No Problem

The Sportrak is quite common with the fairer sex and there are a few on this forum.

Now the servo is the black circular drum beneath the bonnet on the left, directly in front of the driver. It reduces the amount of braking effort you have to put on the peadal to stop the car. They used to be called Power assisted years ago but basically operate from a vacuum and spring pressure from the inlet manifold. The cylinder infront of it with fluid in is the Brake Master Cylinder and the fluid is corrosive to paint. If the seal goes and allows fluid passed it, that fluid goes into the servo unit. Your brakes will be less efficient and get worse as the leak increases and the effect on the brakes decreases. Don't let the Master cylinder run dry or you will lose all brakes as air will enter the system. The fluid in the cylinder is a hydraulic brake fluid usually DOT 5 and is more diffcult to compress than air. When you apply the brakes the fluid is compressed and moves the brake pads at the front and the shoes at the rear through displacement, these inturn cause friction between the drums and disks slowing and eventually stopping the car.

That is in very simple terms how the brakkes work and I hope you are not insulted at my effort to explain something you may already understand.

I would think that unless an alternative leak is obvious then this could be the culprit.

When inspecting for leaks, as well as looking at the pipes, both flexible and rigid, look at the brake drum bottoms at the rear and the calipers at the front for signs of wetness. Each caliper at the front has a piston that moves in an out with displacement mentioned and each piston has a seal. Likewise at the rear the brake shoes are moved by slave cylinders which again have seals in . Any or a number of these seals can fail causing not just loss of fluid but contamination of the friction materials on the pads and shoes. Once contaminated these should be replaced as well as the offending seals. At the rear it is easier to replace the complete cylinder. In general contamination makes the material swell and causes grabbing by one or more of the brakes and is usually noticable.

I hope this helps although finding the culprit and getting it repaired will be the next problem, but keep that Master Cylinder topped up at all times and don't ignore it for too long as when the brakes fail, well you needn't be told of the consequences I'm sure

GOOD LUCK

OLDMINIMAN