While doing my valve adjustments and diesel purge today on my '82 240D (4 speed), I noticed something amiss:

A braided hose (circled in red) leading from my brake fluid reservior and into the firewall was seriously deteriorating and weeping brake fluid, with the fluid building up on top of the inside fender well.

I wiped off the hose before taking the car on a short test drive around the block. During that short run, the hose had already started to get soaked again with brake fluid.

In the interest of safety, I have parked the car for now, until I can fix whatever is causing this.

Questions:

1) Where does this hose lead to? It looks to me like it goes inside and under the dash. Why would that be?

2) Can/should I replace it with something better than braided fabric?

3) Also, the nipple that the hose fits onto on the brake fluid reserviour seems rather short, and there's no hose clamp. The hose is very frayed where it goes over that nipple. Should there be a hose clamp there?

Thanks,

- Patrick

Attached Thumbnails

 

__________________
1982 240D. 198k, Marine Blue/Blue, 4 Speed, Crank Windows, No Sunroof, No Rust, No Oil Leaks
2001 TDI. 197k, Lagoon Blue/Black, 5 speed, Chip, G60/VR6