Williamvon

Looking for 2017-1019 Cayman manual transmission owners. I have a 2019 Cayman, 2,000 miles, and suddenly there was a large puddle of brake fluid on my garage floor. The leak was coming from the connection between the brake fluid reservoir and the return line going to the clutch master cylinder. There is no clamp on this hose connection, the male stub coming off the reservoir is ribbed, and the hose just slides on. The dealer said he has no idea why it would have come loose resulting in the loss of fluid. No Porsche technical bulletin has bern issued per the dealer, so I was just wondering if anyone else has had this problem, or if I am the one fortunate Cayman owner to experience this? Luckily I was not on the road somewhere far from home as brakes and/or clutch could have stopped working. I am sure the "low brake fluid" warning light would have come on at some point. My concern is if the dealer does not know the "why" of the problem, how do I know it will not happen again? Frustrating. Thanks for any comments.

MikeL31

did you ever get this fixed/resolved? im having the same problem on my 991. ive found a couple others with 991, boxster and cayman manuals having this problem.

Williamvon

Yes, it was repaired, TWICE! The post you are responding to was the first event in June of 2020. The car was trucked to a dealer in Phoenix and they replaced the hose running from the brake fluid reservoir to the clutch master cylinder (CMC). I was told that the chances of this happening again were almost non existent. Then in December of 2020, same leak again, same puddle by the left front tire, but coming from a different location not the brake reservoir connection. This time the car was trucked to the dealer I bought it from, and after two weeks of having the car, they ended up replacing the hose again, and the CMC. When asked why the CMC would fail with only 3,500 miles on the car, and a second hose had to be replaced, they simply said sometime new factory parks fail. So sad, so bad. I wrote to Porsche USA in January about the problem, asking if mine was the only Cayman in the world with this problem, but never received a response. I now keep a large piece of paper under the car by the left front tire to watch for another leak. If it happened twice in 6 months, not sure why it will not happen again. I have a year remaining on the new dar warranty so subject to how many more leaks I experience, I will decide whether to keep the car. Out of warranty, the hauling down to Phoenix would have cost me $250 and the repairs probably $500+. The only good news from a safety perspective is that the hose connection on the brake fluid reservoir is high enough, that if the leak occurs again I will not lose all the brake fluid. Just not sure how the CMC will function if it has no fluid due to the leak. Good luck with your 991.
William

MikeL31

thank you for your detailed response. do know by any chance if the hose they replaced was the accordion looking plastic hose with no clamp fittings? on my car its the bottom one with the white tag on it as shown here,

Williamvon

That is exactly the same hose, the lower one with the white "tape" on it. I actually took the SAME picture you did, but had my finger under the hose to show the leaking fluid on my finger and sent that to the dealer as proof of leak. And your "no clamp" statement is interesting since I questioned the same thing. I think Porsche does not believe in clamps on non-pressurized hose connections which this one is. This hose uses the ribbed friction approach. Another note, my first leak that came from the hose connection on the brake fluid reservoir like in your picture leaked fluid down inside onto paint surfaces. You might know that brake fluid is not at all friendly with any painted surfaces, acts almost like a painter remover. So after the first repair, the dealership had to apply some chemical to all the paint surfaces where the fluid dripped down onto under the car and that compartment that shows in your photo to neutralize(?) the brake fluid's affect. The second repair involved a leak at the CMC, therefore, no painted surfaces were affected. Just be very careful to not get brake flied on your hand and then accidentally touch your paint! Another note: After the first repair I was told by the service manager that this hose had gone through 3 or 4 "redesign" cycles, the reason for his "chance that this will occur again is non-existent" statement. This leads me to believe that it is a known problem, that has happened a few times, and based upon my second December leak, they still need to do some redesign work. Maybe a simple clamp!! Hope this helps!
William

MikeL31

crazy thing is my car was just at the dealer for 2-3 days. they said they cleaned everything, pressure tested system, etc. test drove the car for 10 miles and cant find any leaks. they just released the car back to me without doing anything, saying that everything is fine and tried to blame it on the last person who flushed the brakes. might have been sloppy and spilled everywhere. i searched around and saw your thread and when i looked at my car, i found that its leaking from the same place. i have a couple months left on my warranty, now i need to decide whether to go back, try a different dealer or just try to fix it myself. thanks again for your help.

