[Rajat347]

Hey Folks,

I have a June 2018 Honda Amaze V MT. The car is a reliable partner so far even though it has clocked only 33,000 km and has been serviced only from Honda service centers.

The car is suffering from brake booster failure. From the past 1.5 years, I noticed that the brake oil is getting finished in 3 - 4 months. Initially, I didn't mind and got it filled from a Shell petrol pump. The same thing happened after 4 months.

This time I took it to Shetty Service Center, Pune and the guy checked the brake calipers, brake hose and brake drums for any visible leakage but no luck. He simply filled the tank with Castrol and I moved forward.

The problem reoccurred after 4 months and this time I took my car to Garve Honda, Pune for service and brake issues. The service associate and the GM there were quite experienced and pointed straight to the brake booster leakage. Upon thorough check up it was found that brake booster is eating away all the oil and recommended a brake booster replacement. Ironically they didn't have the spare in the inventory and just filled the brake oil tank. They said it's a very rare issue.

Now the problem reoccurred after 2 months and I pushed the service center to order the spare. The master cylinder assembly + power set master will cost around Rs. 9,300 + labour cost and taxes.

I never felt issues in braking and the car still has solid brakes, but the brake hazard indicator indicates the issue always.

What is your take on the situation? I am willing to pay the money, but do you suspect any other issue?

[Aditya]

Thread moved out from the Assembly Line. Thanks for sharing!

[AMG Power]

Don’t gamble as far as the brakes are concerned.

Change every part that the ASC (experts as you say) suggest as needing replacement.

Especially as one has not been able to isolate the issue.

[audioholic]

Originally Posted by Rajat347

. Initially, I didn't mind and got it filled from a Shell petrol pump. The same thing happened after 4 months.

This time I took it to Shetty Service Center, Pune and the guy checked the brake calipers, brake hose and brake drums for any visible leakage but no luck. He simply filled the tank with Castrol and I moved forward.

The problem reoccurred after 4 months and this time I took my car to Garve Honda, Pune for service and brake issues. T. Ironically they didn't have the spare in the inventory and just filled the brake oil tank. They said it's a very rare issue.

Now the problem reoccurred after 2 months and I pushed the service center to order the spare. The master cylinder assembly + power set master will cost around Rs. 9,300 + labour cost and taxes.

If you have been facing the leakage from a long time, then where is all the brake fluid that has been lost so far? Is it dripping down somewhere? To my knowledge, the brake booster has nothing to do with the fluid itself. The booster is connected by the brake shaft to the master cylinder which actually handles the fluid and distributes it to the wheels. If the booster is able to provide brake assist as usual, then that need not be replaced. Only the master cylinder if possible to be replaced separately can be replaced. Since brake fluid can strip paint, trace down the leakage, get the entire area cleaned and some rust protection done else that will cause a bigger problem in the future.

[Jeroen]

If I recall correctly on the Honda Amaze the brake booster comes as one with the brake master cilinder attached.

It is not the booster itself that is leaking. There is no brake fluid in it. Only air and vacuum. As there is no brake fluid visible on the outside it means the master brake cilinder attached to booster has an internal leak. Brake fluid makes its way past the piston seal.

That is a serious issue that can affect the braking performance of your car over time.

Master cilinder can be overhauled, if you can get the spare parts. Even so, on something important as the brakes I would just replace it. And yes, on your car the master cilinder and the booster appear to come as one.

Good luck
Jeroen

[saket77]

Brake boosters do not leak fluid- as there is none. They may leak vacuum or better to say suck in air if they have leak. Coming to the fluid, the leak may happen anywhere in the fluid circuit- difficult to say without a physical inspection. Another point, if you cannot find fluid dripping straightaway- it could be a seal in the brake caliper/ brake cylinder at any one of the 4 wheels. In this case, leak would actually show up mostly only when there is pressure build up in the system. Means while applying brakes, especially if there is a small leak in the seal.
Try keeping the brake pedal depressed with some force with the engine running. If the pedal sinks to the floor completely after a while, then you have a sure shot leak. Also, if the Amaze has hydraulic clutch, then the clutch system also shares the same fluid reservoir.

[Rajat347]

Originally Posted by audioholic

If you have been facing the leakage from a long time, then where is all the brake fluid that has been lost so far? Is it dripping down somewhere? To my knowledge, the brake booster has nothing to do with the fluid itself. The booster is connected by the brake shaft to the master cylinder which actually handles the fluid and distributes it to the wheels. If the booster is able to provide brake assist as usual, then that need not be replaced. Only the master cylinder if possible to be replaced separately can be replaced. Since brake fluid can strip paint, trace down the leakage, get the entire area cleaned and some rust protection done else that will cause a bigger problem in the future.

The car was parked for 2 months as I was not in Pune. When I started it after the duration, the brake fluid was low and there was not a single drop of oil on the parking floor or on the brake drums or hoses..

Originally Posted by Jeroen

If I recall correctly on the Honda Amaze the brake booster comes as one with the brake master cilinder attached.

It is not the booster itself that is leaking. There is no brake fluid in it. Only air and vacuum. As there is no brake fluid visible on the outside it means the master brake cilinder attached to booster has an internal leak. Brake fluid makes its way past the piston seal.

That is a serious issue that can affect the braking performance of your car over time.

Master cilinder can be overhauled, if you can get the spare parts. Even so, on something important as the brakes I would just replace it. And yes, on your car the master cilinder and the booster appear to come as one.

Good luck
Jeroen

The Garve Honda SA, dismantled the whole assembly and said that there is an internal leakage. So we need to replace both master cylinder and power cylinder.
I am worried as I drive mostly with the family. The car is as good as new so i don't want to sell it off.

