Margalla Brake Troubleshooting

[margallar]

Few days back, my car started to reduce brake oil mysteriously. I topped it up and then checked an hour later.

This was the state of the reservior, after an hour of filling

I checked all four wheels, yet there were no visible leaks. Too much fluid had disappeared, to still stay inside rear drums.

So, i removed the master cylinder, to verify, if it was leaking in the booster. It is only held on by two nuts and sealed by an O ring, no gasket.

You can see fluid inside the booster here

[margallar]

The brake lines are held by 10mm flare nuts that are very kept very tight for sealing.

I first attempted to open them with a regular 10mm open end spanner, but it was about to slip.

Then i loaned the correct tool from a friend.

it is called a crow foot spanner or flare nut spanner

Do not attempt to use the wrong tool, it will slip and you will end up with a bigger problem.

[margallar]

Master cylinder was 20 years old and had seen alot of abuse, so we decided to replace it, for reliability reasons, instead of renewing the seals.

The replacement was "Sanyco" brand. It cost 3500rs and fitting was about identical.

[margallar]

see the oil coming out of the booster.

I cleaned it with rags and tissue paper

[margallar]

Bench bleeding the new master cylinder. these temporary pipes are attached to the new MC and their ends are immersed in the brake oil.

The brake pedal is pumped.

This way bubbles go out but only brake fluid gets pulled in.

You keep pumping until there are no more bubbles from any pipe.

Then you attach the car's own brake lines.

Be very careful when screwing the flare nuts as a slipped thread will become a major problem

[margallar]

with a bench bled master cylinder, the brakes were working, albeit abit slow and spongy.

I did not have another person to help me bleed the car at home, so now i drove it over to a friend.

and we bled the wheels

this is fairly straightforward.

1. attach bleeder bottle (any bottle with brake oil and the hose end should be dipped in oil), the bottle should be above the bleeder port.
2. open bleeder port
3. pump pump pump all the bubbles out.
4. push pedal down to floor.
5. close the bleeder.
6. move to the next wheel.

The order of bleeding the wheels is also important. I will get to that in another post

[margallar]

[margallar]

all done and checking the brakes now

[margallar]

Costs

Master Cylinder = approximately 4k with shipping
brake oil = 4 quarts for 500rs of Guard Dot 3 fluid
Labour = DIY job

[Xulfiqar]

Sweet..

[margallar]

The rear slave cylinders need an overhaul and the front disc pads are worn out.

So soon i will update with those jobs on upcoming weekends.

Meanwhile I will post how to remove the brake booster

[umairjamil6]

I have read ur threads and seen that you have kept ur car in great shape mechanically mashallah with oem parts and procedures . I saw it for the first time on the video. Do you plan on doing something to the paint

[margallar]

paint will be decided in due time. meanwhile it is fun to see people assume it is a retired beater

[consigliori]

Very nice

[xzap042]

push pedal down to floor.

I was under the impression that pumping pedal down to floor while bleeding brakes can damage the master cylinder.

[Xulfiqar]

read again, thats for an old master cylinder only.

[ahsanzs]

You have replaced the master cylinder because its rubber seals became too old and leaked, and you are already planning a rear slave cylinder overhaul. At this stage, it would not be unwise to perform a full caliper overhaul on the front brakes.

This way you'll get to replace all the brake fluid, and (most important) the main washers of the front slave cylinders.
You may need to do the caliper kit anyway a few months down the road because the new master cylinder will show greater efficiency than the worn out master cylinder. As a result the worn out washers may leak (under the greater pressure) and God forbid cause a brake fail!

On the sidenote, if the brake pedal is still spongy after bleeding etc., it may depend upon the quality of brake fluid. Changing brands may help.

[Thinking]

get nibk japan discs or bendix or frixa disc pads.

[margallar]

calipers were rebuilt 5 years ago. so not so worried about them right now. I don't want to mess with things for no reason right now, tools inventory is slowly building up.

meanwhile , i am going to get the new rear cylinders this weekend. I wanted to use seiken fluid but the local shop is selling it at 700rs for 350 ml which is just stupid and toyota is at 900. These are available cheaper but I will have to find.

Corona has really slowed down everything

[Thinking]

usually seiken brake oil dot 3 is around 350 Rs/Bottle