Williamvon

If the leak is at the hose connection on the brake fluid reservoir, it is easy to identify simply by putting your finger under the hose and seeing if you have brake fluid on your finger. When my hose failed the first time at the reservoir, the leak was obvious, my finger had fluid on it. When the second leak was discovered in December, I immediately checked that hose connection and NO fluid was coming out, my finger was dry. But the puddle of fluid was in almost the exact same position on the inside of the left front tire. So I put a newspaper under the car to the right of theft front tire and the following morning it had fluid on it. Then as best as I could, bright mag-light in hand, I checked the undercarriage for the leak, and saw it again almost even with the back of the tire and coming from the undercarriage, maybe 6-12 inches in from the tire. I used a pan next to catch the fluid and over one night had about 2 ounces of fluid in the pan. It was definitely a slow leak. That picture of fluid in the pan was also sent to the 2nd dealer. The problem with finding the leak if it is not the hose connection on the brake fluid reservoir, is that the space between the ground and the car is not very big, so you can't really get your head under the car. But if the hose connection at the brake fluid reservoir is dry to the touch, then the leak is coming from where mine was, at the other end of the hose where it connects to the CMC. If you car is under warranty, I would not advise trying to fix it yourself, but find another dealer. It would be unbelievable if your leak is at the brake fluid reservoir and the first dealer did not find it. If that is true, I would definitely not go back to that dealer! Your repair might void the warranty. If you can find the leak, either at the hose connection to the reservoir or on the undercarriage of the car (where my second leak was showing), ask the new dealer to let you show him where the leak is coming from either with your finger at the reservoir or getting the car up on the rack and pointing to the leak spot on the undercarriage. You seem to be getting the same runaround I did, with no one wanting to admit this flaw in this hose and/or its connection points. Both of my leaks were obvious, hose and undercarriage. Hopefully with a little investigation, you can easily find yours. Just remember, if the leak is at the hose connection on the CMC, you will not be able to "see' it due to the undercarriage structure. But like me, you should be able to see the end point where the fluid gets to the undercarriage and forms the drop to hit the ground. Good luck!
William

MikeL31

mine looks like its leaking from the cabin/firewall side, where the black tube goes into the black box towards the cabin. the porsche dealer i went to literally had my car for 2 1/2 days and released it to me saying they cant find anything. smh

Williamvon

Then I think your leak is where my second leak was, at the hose connection with the Clutch Master Cylinder. And I would suspect the drops are falling from about the same place on the undercarriage structure that mine was. If the leak was at the brake fluid reservoir, it is very easy to determine using the finger test. My first leak was super obvious. For the second leak, when I looked under the car, the drip point was not that obvious, I had to do some searching, but using my finger again, I was able to feel the brake fluid location on the undercarriage. If you can get it up on a rack, even in a non-Porsche mechanic's shop, the drip point should be obvious. If you are seeing fluid on the floor of your garage, I cannot figure out why the first dealer would not find the leak. Maybe because he did not want to cover the repair under warranty? Maybe Porsche does not reimburse dealers to the level that dealer thinks is fair for warranty work, so he refused to identify the problem? But it is hard to hide a leak, too obvious at the drip points, like my finger test by the brake fluid reservoir, or my finger on the bottom of the undercarriage, and certainly the stained paper under the car.
William

Whiteghost377

hello all I have a 17 caymen base 6 speed. That poorly made line needs to be changed from Porsche. So my leak is the connection at the master so if you sit in the car and have someone push the clutch in and out. Watch the line bounce in and out.so I took 2 tie straps and locked the line down to keep it from moving. So that helped make the line not leak but I want it right. So I’m going to order a line from Porsche for only $125 dam rip off hopefully it stops leaking but I’m going to call shark bite plumbing’s company and see if thay can make a better line to connect to the master with a real bite I have a few other ideas I will keep you all posted and will not cost $125. But all please be real careful Porsche dealers are ****ed up I was almost killed last week because I took car for brake and clutch line flush this is a maintenance job so they did not tighten the front right brake caliper bleeder valve. The second I left the dealer the clutch peddle fell and the brake peddle sank to the floor. Anyway I never. I got car back burnt paint from brake fluid and the brakes and clutch feel like it’s air bound. Please be very careful at Porsche dealers from top to the bottom .

Bob Z.

Take it to a different dealer and show them this thread, or show this thread to the dealer you took it to and ask them if they can repair it this time. I have used online forum threads several times over the years to show service writers and techs alike where a problem is.

jreifler

Sorry to revive, but just noticed this on my GT4 yesterday. Exactly the same issue. This is my track car, so I’m not thrilled about anything remotely wrong happening with the braking system. Given the location of the line, it should have no impact on braking, but still. Can’t have brake fluid leaking on track. Anyone tried a different line? Maybe something with proper clamp fittings? I’m going to explore that route.

MikeL31

i didnt want to deal with the dealer again and i ended up just ordering a line off getporscheparts, it was cheap, like $30-40 shipped. i swapped it out at home and check the fluid level regularly. so far no leaks. something to note, pull the fire wall side first and point the line upwards, nothing really came out. i plugged in the firewall side with the new line first and have a rag or towel underneath the reservoir side, as soon as you pull that one the fluid will start pouring out. then just plug the line into the reservoir quickly, i didnt lose that much fluid. then top off and spray brake cleaner on everything.

jreifler

Thanks. I'm going to call around when I can today and see what else might be available. Would really like to find something braided and use hose clamps on the ends . . .

Twodan

will a wire tie solve the issue in place of a clamp, or no clamp?