Stubies Subie Posted February 28, 2012 Share Posted February 28, 2012 (edited) I’m starting to wonder if I might be going a little overboard with this brake job, First it was a froze up caliper, then I noticed that there was a lot of sludge in the master cylinder, so I removed it as well, I believe the master cylinder was fine but with as much crud as I saw, I figured I should replace it to, rather then putting it all back together and chance it that the master cylinder might go bad. It’s off the car now, and I’m not going to put it back on, if it’s off, I might as well replace it. Looking at the master cylinder, it honestly didn’t look bad, but check out the pictures, I thinking that at some point, something has leaked, not really sure what though. The back of the master cylinder looks dry, and intact, no corrosion or anything, other then just being dirty: Now take a look at the Brake booster, it kinda looks nasty. I could take it off the car and clean it up and do a little paint work on it, but now I’m wondering …since I’ve gone this far with the brake job, should I replace the brake booster to? What lead me to the brake job in the first place was how weird the brakes were acting, for the most part, they worked fine, the peddle was tight, stiff, not spongy, and it took very little pressure to apply the brakes, but every now and then, (when you least expected it) you could literally stand on the brakes with as much force as you could possibly exert, the peddle wouldn't move and it would hardly slow the car down, it was like the peddle was froze and not working at all. It was An accident waiting to happen. But after looking at the brakes, I attributed it to a frozen caliper, or so I thought? Am I going overboard with this, or should I replace the brake booster to? Or just clean it up and throw a little paint on it? what's the symptoms of a bad brake booster? Edited February 28, 2012 by Stubies Subie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MilesFox Posted February 28, 2012 Share Posted February 28, 2012 unplug the brake booster vacum line and drive around. That is waht a bad booster will belike. just clean up the crud on the brake booster. If you replace that, then you will want to be replacing the firewall, brake pedal, steering column, dashboard, floorboards, etc. You just pump pump hold like you are bleeding the brake after replacing a caliper or what not. Have a buddy help you, pump until clear following the bleed procedure. You can pump out most of the MC (not all of it, do not suck up air), and wie out the insides with a paper towel, and then add more fluid to continue flushing. If you were really particular, you can take it out and get a more thorough cleaning. But this would require bleeding the MC, (same with replacing it) which can be tricky, and you have to do it with your finger since there is no bleeder valve. This is unnecessary labor for an already functioning brake system. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MilesFox Posted February 28, 2012 Share Posted February 28, 2012 Now take a look at the Brake booster, it kinda looks nasty. I could take it off the car and clean it up and do a little paint work on it, but now I’m wondering …since I’ve gone this far with the brake job, should I replace the brake booster to? Am I going overboard with this, or should I replace the brake booster to? Or just clean it up and throw a little paint on it? This one you have pictured is close to what my 'restored' 3door had to start with. You will be removing the pedal box to get it out, which is easiest if you pull the steerign column. I say paint and let it be. If you are really that particular about the aesthetics, it would pe practical to replace and paint he firewall, after the engine was out, if you were doing a resto to begin with. It's like plumbing, you fix one leak, then there is another, and from trying to replace one elbow bend, you are ripping out whole walls. Sometimes things re better left alone, but once you mess with it, you open a larger can of worms that you can't ignore. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted February 28, 2012 Share Posted February 28, 2012 subaru master cylinders and brake boosters very rarely fail and the master cylinder is easy to replace, so i never replace those as preventative maintenance. i've actually never seen a brake booster failure or replaced one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeneralDisorder Posted February 28, 2012 Share Posted February 28, 2012 I have never seen a booster fail either. Have seen a bad MC or two but it's usually bad reman units from people replacing them for no good reason. I don't often go as far as you are going with this stuff. I address problem areas, flush the system, and leave it at that. My '83 hatch has it's original MC and booster, and all the rest of the system besides the pads and shoes are good used parts. My '69 GMC truck has it's original bendix booster and MC. I had to replace leaking wheel cylinders on it and did the shoes at that time but otherwise a simple flush did the trick. I would leave the booster in place, sand it, mask it, and paint it. GD Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stubies Subie Posted February 28, 2012 Author Share Posted February 28, 2012 ok, I'll leave it in place, I'll sand, mask and paint, having to remove the peddle box to get it out convinced me, I don't wanna mess with it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tractor pole Posted February 28, 2012 Share Posted February 28, 2012 ok, I'll leave it in place, I'll sand, mask and paint, having to remove the peddle box to get it out convinced me, I don't wanna mess with it. I'm with the others on not removing the pedal cluster... it is a p.i.t.a. I changed mine when I did the 5speed swap. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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