[sanjeevs]

Originally Posted by Rajat347

The Garve Honda SA, dismantled the whole assembly and said that there is an internal leakage. So we need to replace both master cylinder and power cylinder.
I am worried as I drive mostly with the family. The car is as good as new so i don't want to sell it off.

There is no need to sell the car for the brake related issues since the complete system is repairable and this is no brainer.
My Tata Indica Vista too faced this issue in year 2019 and I completely replaced the brake booster assembly and the brake system is perfectly fine without any issues till date.
You can repair the system and then do a trial run just to ensure that everything is working fine.

[Kosfactor]

Given the odo figures I think it may be caused by long periods of disuse. O-rings could start to leak inside the master cylinder.

Most likely they will ask you to replace the whole unit along with the booster - make sure to inspect the rear wheel cylinders as well along with a replacement of brake fluid.

[Rajat347]

An Update !

I visited the Garve Honda, Bopodi Pune and finally placed the order for the spares.
They are saying that they need to change the master cylinder + Power set master 9 inch.
Spares cost = Rs 9,300 and the part will arrive in 7 days.

One of the reason behind the damage can be a low running !
I work remotely and my son's school is in the society where we live. So not more than 1 KM of daily commute.
Also the vehicle was parked for 2 years in straight during covid because we were not in Pune. It has been 6 years with 33000 KM ODO, the tyres have developed cracks too. They all need replacement and I don't want to go for expensive shoes. CEAT or MRF will solve the purpose for me.

[AKSarkar1]

Brake fluid isn’t supposed to get over in every 3-4 months. This should have been your first sign that something is wrong.

Your car seems to be sparingly used and 30-40K on any recent car is close to nothing!

I would humbly suggest you to get ahead and spend the 10 grand on getting the required repairs, there is simply no playing around with brake components and I would say that 10,000 is still a decent amount for the ‘majorness’ of the repairs.

With respect to tyres, I would say that low running isn’t the only factor that dictates which brand you should go in for. Try to go in for a middle ground brand, maybe something like Goodyear or basic Yokohamas that will serve you well for the years to come.

Best of luck!

[N4Nikunj]

Dear Rajat,

We also have a Honda Amaze Diesel V-MT in our extended family.

Our car also developed the same issue of booster leakage. Our car has seen a significant amount of running, around 80,000 km. Our issue was related to the brake pedal being spongy ever since we bought the car. This time around, the problem was that the pedal required more force than usual to get the brakes working. I took it to the SVC, and they said the booster is having leakage and needs to be changed.

Eventually, Gave the go-ahead to replace the booster, brake master, and slave cylinder, and the total cost incurred was 15,000/-. At the end of the day, the result was the same as earlier; the pedal was as it was, and the brake force required was the same. We again contacted SVC, and they asked that the rear drums were worn out and needed to be changed. We got it changed; the cost incurred was 5,000/- and the issue was only resolved by 10%. When asked, the SVC guys said it would be like that only.

Eventually, we started to live with the spongy brake pedal after spending around 20,000/- and the results are the same.

[car-dent]

if you are losing brake fluid and cant see any visible leaks, in all probability, there is a leak in one of the seals of the master cylinder and the fluid is leaking into the booster. The booster ideally has no fluid and just creates vacuum which helps in reducing the effort while pressing the brake pedal.

I would advise to get it checked and corrected soon as you never know when you may have complete brake failure.
We had this problem once in our Mercedes B class. The problem was a small hissing sound on braking which went on for some time and one day suddenly the brake pedal depressed and just wouldn't come back up again. AS is usual with German cars, they didn't have the master cylinder in stock and had to be ordered from Germany and the car was parked at one spot for about 2 months.

[Rajat347]

Final Update !

Finally got the Brake Booster assembly replaced. The Black Booster had all the leaked oil. As per the SA, this is a rare fault and warranty covers that. But as my car was not in warranty so I had to shell Rs 12,000 for the whole activity.
All well thats end well and hopefully the brakes are fine now




Here the bill break up -




Mahadev Pawar at Garve Honda Bopodi, Pune is a gem of a person and a very experienced SA.

[aarcher]

Originally Posted by Rajat347

Hey Folks,

I have a June 2018 Honda Amaze V MT. The car is a reliable partner so far even though it has clocked only 33,000 km and has been serviced only from Honda service centers.

The car is suffering from brake booster failure. From the past 1.5 years, I noticed that the brake oil is getting finished in 3 - 4 months. Initially, I didn't mind and got it filled from a Shell petrol pump. The same thing happened after 4 months.

This time I took it to Shetty Service Center, Pune and the guy checked the brake calipers, brake hose and brake drums for any visible leakage but no luck. He simply filled the tank with Castrol and I moved forward.

The problem reoccurred after 4 months and this time I took my car to Garve Honda, Pune for service and brake issues. The service associate and the GM there were quite experienced and pointed straight to the brake booster leakage. Upon thorough check up it was found that brake booster is eating away all the oil and recommended a brake booster replacement. Ironically they didn't have the spare in the inventory and just filled the brake oil tank. They said it's a very rare issue.

Now the problem reoccurred after 2 months and I pushed the service center to order the spare. The master cylinder assembly + power set master will cost around Rs. 9,300 + labour cost and taxes.

I never felt issues in braking and the car still has solid brakes, but the brake hazard indicator indicates the issue always.

What is your take on the situation? I am willing to pay the money, but do you suspect any other issue?

I had a similar issue with my Honda Brio, the brakes locked up and it was found that the oil made its way from the cylinder into the booster.

I would recommend to get both the cylinder and the booster changed, you may use a FNG if you find the cost from the ASS higher.