[T3] Leak under front driver side

[Jim Adney]

On 15 Mar 2013 at 22:21, Jacob Adam Schroeder wrote:

> The reservoir looked fine and the floor near the gas/brake pedal was dry.

Okay, that sounds good.

> the leak appears to be around the seal which has this number stamped on
> it: 311 705 263.  The seal itself looks fine, but that is where the
> metal seems the most moist.  If I was having oil separating from the
> grease in the front end, is this where it would leak? 

That's the lower bushing that clamps the front axle beam. I'm afraid 
that could be any of the above, but the fact that the brake reservoir 
was still full means that this is probably oil, not brake fluid. It's 
probably just oil which separated from the front axle beam grease 
over the last 8 years. If that's the case, it's really nothing to 
worry about. You should, however, pump grease into each of the 4 
grease fittings once a year. You don't need to do this if it's in 
storage, but you should do it as soon as you take it out of storage.

> I do plan on having my brakes worked over.  They were done about 8 years
> ago (before I parked it) and the brakes feel solid, but I still plan to
> either go over it myself or take it to a shop to get them done. 

It would be best to do as much of the work yourself as possible. Most 
shops will tend to just replace everything, and since many Type 3 
brake parts are either very expensive NOS or replaced by Beetle 
parts, getting a shop to do the work usually turns out to be both 
expensive and substandard. Let us and the Bentley lead you thru the 
work. I can rebuild any of your old parts if they need help. I have 
hoses if you need them, hard lines are best left alone as long as 
they are still intact, and most of them never give trouble.

The one thing you might consider doing earlier would be to bleed your 
brakes to get the old fluid out of there, unless your system has 
silicone brake fluid. Standard brake fluid absorbs water and needs to 
be replaced periodically to keep it from becoming corrosive.

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Jim Adney, jadney at vwtype3.org
Madison, Wisconsin, USA
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