1999 Dodge Ram Do I have to replace my entire braking syste

1999 DODGE RAM
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GRAZIANINA
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Brakes problem
1999 Dodge Ram

I just purchased my '99 Ram about 2 months ago from a dealership. Beginning yesterday, I was having softening of the brakes and occasionally had to push all the way to the floor. When taking it to be looked at today, the ABS and Brake warning lights when on then off. It braked fine until I was pulling into the parking lot of the shop and felt like I had very little brakes. The shop is saying that the brake fluid is contaminated because there are 2 colors and viscosities in the reservoir. To me it looks like the old fluid was topped off with new. The stuff on top looks like olive oil and is light and the stuff on the bottom looks the color of iced tea and seems heavier and oilier and has quite a bit a sediment. It is clearly not motor oil though. Because brake fluid is vegetable oil based, could it just be 2 different ages of fluid? Because it was overfilled, the reservoir seal is swelled. Can we just have the system thoroughly flushed and replace rubber or is this truly a multi-thousand dollar project?
Nov 28, 2009 at 9:00 PM
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MHPAUTOS
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Hi there,

Thank you for the donation,

I doubt very much that there are two different brake fluids, as if this was so they would mix almost immediately. i fear that it is contaminated with an oil based fluid, the swelling of the rubber is testament to this, i would have all the rubber components replaced, as if the top excluder is affected so will all the seals, i feel that you are already feeling the effects of this with poor pedal pressure, i would not take any chances, replace all rubber components, that is re kit master and re build calipers ASAP, flush the entire system and re bleed, you do not have to worry about the booster, the abs module will have to be re sealed as well, this i feel is a time bomb ticking and you don't want to have no breaks whey you approach that stop light or T intersection,

Mark (mhpautos)
Nov 28, 2009 at 9:12 PM