Brake fluid reservoirs leaking

[RyanD]

2 of the 3 reservoirs in my car are leaking just enough to be annoying.  I tried tightening the clamps, but that didn't fix it.  For now I have a towel around them so that they won't drip on my feet.  Any ideas what the problem could be?

[Terry Kennedy]

[quote="RyanD"]
2 of the 3 reservoirs in my car are leaking just enough to be annoying.  I tried tightening the clamps, but that didn't fix it.  For now I have a towel around them so that they won't drip on my feet.  Any ideas what the problem could be?
[/quote]

I have the Tilton version, though I expect the Wilwood is very similar if not identical. It is a rather odd setup with two pieces of plastic (inner and outer) sealed with a rubber O-ring. The most common problems are 1) poor trimming of leftover plastic when molding the parts and 2) incorrect positioning of the O-ring or clamp. To fix either problem, drain the fluid and loosen the clamp to remove the reservoir from the mounting bracket. Now remove the O-ring from the mounting bracket. Carefully feel for any lumps on the inner surface of the reservoir flange and the outer surface of the mounting bracket flange, as well as the indentation where the O-ring goes. If you find any lumps, carefully sand them down (taking great care to not contaminate the system). Use PBR RG17 Rubber Grease to lubricate both the indentation (before re-installing the O-ring) and the outer edge of the O-ring (after re-installing). Then re-assemble the reservoir to the mounting bracket (don't forget the clamp!) and, after making sure the clamp is in the correct position, tighten the clamp. Do not over-tighten or you may crumple the plastic.

The Tilton instructions can be found here. You can order the rubber grease here.

[positron]

The urge to overtighten is strong but must be resisted.

This is what I found with mine.. copied from the instructions.. (who'da thunk it..)

"Place the wire clamp so that one wire of the clamp is above the o-ring and the other is below the o-ring."

As you are tightening use a wide screwdriver or pliers to maneuver the wires of the wire clamp to where they are suppose to be (parallel), not where they want to be..

[Heywood-Yablowme]

Take the wire clamps off and toss them as far as you can.Now,get some flat clamps and fix the leaks. I replaced my first Atoms clamps with band clamps and reduced the drippage to zero. My "new" Atom has about 1 pint of brake fluid oozing around the tub area due to leakage.; soon to be repaired with band clamps.   Again,do not overtighten them.You are only clamping plastic to plastic. What a shitty design.

[RyanD]

Thanks for the help.  I'll have to add that to my winter maintenance list.

[Bottoz]

Good Luck Ryan, I had the same problem.... just the slightest leak. I loosened the clamp, re-tightened it and was A-OK.