Sudden brake hydraulic fluid leak 1999 A6 1,8T

1999 A6 1,8T

Hi folks.
Sudden onset of leak of hydraulic fluid at the union of hydraulic hose to
rear calliper. As light was fading and working conditions were not great, I
only managed a brief inspection.
The connecting bolt was tight. However, I removed it & had a quick look
around. My question is whether there are meant to be any sealing washers on
the mating surfaces? (Non banjo shape, but banjo type connection) I suspect
not, as the block on the end of the hose seems to be machined flat but
leaving a bit of a spigot around the bolt hole. Does this spigot perform as
if a sealing washer? The surface of this spigot seemed somewhat pitted,
which surprised me. Checked everything was clean, reassembled and leak still
apparent. The fluid seems to seep under the head of the fixing bolt. The
fluid loss seems to be far more than I would have expected, Brake pedal will
reach floor without engine power assistance in about 10 seconds.

If no washers are employed I guess I'm looking to replace the rear hose
assy. ? Not sure how the flexible hose fixes onto the actual brake pipe?
Anybody out there replaced rear calliper, or hose/pipe?

Ian

Ian,
I've never worked on an A6, but chances are the mating surfaces are in the
end of the fitting, like a flare with a nearly matching bump in the socket
of the cast brake caliper. Usually such a leak does not appear out of the
blue, but following servicing in that area - like the replacement of a
rotor/pads or wheel bearing. Or, as in the case of my 5ktq's clutch master
cylinder, when the fitting is cross-threaded into the cast hole, and the
edge of the flare damages the seating bump at the bottom of the hole (local
dealer service did that - guess how happy I was) It is possible (although I
have yet to see it) that the mating surface could be galled and seal poorly,
or the fitting itself could be cracked in the threads, making it look as
though the leak is coming through the flare and up between the threads. If
it's a cracked fitting, be careful as the more you torque it, the more the
crack will open up and if the fitting shears off in the caliper, you'll have
to find a place to get a rebuild.
Cheers!
Steve Sears
1987 Audi 5kTQ
1980 Audi 5k
1962 and '64 Auto Union DKW Junior deLuxes
(SPAM Blocker NOTE: Remove SHOES to reply)

"Ian Gaskell" > wrote in message
...
> 1999 A6 1,8T
>
> Hi folks.
> Sudden onset of leak of hydraulic fluid at the union of hydraulic hose to
> rear calliper. As light was fading and working conditions were not great,
> I
> only managed a brief inspection.
> The connecting bolt was tight. However, I removed it & had a quick look
> around. My question is whether there are meant to be any sealing washers
> on
> the mating surfaces? (Non banjo shape, but banjo type connection) I
> suspect
> not, as the block on the end of the hose seems to be machined flat but
> leaving a bit of a spigot around the bolt hole. Does this spigot perform
> as
> if a sealing washer? The surface of this spigot seemed somewhat pitted,
> which surprised me. Checked everything was clean, reassembled and leak
> still
> apparent. The fluid seems to seep under the head of the fixing bolt. The
> fluid loss seems to be far more than I would have expected, Brake pedal
> will
> reach floor without engine power assistance in about 10 seconds.
>
> If no washers are employed I guess I'm looking to replace the rear hose
> assy. ? Not sure how the flexible hose fixes onto the actual brake pipe?
> Anybody out there replaced rear calliper, or hose/pipe?
>
> Ian
>
>

A leak from the caliper P/B lever seal will run down around the brake
hose fitting and appear on casual inspection to be a leaking
hose/fitting. Careful inspection will confirm.
JR

Ian Gaskell wrote:

> 1999 A6 1,8T
>
> Hi folks.
> Sudden onset of leak of hydraulic fluid at the union of hydraulic hose to
> rear calliper. As light was fading and working conditions were not great, I
> only managed a brief inspection.
> The connecting bolt was tight. However, I removed it & had a quick look
> around. My question is whether there are meant to be any sealing washers on
> the mating surfaces? (Non banjo shape, but banjo type connection) I suspect
> not, as the block on the end of the hose seems to be machined flat but
> leaving a bit of a spigot around the bolt hole. Does this spigot perform as
> if a sealing washer? The surface of this spigot seemed somewhat pitted,
> which surprised me. Checked everything was clean, reassembled and leak still
> apparent. The fluid seems to seep under the head of the fixing bolt. The
> fluid loss seems to be far more than I would have expected, Brake pedal will
> reach floor without engine power assistance in about 10 seconds.
>
> If no washers are employed I guess I'm looking to replace the rear hose
> assy. ? Not sure how the flexible hose fixes onto the actual brake pipe?
> Anybody out there replaced rear calliper, or hose/pipe?
>
> Ian
>
>


--
--------------------------------------------------------------

In message >
"Ian Gaskell" > wrote:

> My question is whether there are meant to be any sealing washers on
> the mating surfaces?

ETKA doesn't show any washers, but the pipe to the rear calipers is an
assemply of rigid pipe, flexible pip, banjo and bolt all as a single
part - 8E0 611 763 K for the LHS, and 8E0 611 764 K for the right hand
side.

