Re: 5000 brake booster (servo)

[stevanov@orion.crd.ge.com (Ljubisa D. Stevanovic)]

 >From: zm@mhcnet.att.com (Zafer Mehmood  [209])
 ...
 >I haven't had a problem with the brake booster yet :-) (same car as yours)
 >but have replaced the pressure accumulator and brake master cylinder recently.
 >Just curious, how do you know that the pressure accumulator is good and
 >that the booster is bad? Did you do the pressure tests described in
 >Bentley? Or is it because of the leak at the return line? May be that leak
 >can be fixed by replacing the return line fitting (much cheaper, I would
 >imagine). 

Zafer,

I'm sure you can think of other ways to spend $510. Apparently, the booster 
problem is not very common, which makes it harder for me to swallow the cost.
I looked through archives and found only one thread on this started by 
Bill Samaras. So Bill, I'm waiting for your response :). 

I know that my presure accumulator is OK because I just replaced it and
the brake problem didn't go away :-(.

I guess I'm not _positive_ that the booster is bad because I didn't
disconnect it from the master cylinder and the brake pedal mechanism to 
make sure that the booster piston is not held open by one of these.
But I performed a simple test described in the Bentley: disconnect the 
return line at the booster and look for the fluid leaking out continuously.
The fluid was definitely leaking at a steady rate for as long as 
the return line fitting was oppened (10min). That's why I think the
booster is bad; it is slowly losing brake presure through this leak.

Thanks for mentioning Shokan, I'll give them a call. I found that IPC,
Halsey and PAP do not have the new part. They told me that there's been a
change in the design and that the new part (different part #) can be 
obtained from the dealer only. PAP sells rebuilt booster (old design) and 
charges $350 if the core is returned. And there is a junkyard option...

I'll keep you informed if I survive the financial shock.

Thanks,
Ljubisa Stevanovic (stevanov@crd.ge.com)
87 5000 TQ