richardf8 | Die MeisterZyllinderLied

Some of you might remember my cry for help a couple weeks back. I had a Master Cylinder that just wouldn't bleed out, no matter what I pulled out of my bag of tricks. Well, now that the story has an ending I will tell it.

About a month ago I was driving Morgan's car, and noticed that that the brake pedal was going awfully low. It was still capable of stopping but just barely. When I picked her up at work, I checked the brake fluid reservoir and found it dry as a bone. Topping it up did little good. Since its a standard, and I always employ downshifting for deceleration (something automatics do, well, automatically) I was able to hobble it home. When I got to examine it I noticed that whenever Morgan depressed the pedal a trickle of brake fluid would run down the booster and drip onto the fuel filter.

That Sunday we went in search of a Master Cylinder and struck out at Autozone, Checker, and Napa. Bumper2Bumper had a Reman they could get into our hands Monday. So we ordered it, and Monday Evening we stopped by to pick it up. The warehouse never filled the order, so one of them drove out there to pick it up. Now THAT's service. The reman, however, did not have a fluid reservoir. So that needed to be transferred from the old one. Well, the fluid reservoir broke coming off the old MC, so the next day I called a Ford Dealer to see if I could order one. The dealer said it only comes together with the Master Cylinder. So I asked for a price on the assembly. It's been discontinued.

Next I hit Autozone's web site, where I can order a Master Cylinder with Reservoir. But every time I dropped it in my cart and went to checkout, there it was - GONE. They had none. Next I went to Checker's web site (AutoParts.com or something) I ordered a nice Raybestos new Master Cylinder. It arrived two days later, not a Raybestos but a Wagner. It had the look and feel of a cheap aftermarket component, and the fluid reservoir didn't quite line up right. "Superficial," I figured, and went ahead and installed it. The result is as described in the post I referenced above. Nothing I could do could get it to bleed. All evidence supports my theory that there was a blockage. I returned it to my local Checker, where they couldn't figure out how to do a web-site return. I got them their support people on the phone and they were walked through the return. I was duly credited.

So next I went to NAPA's web site where they offered a Store Branded Wagner POS like the one I had just returned for about $40.00 more than I'd paid (now THAT's brand equity - or maybe it's just chutzpah), and a quite beautiful Beck/Arnley for $138.00. A little Googling finds me another Beck/Arnley from Rock Auto in Wisconsin for $98.00. I ordered it, and it was literally on my doorstep before they even showed it shipped. This morning I bench bled it.

"Squitch . . . Squitch," one "squitch" fron each hole. Now that's the way it's SUPPOSED to work! Installed it, connected it, and bled out the lines in, oh, about an hour and a half. We then drove the car out on errands, and Morgan was able to drive it too! That means we no longer need to carpool, and that frees up time for both of us.

Yaay!!