This very nice 1962 Land Rover IIA came to us with no brakes. As brakes are definitely something that you want working, we quickly went to work diagnosing the problem.
The brake pedal did go to the floor, and would pump up if given enough time, but immediately lose pressure after letting the pedal rest for more than a few seconds. We removed the front wheels as this is where the owner suspected he saw fluid. After removing the drums, we found the left side soaked in fluid.
Additionally, because of the lack of brake pressure in the front, the right front cylinder was beginning to stick due to lack of motion and collected dirt and rust.
We’ll be replacing both front wheel cylinders with new ones from TRW and bleeding out the old fluid all the way around, as it registers at more than 4% water which is unsafe due to the chance of the water boiling off under braking and losing pressure!