Charon
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I have had a vehicle on which the brake fluid was apparently never replaced, and did indeed get the corrosion. It was a Winnebago LeSharo, on Renault chassis. It had a hydraulically actuated clutch, which shared a reservoir with the brake system. I never had brake problems, but always had a problem with the clutch on long uphill pulls. The clutch free play would increase until the clutch would not release on pedal application. The clutch slave cylinder was very near the exhaust pipe, and I figured the fluid was boiling. I bled the system a couple of times. Then one cold day there was no clutch pedal. Replaced the fluid, and it worked for a day or so. When I took the slave cylinder off there was a big corroded spot on the bottom, allowing the fluid to leak past the piston. My guess is that water got in there, and is heavier than brake fluid, so bleeding it did no good. Quite likely there was water in one or more of the brake cylinders, too, but they never got that hot. I had had enough other problems with it, including parts availability, and I traded it off.
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