I accidentally added power steering fluids to my brakes about a week ago. Well, I figured out why they weren't working right and so I flushed my brakes. They worked, just kinda acted weird. So I flushed them and everything. So now I am bleeding the brakes. They are bleeding fine and my brakes aren't working. I drove it today with the power steering fluid in my brakes, And they didn't let off all the way. I parked it and they were fine. So they were working, but now that it is flushed, still no go. Any Ideas?

 

Bump. Need to have them fixed by today ... Help

 

Sounds like you need a new master cylinder.

 

Don't know if PS fluid will eat seals and such but I'd change out the front calipers and hoses at least, good luck.

Ed

 

I hate to say this, but you need to replace all of the seals in the system. The soft parts go bad when exposed to petroleum based fluids.

Once every thing is removed you can flush the hard lines out with denatured alcohol.

RBob.

 

How hard is it to replace all the seals? Should I just go to the junk yard and get one from the 10 third gens there? By the way, I have braided brake lines. I dont know about the seals though. They worked with the power steering fluid in it. Just when I bled the system, they stopped working. I did have trouble bleeding one front brake though.

 

don't be stupid . change all wheel cylinders . you screwed up with the tranny fluid , now you pay . also change rubber flex lines . flush system [ as above ] then install new parts and bleed . maybe i sound hard , but good brakes are very important . you can have all the horsepower in the world but if you can't stop , it ain't $hit . don't kill yourself and maybe others . no junkyard , reman. is o.k. .

 

No need to be a jerk. I am not stupid. I am not going to drive around with iffy brakes. Why do you think i flushed it an everything? I think the seals are Okay though because the brakes worked fine with the fluid in there, I just wanted to get it correct. Both fluids were dot 3 and it wasn't tranny fluid, it was power steering fluid. I think the brakes are fine, I am going to try and get them to work. I have no leaks and and I get resistance when I hit the brakes, they just don't work. I will try flushing them some more and if it doesn't work then i will take it all apart. I did have little braking power. Just not very well at all. I went like 4mph and it took a while to stop. Also, Uncle tom, Why do you bring up horse power, that has nothing to do it with. If it can't stop no matter how little power you have, it still means you cant stop.

 

i was not trying to be a jerk . [ i do have some experince at that , now that you ask ] i was just trying to get the message across that its better to be safe than sorry . if i offended you i am sorry . do what you think is right , just don't kill yourself or anyone else . once again good luck . by the way there is very little difference between tranny fluid and p/s fluid . many cars call for tranny fluid in p/s units .

 

Yeah, My friend used tranny fluid in his power steering. I am the type of person who says better safe then sorry, I will not drive it unless I know it works. I would think that since they were working fine 10 minutes before I flushed them, that they would just need a flush and be fine. Only reason I flushed them is that the ps fluid made my brakes act weird like sometimes they were normal and sometime they worked as soon as you touch them and the brakes would rub and get hot. That is the only reason. They still worked fine though, it just bugged me. But they did work normally 10 minutes before I flushed them. I picked up my friend and went to the store to get brake fluid. So I would think they would just need a flush. I am going to try bleeding them 1 more time and see if they work before I take it all apart.

 

You sure you didnt get a nice air pocket in the system when you flushed them?

 

I probably did. I think that is the problem.