Brake Fluid Leak

A spongy feel or increased pedal travel as you apply the footbrake could indicate a leak or air bubbles in the hydraulic brake system.

Any brake-fluid leak must be traced and remedied as soon as possible. Most likely sources are the seals of the master cylinder or, in a drum brake, the wheel cylinders.

Less likely – but not unknown – is a leak past a piston seal on a disc-brake caliper.