DeTomaso Mailing List: April 99, Message #261

At 18:44 04/07/99 +0200, Gunnar Persson wrote:
>howdy
>
>I would have to agree, it is supposed to stop fluid when faliure is
>sensed... if it did not the brakepedal would "slowly" drop..........
>and it would be kinda intresting if you where sitting and waiting  for
>a red light......  ;)

No this is not necessarily true.  I'm trying to do the research at home to
back myself up, but I'm not having any success.  The design of a master
cylinder does not really allow for a 'constant' drain of fluid if your foot
is on the brake.  The plunger seals inside the bore are pushed past the
fluid feed hole from the reservoir effectively cutting off further fluid
feed, thus compressing the fluid in the lines to the wheels.  Upon a
failure, you simply push out what you have, but not drain the reservior.

Asa Jay