Brake fluid empty

[Broadside]

The MFD briefly flashed up a message to say brake fluid was low but disappeared again very quickly. I checked the brake fluid reservoir and it is completely empty. Van is driving fine, the clutch has juddered on reverse for the two years we have owned it. No noticeable difference to the brakes.

No obvious leak in the engine bay or from the callipers but it must be leaking somewhere. We’ve topped up the fluid and are not driving it until the garage look at it tomorrow.

I do wonder if the clutch judder is actually from a fluid leak in there somewhere.

Any ideas?

 

[Dellmassive]

Keep is posted

 

[Broadside]

Keep is posted

Will do @Dellmassive

 

[Pauly]

Just something to keep in mind is brake pad wear level, obviously the reservoir should not be empty but a lot of people dont consider fluid levels vs brake pad age
As brakes wear the level will drop slightly and when you change pads and push the pistons back in the level will rise slightly, brimming the reservoir with low pads can lead to brake fluid overflow when replacing the pads

 

[Broadside]

Thanks @Pauly good info. I did have the rear pads changed about 1000 miles ago.

 

[Paynewright]

When changing brake fluid I usually empty the reservoir with a large syringe and refill with new fluid so when I bleed it there is minimal old fluid to get out of the system.

 

[Broadside]

Garage just called, it is the concentric slave cylinder so new clutch needed too. £1000 all in but I’ve asked them to do the DMF as well which brings the bill up to £1300.

As well as juddering in reverse it had started to judder in 1st over the last thousand miles so it must have been the leak getting worse that caused it.

 

[Howzat]

Will be interested to hear if this fixes the juddering as I'm also expreriencing this. I found that letting the clutch out in 3rd until the van stalls has reduced the juddering but it's still there.

 

[Broadside]

Got the van back today, all back to normal with no juddering in reverse or first gear. It’s had the slave cylinder, clutch and DMF replaced.

It’s an annoying bill but it has juddered in reverse for 2 years so I think I have done well out of it. £1300 all in. They had to push it in to the workshop today as I think the slave cylinder completed failed so it was just about to let us down out on the road. It’s a relief to have caught it in time after the brake fluid warning light came on Saturday.

 

[Broadside]

Will be interested to hear if this fixes the juddering as I'm also expreriencing this. I found that letting the clutch out in 3rd until the van stalls has reduced the juddering but it's still there.

This is one of the first repairs I’ve had on any car or van that is really noticeable. Apart from the obvious juddering now we’ve got a new DMF I’ve realised how noisy and rough the old one had become. It really is a lot smoother to drive and quieter, I had taken to changing from 1st to 2nd gear very gently to keep things less jerky, it’s now smooth like a new van. I was quite surprised when I drove it home, even starting the engine is a lot quieter, I thought it was just a rattly diesel but it turns out the DMF must have been making a racket. Anyway just relieved more than anything else to get it sorted.

 

[Howzat]

Good to hear that you've resolved the judder. I was already planning to book mine in at the end of summer for the clutch and DMF due to judder.
How much extra was you charged for the slave cylinder?
Maybe I should ask my mechanic to check it while he's in there.
Just wondering, what mileage are you on? Seems the DMF's don't last 100k+ miles like they used to.

 

[Broadside]

My van is on 85k now, we bought it with 55k 2 years ago, reverse has always juddered since we’ve owned it. It wasn’t too bad until about 70k so we just got used to feathering the clutch or letting it out fully to reverse smoothly.

My wife picked the van up from the garage, the mechanic told her the DMF was very worn but I don’t know how you quantify that.

I haven’t got the bill with me but i recall the slave cylinder was not expensive, around £60.

 

[Howzat]

Thanks for that @Broadside.
I've just tipped 60k. Shocking how such a major component is almost waer and tear these days.

 

[Broadside]

Yep it sure is, but now I can start dropping the clutch off the lights again without worrying about knackering an ageing flywheel!