Hello again everyone. 2004 Honda Accord 4. 198k miles. Recently I posted about a power steering fluid leak. It appears less than a week after bringing my car home that I have a brake fluid leak. I'm not all that knowledgeable about cars but here is a timeline and breakdown of everything that's been happening over the last few months.

Took my car in because if a grinding noise when turning was diagnosed with control arm bushings and bad front brakes. Got that repaired. Roughly May 1.

Noise remained after the repair. Ten days later passenger side ball joint breaks causing my passenger CV axle to break. Have that ball joint and both CV axles repaired (because I bought them in a pair and the labor wasn't too much).

Two weeks later power steering fluid is leaking . Take it into a third garage and the hose is replaced along with all components of our rear brakes(calipers, drums, rotors, pads and hardware).

Less than five days later brake light starts flashing. By the time I get it home the light is completely in and I check the reservoir and it's nearly empty.
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Since it's July 4th, all I could do is leave a message for the most recent garage asking to please fit me in this week since they looked at it most recently, fixed the brakes and it didn't have any issues with this before that. But they are consistently backed up and I'm betting won't be able to get me in till next Monday. In the meantime can I top the brake fluid off and drive locally to the grocery store? Less than two miles away. I know I'll likely have to tow it to the garage because that's 9 miles or so. But I just wanted to see how stuck I really am. I wish the original mechanic had diagnosed everything for me because now I'm into the car $2700 in the last two months. Over $1000 was on brakes but still. Since this repair is most likely a line or hose (reservoir is completely dry on the outside despite being nearly empty) it likely won't be too expensive so I'm going to just get it fixed. I'm going to add fluid either way but just wondering if I can drive it locally.

 

Do you have brake fluid leaking onto the ground?

 

No I can't see any visible brake fluid on the ground. I'm getting some in the morning and I'll fill up the reservoir and then pump test the brakes. The light came on today for the first time. Hoping it's a mistake the last garage made when they changed the rear brakes. I'm not planning to drive but emergencies do happen. I'll update tomorrow if I can locate the area of the leak.

 

Hopefully they didn't top off the brake fluid when they originally bled the brakes. Keep an eye out for oil on the ground to get an idea of a location for a possible leak.

 

The most recent shop that did the rear brakes said they'll take it for tomorrow so I'm dropping it off tonight. I filled the reservoir and after a day of sitting, pumping the brakes and looking under the car it appears the leak is from or near the passenger rear tire. This theoretically eliminates the master cylinder and likely make it a brake mistake on their part, a hose or one break line. So either way it shouldn't be too bad. I did drive it up and down the street and the brakes seem spongy but ok. Gonna have it towed just for safety reasons since the mechanic is 9.5 miles away.

 

Picked car up today. No charge from the mechanic. He wasn't available for comment so I'm unsure of exactly what they did wrong. Probably left a valve open? Brake fluid level is fine after driving ten miles home. Hoping that's it for this car for a while. Thanks so much for your help. I'll post a separate thread about the power draw.