Attention: TDR Forum Junkies Recently, I've had intermittent problems with the master cylinder bleeding off and the booster not holding vacuum like it should, so I picked up a new AC Delco master cylinder (no rebuilt stuff for me... too many problems in the past) off eBay for $40. 
I bought a rebuilt booster from Auto Zone, and they actually had it in stock at one of the local stores.
I also picked up speed bleeders for the calipers and wheel cylinders, along with the ABS valve. If you haven't seen or used these before they're slick. They replace the "normal" bleeder screws and have a built-in check valve that prevents it from sucking air in, so you don't have to tighten the bleeder between pumps. It makes bleeding a one person job.
Got started yesterday afternoon after work. The old master cylinder came off without a problem, but the booster was a real pain - there is one nut that was impossible to get with the air ratchet, and I could only get one or two clicks with the regular ratchet. Of course, it was a self-locking nut that came off tight all the way...
Finally got the new booster and master cylinder swapped out, then started changing the bleeders. Everything went fine until I got to the back - the air bags made it impossible to get the bleeders out, so I had to pull the tires and unbolt the air bags to get them changed. While I was halfway there I decided to rotate the tires... and once I got the fronts off I found the shims/anti-squeak pads or whatever you want to call them were hanging half way out of the calipers. By the time I got those back in place and the tires back on I didn't feel like bleeding the brakes.
Had a friend drop by this morning, so we bled the brakes and flushed all the old fluid out. After reading a few threads on here I was expecting the ABS valve to be a pain to get the air out of, but it actually went pretty smooth. Up until we took it for a ride, that is... the brakes didn't work, and the ABS and brake lights were on. After checking things out we found that the "rebuilt" booster had a bad internal leak. So, I got to repeat the whole process of cramming myself under the dash and dealing with that same friggin' nut all over again.
Once we got the booster swapped out for another remanufactured one, the brakes worked better than before - a bit sensitive, but I'm guessing that is due to the old booster and master cylinder being in poor condition.
While my friend was there, I figured I'd swap out the lower driver's side hinge pin and bushings. Hey, after reading on here about how easy it was I figured it would be a quick and simple job, right? Not so... . about an hour and a half later (not including the time it took to retrieve the tools from the street, the neighbor's yard, impaled in the wall... . ) we were finally finishing up. The pin drove out fairly easily, and I unbolted the door side of the hinge, but it still wouldn't move far enough out of the way to get the bushings swapped. So, that meant the body side of the hinge had to come off, which required removing the kick panel... that is held on by seven friggin' screws!!! It's a piece of plastic, why does it need seven screws????? Especially when two of those screws are behind the parking brake pedal, leaving just enough room to wedge my hand in there and try to grip a cut down stubby screwdriver with my pinky and ring finger.
Is it just me, or do all "simple" projects turn out to be major ordeals? Heck, I had less problems swapping both axles in my Jeep a few weeks ago, and it took about the same amount of time!
Oh, well, on a good note I changed the oil this morning and didn't make too much of a mess. While I had the air tube off to get to the filter I noticed the turbo shaft had some play (up and down), but after doing a search I'm confident it's within specs... . I hope.
NOTE: Editud fur bad speleng and punktuashun.
I bought a rebuilt booster from Auto Zone, and they actually had it in stock at one of the local stores. I also picked up speed bleeders for the calipers and wheel cylinders, along with the ABS valve. If you haven't seen or used these before they're slick. They replace the "normal" bleeder screws and have a built-in check valve that prevents it from sucking air in, so you don't have to tighten the bleeder between pumps. It makes bleeding a one person job.
Got started yesterday afternoon after work. The old master cylinder came off without a problem, but the booster was a real pain - there is one nut that was impossible to get with the air ratchet, and I could only get one or two clicks with the regular ratchet. Of course, it was a self-locking nut that came off tight all the way...
Finally got the new booster and master cylinder swapped out, then started changing the bleeders. Everything went fine until I got to the back - the air bags made it impossible to get the bleeders out, so I had to pull the tires and unbolt the air bags to get them changed. While I was halfway there I decided to rotate the tires... and once I got the fronts off I found the shims/anti-squeak pads or whatever you want to call them were hanging half way out of the calipers. By the time I got those back in place and the tires back on I didn't feel like bleeding the brakes.
Had a friend drop by this morning, so we bled the brakes and flushed all the old fluid out. After reading a few threads on here I was expecting the ABS valve to be a pain to get the air out of, but it actually went pretty smooth. Up until we took it for a ride, that is... the brakes didn't work, and the ABS and brake lights were on. After checking things out we found that the "rebuilt" booster had a bad internal leak. So, I got to repeat the whole process of cramming myself under the dash and dealing with that same friggin' nut all over again.
Once we got the booster swapped out for another remanufactured one, the brakes worked better than before - a bit sensitive, but I'm guessing that is due to the old booster and master cylinder being in poor condition.
While my friend was there, I figured I'd swap out the lower driver's side hinge pin and bushings. Hey, after reading on here about how easy it was I figured it would be a quick and simple job, right? Not so... . about an hour and a half later (not including the time it took to retrieve the tools from the street, the neighbor's yard, impaled in the wall... . ) we were finally finishing up. The pin drove out fairly easily, and I unbolted the door side of the hinge, but it still wouldn't move far enough out of the way to get the bushings swapped. So, that meant the body side of the hinge had to come off, which required removing the kick panel... that is held on by seven friggin' screws!!! It's a piece of plastic, why does it need seven screws????? Especially when two of those screws are behind the parking brake pedal, leaving just enough room to wedge my hand in there and try to grip a cut down stubby screwdriver with my pinky and ring finger.
Is it just me, or do all "simple" projects turn out to be major ordeals? Heck, I had less problems swapping both axles in my Jeep a few weeks ago, and it took about the same amount of time!
Oh, well, on a good note I changed the oil this morning and didn't make too much of a mess. While I had the air tube off to get to the filter I noticed the turbo shaft had some play (up and down), but after doing a search I'm confident it's within specs... . I hope.
NOTE: Editud fur bad speleng and punktuashun.
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