18 replies to this topic

[Jimmyarm]

No way !

Surely if the seals went on the servo to that extent you would loose all the hydraulic effect of the fluid and your brakes wouldnt work at all as the system is no longer sealed ?

[ludsonline]

Mine smells of oil - so will whip the head off and change the head gasket & stem seals.

[Big_Adam]

Have some wet dry grit paper read for when you do that. Clean the block surface up.

[dklawson]

Jimmyarm, regarding the possible leak of brake fluid from the servo....

Yes, burning brake fluid is possible and not that uncommon in OLD cars. The servo has a vacuum system and the hydraulic system. It's no more unusual for the piston rod seals in the servo to leak just like wheel cylinders. The seals don't have to have a catastrophic failure, they can ooze and weep. The leaking fluid collects in the vacuum canister portion of the servo and gets sucked down the vacuum hose to the intake manifold. Typically the leaking fluid collects over time so the white smoke is more noticeable on startup. You typically don't see the smoke after the car's been running for a while. It doesn't take a lot of fluid to make a lot of smoke.