just found out that my master cylinder has a leak, it came out of my doner car(serria) what is teh best thing to do with it?

is there a rebuild kit, or is it buy a new one?

a ford one or a partten part, or seconed hand?

thanks

stuart

We got a re-build kit from the Ford dealer I think it was about £16 maybe less and not that bad of a job to do really, it came with everything.

We looked at getting a replacement from the local motor factors but they were about £30 and horrrid gold things that looked like they'd been cast from chocolate with a gold wrapper lol.

do they last once you have rebuilt them?

always question why it is leaking before a rebuild you can buy hones to clean the bore before rebuilding. The £30 one may be a better option after all they should have been pressure tested and guaranteed. There are many things on a car that can fail without scaring you personall brake failure is not the scare I would want for the sake of having a gold wrapped item could always paint it black

Ours is still going strong 4 years and approx 5,000 miles later.

All the existing wear is in the rubber sealing rings you replace with those in the kit... I think it even came with new return springs etc.

We were certainly more confident in that than we were the alternative from the fators.

i am thinking about the rebuild kit as the £30 pattern part must not as good quality as the orginal ford one which is over £200 well that is the price i got told.

the rebuild kit might be a good idea.
stuart

the pattern part may be a reconditioned unit. Have you ever stamped on a brake pedal that goes to the floor, having previously had a few minis which this was a common fault with I can tell you there is no worse feeling than thiking what is the saftes thing I can hit to slow me down. Ask the motor factor first. be mindfull that death certainly rules out excitement

should have been softest need to check my spelling prior to posting

Check the pattern part is made by a reputable company. If it is no probs. If it's made in Taiwan etc. run a mile.
I once changed the whole seal and piston on an Escort that wasn't leaking in the first place. It peed brake fluid everywhere with the new assembly. Eventually found out Ford had given me an almost invisibly undersize brake piston. They said for some reason my car had the larger m/cylinder from the unservoed 1100 when it was a servoed 1600. So even Ford can cock it up and they're often overpriced compared to motor factors who usually only sell reputable stuff anyway.

You might be able to get a repair kit from Brakes International BUT be aware of the number of variations and that not all types are available.

For this kind of parts it is usually best to avoid Ford dealers and stick to motor factors or the Brakes Int web site.

Usually even leaking tandem brake master cylinders accept new seal kits without problem as they only tend to have problems in two areas either the recuperating valve to the resevoir (which cause a slowly sinking pedal) or the cylinder bore at the open end of the cylinder accumulates crap a corrosion which causes the seal in the piston to wear.

However a Sierra master cylinder is not the best the choice unless you have leg muscles like Charles Atlas.