Results 1 to 5 of 5

Thread: More master cylinder problems, is stainless steel insert the solution?

  1. #1
    Some Boost Laredo's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2012
    Location
    Stillwater, MN
    Posts
    410

    More master cylinder problems, is stainless steel insert the solution?

    Just had my 3rd master cylinder failure in 2 years. The most recent one lasted about a week, purchased as "remanufactured" from NPD over a year ago as a back-up to keep on the shelf, aluminum housing, installed the Saturday before heading out to Sturgis Mustang Rally. Ran both sessions of the auto-cross driving school and the qualifier sessions - with the new rotors, calipers, and Hawk pads - the brakes worked AWESOME. Until the 2nd-to-last round of the finals on Sunday - suddenly, NO BRAKES, pedal goes right to the floor. Finished the run by coasting through turns and using the parking brake (still finished 14th). Upon inspection - no brake fluid leaks, again!

    Rather than risking another Chinese rebuilt knock-off (which seems is all that’s available), I looked into getting this one rebuilt by a local remanufacturer / machine shop that does brake rebuilding for classic vehicles. Even though the bore is supposedly hard-anodized from OE, they recommended doing a stainless steel sleeve over basic rebuilding. Expensive solution ($190-$200) but they said since I no longer have the original MC, you can’t know what’s happened to the bore surface of the reman units after 30 years. Anyone here ever done this? Cost seems over-the-top but I am so sick of repeat MC failures that seem to happen at the worst possible times.
    Bad choices make great stories....!

  2. #2
    Half Boost
    Join Date
    May 2012
    Location
    Oconomowoc, WI
    Posts
    972
    Did you remove the failed part? Was there fluid in the booster?

  3. #3
    Red Captain MikeFleming's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2011
    Location
    Tucson, AZ. USA, Earth
    Posts
    5,081
    The aluminum ones hve an anodized bore that should NOT be machined or honed. If it was honed, that is probably the cause of failure.

    While it's not original and adds weight, the iron housings can be honed.
    Helping SVO owners & racers since 1984

    Poll Finds 30% Of Americans Still Undecided Whether To Vote Out Of Fear Or Spite

  4. #4
    Some Boost Laredo's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2012
    Location
    Stillwater, MN
    Posts
    410
    Quote Originally Posted by brsvo View Post
    Did you remove the failed part?
    Yes, I removed it yesterday.
    Quote Originally Posted by brsvo View Post
    Was there fluid in the booster?
    Nope - booster was dry.
    Bad choices make great stories....!

  5. #5
    Some Boost Laredo's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2012
    Location
    Stillwater, MN
    Posts
    410
    Quote Originally Posted by MikeFleming View Post
    While it's not original and adds weight, the iron housings can be honed.
    I bought/installed a re-man cast iron unit for now just to get it on the road again, although I would like to eventually keep the original weight / appearance of aluminum.


    Quote Originally Posted by MikeFleming View Post
    The aluminum ones hve an anodized bore that should NOT be machined or honed. If it was honed, that is probably the cause of failure.
    That would make sense, perhaps the expensive stainless sleeving route is the only option to ensure reliability.
    Bad choices make great stories....!

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •