 Ford Explorer. Have read that it's the Intake Air Temperature Sensor.
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Just replaced brake line and bled system. 2000 Power Stroke with Auto Tranny. Now brake fluid leaks from bell housing after running and using brakes. Brakes function fine. What did I do wrong?
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I have a 1998 Chevrolet Prizm that will not fast idle when it is started in cold weather the first thing in morning. what could be the problem?
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Bought a 98 last week and noticed an issue a couple of days ago. The car seems to be leaking power steering fluid from right in front of passenger front tire. Looks like it's coming down from somewhere behind the bumper, just not sure what line are over there. I had to replace one of the clamps on the line below the ps bottle and it seemed to be fine for 2 days.
The weird part is that it doesn't seem steady. I had the car parked in one spot for an hour the first time I noticed the problem and the wet spot was about a foot in diameter. But then I drove the car last night and left it parked in the driveway for hours and nothing. This morning when I was leaving there was a puddle about 4" in diameter.
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My 98 Honda Civic is leaking antifreeze. The man at the oil change place said that I need a new head gasket. But when I look at the engine with the motor running, I see that the fluid is dripping from something I believe is called the water outlet cover. This is on the far left side of the motor where the top radiator hose connects. Can I safely assume that the water outlet gasket is truly the problem and is a cheaper fix?
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I have a 1998 Honda Accord 4 cylinder with roughly 150k miles. When the weather is cold outside the steering wheel will shake until the car warms up. I have taken the car into the shop and they checked the engine mounts, tie rods, etc and they told me that the car is fine. The tires are not unbalanced nor are they packed with dirt or debris. The vibration only occurs when the car is cold and it goes away once the car warms up. Also, the vibration will stop when I simply place a small amount of pressure on the steering wheel with my hand or knee. The vibration does not occur when I am driving at low or high speeds and it usually only occurs when I am stopped at stop signs or lights.
I have done the regular maintenance on the vehicle and I have replaced the timing belt, spark plugs/ wires, belt(s), etc, if that make a difference.
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I've currently have 114,000 miles on this Pontiac Bonneville and I replaced the intake manifold last summer. Recently, I have been having issues with the intake manifold leaking a fluid on the right side of it (facing the engine) and been having dirt or some other type of fluid mixing in my fluid tank. The leak has been causing some smoking issues. Also, when I start the car in the morning white smoke comes out of the back of it. Where I need to start so that I can get this fixed. I'm assuming something went wrong in the replacement.
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The 2003 Ex. Made it back home last week after a couple years at college. .. registration sticker expired last June! Drivers side mirror "taped" on. Rear bumper cover torn in half w/ a few screws holding it on.
Busted out foglight & small tear in bumper cover above it.
Brake light on - noticed fluid low & cap not seated correctly. One of the tabs that hold the cap in place is broken... new reservoir under $20 at rockauto. Looking for a write up or better to replace entire master cylinder?
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I have an '06 Camry 4cyl with 84,000 miles on the clock. The brake fluid in the mc is leaking down. It takes about 3 weeks for it to leak down enough for the brake light to come on. I have checked the mc,booster, hose from booster to engine,traced the lines to the ABS,traced the lines to each wheel,checked the calipers,rear wheel cylinders,and under the dash.
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So I had a stuck caliper on the driver rear side. I pushed the piston back and checked everything to make sure all was in working order. After some though and reading about the calipers getting stuck which old brake lines, I decided to upgrade the line with the Russell stainless steal lines.
I got all the lines put in but I seem to have fluid leaking on the passenger side fitting which I can't seem to get to stop. I put the old line back in but it is still leaking. I am not sure what I need to do or check to get it to stop. It seems to be leaking from the thread area. I checked the fittings and they don't look cross threaded so I don't understand why it may be happening.
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My son and I were coming down the mountain on I-70 near Georgetown, Colorado in a snowstorm in his toyota 4runner. We had just gone through the Eisenhower Tunnel. There was alot of traffic, and driving conditions were terrible. We were traveling approximately 10 miles per hour when my son told me that his brakes were not working. We downshifted, and then slid into the guardrail on the median (we were in the left lane). Luckily we were not hurt, and we did not hit anyone else. Once the car was towed back to Denver, the brakes worked again. My son is getting the car checked by a mechanic, but why the brakes gave out and how he can avoid that happening in the future? Was it related to the cold weather (approximate 10 degrees)? I did not feel that he was riding the brakes as we descended. The road was icy at the time.
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I currently have no brake fluid in my car because it keeps leaking out (leaks while actively being used). The leak is between the power brake booster and the brake master cylinder... Is there any type of gasket I can get to better fill the gap between the two pieces of metal? Is there some way to tell which of the two pieces is creating the leak to narrow down which to purchase?
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