H

honolulujoe

Well-Known Member
Having just dropped and bust a new wheel cylinder and finding out that there seems to be nothing to them, do people generally buy new cylinders - I usually get Lockheed Delphi from dingocroft at around £18 - or do they get seal kits (for a pair of cylinders for £3).

seems like a no brainer on the cost front £3 v £36 but is it easy to do in practice or do they fail quickly?
 
Depends on the condition of the bores in the cylinders. Any pitting or corrosion will soon rip through new seals but if they're spotless.....?

I try not to skimp on anything to do with brakes, if in any doubt go for new and the best you can afford imo
 
If you do go down the seal route, buy genuine or OEM don't buy anything in a blue box or you could end up in a ditch.
 
From how far up did you drop it??? If it broke then you probably didn't want to fit that one anyway. If you fit new seals take the cylinder apart, clean it thoroughly, inspect it very carefully then reassemble in a clean environment. And I mean clean.
 
I always fit new DECENT quality components when it comes to brakes .....I also make sure to flush out the brake lines as much as possible with fresh new fluid after I've removed the knacked cylinder ....
I strongly suspect that the reason a lot of folks have new cylinders fail (None blue box ones too) so soon after replacement is that there is a lot of rusty particles and contaminants in old brake fluid ....
Well worth trying to flush as much of that out as possible IMHO
 
ordered a new cylinder :D ordered some seals too.

I dropped it from waist height, the casing was intact, it landed on the edge of the seal, the seal came off and the piston flew out.

at the point of impact, landing on the uneven concrete of the drive nipped the seal so it has a hole in it. Probably just notch it up to experience and be more careful next time.

Totally agree with using good parts I'm just a bit peeved at having wasted £18 I think :D
 
I remembered where I saw someone do it the seal way, it was rattleguns series rebuild thread in the series section.
 
Have been fitting seals to brake cylinders for years with no problems to cars, landys and taxis.
 
If you get decent OEM quality seals things should be alright. A good deal depends on the condition of the bores and pistons and, in particular, the bits the seals press against in order to make the seal. If they're nice and smooth and fresh looking it should be OK, but if there's pitting it probably won't work too well, and it would be better to renew the whole thing. In putting things together, I like to lubricate everything with fresh brake fluid so there's no snagging or tearing of the rubber components as the parts go together. I got myself a cheap squirty oil can that only ever gets used for brake fluid to do this with, so as to keep mess to a minimum.
 
I shall try with the new cylinder whose seal I damaged as the metal bit being new is pristine and smooth inside, see how it goes and if not just stick the other new one on that I ordered


certainly the insides of the ones I took off are pitted around the seals to the extent that I won't even be bothering with them.
 
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I usewd Girling seals from John Craddock when I had my Series, and as long as you are scrupulously clean and use Girling brake grease when you put it back together, you should have no problems at all.

However, if you don't use the grease you stand a good chance of wearing out the seals before you have bled the system!
 
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