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My car's brakes were inspected some time ago, and it was found that the passenger wheel cylinder for the rear brakes was leaking. A few questions:

1) How bad is this?

2) Can the car be sold if it has this condition? Obviously I would disclose this to a potential buyer; I just want to know that, in the case that I sell it with this pre-existing condition and that the car is sold in "as-is" condition, there will be no lawsuit potential or prosecution.

3) Maybe unrelated to the problem with the brakes, there is water leakage to the passenger's side of the car. This leakage does not occur from the window or the top of the car; it seems to come from below. Why does this happen?

Lentes
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1 Answers1

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A leaky brake cylinder is about an bad as it gets with regard to safety. I had a vehicle with the same type of leak. The moment the brake fluid gets low enough, the brakes stop working immediately without warning. For me, it was exiting an interstate highway in heavy traffic. The fix is relatively easy - if you can change the brake pads, you can change the cylinder - and cheap. The cylinder for my car would have been about $50 for the part.

The wet passenger side is likely a leaky heater core. Not terribly detrimental as long as you keep the coolant topped off regularly. Symptoms of a leaky heater core are a smell of antifreeze within the vehicle and wet carpet on the front passenger floorboard.

DO NOT use "stop leak" products in the coolant! It will destroy your engine.

psaxton
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