Gotpepsi

Found out today that my brake fluid was low because the brake light kept coming on when I took sharp turns. I checked inside the cabin and the master cylinder. Where is the next thing I should check? Its either leaking or I didn't fill it correctly.

zeroptzero

Check for stains inside the barrels of the rims, if it leaks at the calipers it ends up on the inside of the wheels.
If it is the lines under the car you would see stains on the floor of your driveway/garage.

The brake fluid level will drop as the brake pads wear down, if it drops slowly over time you are likely fine, if it happened quickly then perhaps you have a leak.

Gotpepsi

The inner wheels and garage floor is spotless. I haven't checked the brake fluid in approximately 8-10 months. My front pads do look a lot more worn then the rear pads. Would brake fluid drop significantly if the pads are about half life? Perhaps from max to minimum?

My front pads are maybe half the width of my rear pads, I'm running hawk HP+

Topplayer

how low are we talking? could it just be that your pads wore down? or like you said you didnt fill it correctly at first?


after checking the master, each caliper, I would just fill it up and monitor it

Slowcrash_101

When you eat up your pads your brake fluid will fill the space to keep the piston where it's supposed to be, this will lower your reservoir level. Remember the pads move in the millimeters despite you pushing the pedal in the inches. I agree with J if you lose fluid quickly you have a leak somewhere, otherwise you just have a heavy foot and that's ok .

Gotpepsi

It was just as low as the minimum line on the master cylinder. I would assume that I filled it to the maximum line. I have not checked the brake fluid in about 8 months. The brake pads are actually pretty worn compared to the rear pads.

Slowcrash_101

To move the pads one mm requires about 1/16th of the reservoir, so a pad that has moved 4mm will knock out about 1/4 of the reservoir. Multiply by 4 and you get the picture.

Gotpepsi

Oh great! Thanks for the math equation. Seems like my brake fluid went down because the pads wore. I can't believe that they wore down so quickly. It's only been a year.

Car Analogy

I would think how often you brake, and how long, and at what speed, would have a much greater impact on pad wear than the mere passage of time :-O

matt96ex

If you think your pads worn down quickly, might be worth pulling the brake calipers off and inspect the braking system. If pad life was accelerated, could have a sticking brake caliper piston, pads could be frozen in the hardware or sticking/frozen caliper pin. Good luck!