Nasty brakes and wheel hub.

[TC]

On my 05 Neon, I have developed a brake fluid leak…. again. Anyways, everything looked fine by the Master Cylinder, which I just replaced to address a previous leak. The front components were fine but when I removed the passenger drum, I noticed that it was wet with fluid as well as the shoes, hub, and adjuster springs. Everything was covered with black goop. I watched the etcg video about leaky wheel cylinders and concluded that this was my problem…. Maybe. My question is this. Why is it that when I pulled back the rubber boot, as instructed, no fluid came out? Should I go ahead and replace them on both sides or look elsewhere for the leak? I don’t know of anything else down there that could be leaking. But there probably is…. I have no clue how all that stuff works. Thanks in advance! This car hasn’t been giving me trouble until recently but I’m proud of it to have made it this far (213k) given the bad reputation that Neons have.

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[Bill]

I would say that the wheel cylinder is leaking and should be replaced. I would replace both sides and get it over with. If you’re not comfortable doing the job yourself get some help or have a professional do it for you. The steel brake lines are likely to have rusted fittings that would require the use of a oxy/acetylene torch to loosen or replace the lines.

[Aaron]

I wouldn’t say the 2nd gen neons have a bad reputation if people do proper maintenance. About the only failures I know on them is their radiators which have the transmission cooler at the bottom or the normal things like timing belts (yay interference engines!)

Here’s a video I used to change out the shoes and hardware on my rear drums on my 04. Once you’ve got it all apart it’s not much more work to replace the cylinder and bleed the brakes.

[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UvKD6Jcfqm8[/video]

[Author]

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