Brake Fluid Particles

when working on my brakes after the wreck, we noticed particles floating in the resevoir when bleeding the brakes. On top of that, we also found a STICKER in there. my dad and i saved some of the fluid and are gonna show our mechanic to see what he has to say. We may also show the GM dealer too. has anybody heard of or seen this before?

Well I've heard of particles floating in the brake fluid, however, I have never heard of the notorious "sticker floating in brake-fluid resevoir" problem :). LoL that baffles me. It's beyond me how a sticker would've gotten in there - what was the sticker? It probably came off of something on the cap of the resevoir or from the can of brake fluid they were using to fill it up. As far as removing the particles, my guess would be that it's just old brake fluid, and that a brake bleed / fluid replacement should solve it.

Yea, make sure to get all of the particles out you don't want one of them getting in the lines and cause a failure.
As for the sticker, man are you lucky...I would check to see if that could have been the cause of the rear brake lock up. If it caused the problem I would be all over GM and the brake component manufacturer for damages as well as your cousins pain and suffering.

I don't know if there would be a way to find out id the sticker is responsible but I would ask if a blockage at the resevior could cause the lock-up, I'd ask before showing the sticker. If it is possible for that to be the cause DO NOT give it to the dealer. If the dealer is a GM dealership ask the service manager when the GM service rep will be at their dealership, ( I was a salesman at a Pontiac dealership in PA. and our district rep was in at least once a month.) Depending on the size of the store I would think the rep would be in at least once every two months. I would make sure to meet the rep when they are going to be there and explain what happened and ask them about the bolckage then show them the sticker. If there is an chance of litigation do not turn over the sticker. Not that I don't trust anyone, but I have seen some of the crap that goes on and the sticker would most likely dissappear at some point.

Good luck,
Dan

p.s. you may want to meet with the district rep any way regarding the rear brake lock up, they're not supposed to do that.

^ ^ Wow, I totally agree with everything dan said. I forgot that you were the guy with the brake lockup, kallenbach. That's insane. I think Dan's plan of action is appropiate - I would follow it.

Sticker gets pushed through orifice for rear brake lines when slamming on the brakes (roughly 1000psi+ for the rear), driver gets off the breaks but the resulting back pressure from the brakes trying to return to normal isn't high enough to force the sticker back through the orifice causing hydraulic lock in the line and leaving the brakes locked up. Sounds like a good theory and based on what an orifice on a break line is shaped like (cone) it is definately easier for something (especially a sticker to flow through easily one way but not the other. My guess would be that that sticker has probably been in there a fairly long time. My 2 cents.

Marc

the sticker said "made in China".LOL. my dads gonna go see when the Rep is gonna be here so we can talk to him. we saved some of the fluid and the sticker in a jar.

I've never seen the mysterious stick in the brake fluid but it's present physically is mostly harmless. It won't fit down the brake line and it's ability to obstuct fluid flow is at best limited to brake application not release. I'd say the particles in the brake fluid are of more interest than the sticker. Regarding your brake lockup without application, I'd say something in the rear brakes broke, perhaps a spring.