--
Peter Bell (Note Spamtrap - To reply, replace 'invalid' with 'bellfamily')

Hi Ian, first time I have replied to one of these posts but I have had the
exact same problem.
My 1998 A6 Avant dumped all it's fluid overnight, quite scary to discover it
the following morning!

Anyway, being a cheapskate I trawled round the usual Andrew Page, German
Swedish etc to no avail. Had to bite the bullet and visit Audi main
dealer - Result! assembly is around £13 each and comprises solid brake line
about 300mm fixed to flexy which has a captive banjo type bolt and TWO
washers, one front one back.
I replaced left and right as I had heard at last MOT that it is a common
problem, the pipes that cam off were weird as left had no washers and the
right just one! It was repaired for the same problem last year so the
mechanic could have bodged the damm thing but be assured, the new ones have
two washers.

Furthermore the official brake fluid was cheaper than at Halfords!!
Now if I could just fix the ABS light........

Paul

"Ian Gaskell" > wrote in message
...
> 1999 A6 1,8T
>
> Hi folks.
> Sudden onset of leak of hydraulic fluid at the union of hydraulic hose to
> rear calliper. As light was fading and working conditions were not great,
> I
> only managed a brief inspection.
> The connecting bolt was tight. However, I removed it & had a quick look
> around. My question is whether there are meant to be any sealing washers
> on
> the mating surfaces? (Non banjo shape, but banjo type connection) I
> suspect
> not, as the block on the end of the hose seems to be machined flat but
> leaving a bit of a spigot around the bolt hole. Does this spigot perform
> as
> if a sealing washer? The surface of this spigot seemed somewhat pitted,
> which surprised me. Checked everything was clean, reassembled and leak
> still
> apparent. The fluid seems to seep under the head of the fixing bolt. The
> fluid loss seems to be far more than I would have expected, Brake pedal
> will
> reach floor without engine power assistance in about 10 seconds.
>
> If no washers are employed I guess I'm looking to replace the rear hose
> assy. ? Not sure how the flexible hose fixes onto the actual brake pipe?
> Anybody out there replaced rear calliper, or hose/pipe?
>
> Ian
>
>

The message >
from "J Paul Chapman" > contains these words:

> Now if I could just fix the ABS light........

Commonest is dead brakelights followed by dead wheel sensors. You should
get a visible signal on a multimeter from each wheel sensor when
unplugged and spun by hand.

--
Skipweasel
Si hoc legere scis nimium eruditionis habes.

no errors showing on your diagnostic too? thre ecu should have recorded
somthing for to to find,

Steve.

"Guy King" > wrote in message
...
> The message >
> from "J Paul Chapman" > contains these words:
>
>> Now if I could just fix the ABS light........
>
> Commonest is dead brakelights followed by dead wheel sensors. You should
> get a visible signal on a multimeter from each wheel sensor when
> unplugged and spun by hand.
>
> --
> Skipweasel
> Si hoc legere scis nimium eruditionis habes.

"J Paul Chapman" > wrote in message
...
> Hi Ian, first time I have replied to one of these posts but I have had the
> exact same problem.
> My 1998 A6 Avant dumped all it's fluid overnight, quite scary to discover
it
> the following morning!

Indeed, it was the sudden onset of the problem that amazed me. I can only
believe it was the result of corrosion/ pitting of the surface that mates
with the fixing bolt. I suppose it's analagous to a dam bursting. Totally
intact one minute, but as soon as its breached, the initial flow erodes
around it and rapidly escalates to a flood,


> Anyway, being a cheapskate I trawled round the usual Andrew Page, German
> Swedish etc to no avail. Had to bite the bullet and visit Audi main
> dealer - Result! assembly is around £13 each and comprises solid brake
line
> about 300mm fixed to flexy which has a captive banjo type bolt and TWO
> washers, one front one back.
> I replaced left and right as I had heard at last MOT that it is a common
> problem, the pipes that cam off were weird as left had no washers and the
> right just one! It was repaired for the same problem last year so the
> mechanic could have bodged the damm thing but be assured, the new ones
have
> two washers.

I ordered the brake hose today. I will advise if it comes with any sealing
washers. My only other thought was maybe to try to improve the surface
finish of the "banjo" end of the flexi-hose eg by honing with a sharpening
stone, but really dont want to take any risks with a safety item such as
this.


>
> Furthermore the official brake fluid was cheaper than at Halfords!!
> Now if I could just fix the ABS light........
>
> Paul

Good luck with your ABS problem. You may be interested in a brake related
problem my brother had on a Rover 620 diesel. Symptom was an almost total
lack of power when he switched the car lights on. Traced it to be an
internal fault inside the rear light/brake light bulb. The two circuits
became linked inside the bulb. Car lights on put 12 volts onto the brake
circuit. ECU thought the driver was braking and cut back power. Presumably a
fuel saving strategy. Should probably need brakes on PLUS throttle in OFF
position to do it "correctly"