DIY Myvi : Servicing the Master Brake Pump

A break from the usual detailing, this is one of my DIY aka "kiamsap wanna save money and not give mechanic money" journey.

So I was in Melaka with my wife driving her Myvi around when suddenly she felt that the brakes were not biting. It has this sinking feel to it. I tested it and thought it was the brakes overheated. Looked around and found no leaking. So I left the car for a night and tested it in the morning, same sinking feeling with minimal braking power. Something is wrong and requires further investigation.

So I drove the Myvi from Melaka to Selangor with minimal braking power (dangerous but in a controlled situation.) I drove at least 10 cars away from the cars in front where I know i have enough time even for a super last minute emergency stop. So all is well.

Further research and I found what could be the possible cause. A leaking master brake pump. So even more extensive research was done and found the below website:

http://me2kimi.blogspot.com/2012/02/myvi-brake-master-pump-repair-kit.html

I believe the author of this blog is also a member of the ZTH forum where I normally post my work. So I would like to take this opportunity to thank me2kimi for the guidance on his blog which proves useful. Not forgetting Izso on the brake bleeding part.

So, this is the master brake pump... no leaking on the outside. A bit dusty

Like me2kimi, i removed the power steering reservoir for easier access.

Removed the wheels to prepare to drain the brake fluid.

This is the nipple to bleed the brake fluids. It is actually covered with a rubber boot but I removed it to complete this job

Drained enough fluid to make sure the master brake pump is empty or at least mostly empty. Yeah its kinda dirty cause the brake fluids have not been changed for 5 years/66k km

One side view of the master brake pump

Another view of the master brake pump.

This is the connecting rod to your brake servo..... make sure not to break the gasket... else have to buy new gasket.

After removing the first part which was kinda easy. Use a c-clip plier. Can be purchased for RM 9. Some call it the electronic plier.

Removing the 2nd part is a bit more tricky. Use a flat screw driver and compress the spring inside the master brake pump and turn it upside down so the pin locking it falls out.

After removing, you will see two holes instead of one.

All the parts out. You can see that I arranged the brake service kit next to the old one in the same order so that I do not mess up.

Installation of the servicing kit is exactly opposite of removing it. Just back track and you should find this an easy job.

Installed the reservior again.... making sure there is no leakage and it is sealed nicely.

Was installing it back when disaster happen at the last screw...... the thread is....... gone.... thanks to stupid me and my thick muscle head.... it was tight and i continue screwing it in till the thread is broken....

Have to wait till the following day to sent it to the machine shop and have it re-threaded. This is after re-threading.

Yeah, the master brake pump is a bit hard to reach so I was literally climbing unto the car.....

I was getting pissed cause the nut still refuse to enter..... it was only after almost an hour before it got it in properly.... btw, the post is just for fun..... proof that one can have fun while working on something.

And I install rims with hands and legs.....

Heck... I can even operate my 3 tonne jack with my legs....this is DOWN position

And this is my spreading my legs position..... UP position lar.

After bleeding the brakes..... this is how horrible it looks... kinda dirty fluid.

Looks like dark ribenna.... juice.

Final photos of the broken parts.... the cause was the rubber seals around the pin that probably have shrunk thus leaking pressure.

The not so conventional tools used..... The saw off nail is used to push the pin locking the reservoir and the master brake pump body. The cable tie was used to locate a nut that has fallen into the car's lower arm.

This is the kit used... RM65 at your friendly neighbourhood spare part shop.

End of the Master Brake Pump servicing.... i decided to do a bit of cleaning.

Carpet that has been stepped on for 5 years.... sure got dirt that is hard to remove.

Closer look on the dirt and you see that it is all around the rubber weaves.

Cleaning was done with powder soap used for clothes washing.

Put more washing powder on the severely affected portion

Shoot it with a high pressure cleaner on circular mode and you get the below results... not perfect but at least restored bout 80% of the color.... something I could not do with a brush.

Not bad but took me awhile to set up the high pressure cleaner and all.....

While the rims were out during the brake fluid bleeding.... I might as well wash the rims for fun.....

Looks simple enough............

After a round of Osren Bubble and Wash..... 

AHHHH, some all too familiar sights .........

Shot it with TarX.... lemon scented which actually smells pretty delicious...

Closer look at how tar is being dissolved...

After letting it sit for bout 30 seconds..... gave it a wipe with a microfiber.... obviously i use those that I am gonna throw away soon..... no way am I gonna use a new micro fiber here.

Holy mackerel.... its gone.... but what about the rest.........

Spray the rims with IronX now...... letting it soak...

No matter how long, I still do not like this smell.......

Agitate with a brush..... hmm... plenty of purplish thingy..

Agitate somemore for more thicker purplish thingy....

Okay, I am getting bored of agitating it so after this i rinse it with lots of water.

Not perfect but it is still better than how it looks like when first started.

Took out secret weapon..... wipe and you can see the amount of dirt lifted...

I only cleaned the area just in front of the tube..... got lazy at this point of time and it was going to rain.

Not perfect but a far cry from when it first started.

Notes:

- Myvi uses DOT 4 brake fluid but DOT 3 works as well if you flushed the entire system to ensure there is no mixture.

- When bleeding the brakes, make sure you start from the one furthers away from the pump to ensure the bleeding is done properly...... i had to bleed twice cause I did not follow this rule.

- Change your brake fluid routinely if you do not want it to turn as black as this Myvi's brake fluids.

Any questions, please feel free to let me know. Thanks.

BMW 328i - Corrected and Opti Coated.

Today, I bring you a car that has its acronym associated with so many names that it is impossible to list out all of it so I will list out what I have in my memory now:

- Brings Me Women
- Banish My Workers
- Bullied My Way
- Bought Me Wishes

The car was acquired by the owner roughly 1 and half week back. Has not been sent for detailing nor a polish job before (as far as owner knows). Being a proud owner of this mean machine, he wants only the best protection for his lovely ride. Owner is a family man whom spends time with his family over the weekend and like me, washing the car is a passion. He washes all 3 of his car himself. Not allowing the maid to do it.

I can ramble on and on about this as I had the opportunity to chat with the owner over nasi lemak and a home made awesome sandwich. Good host indeed. He made sure my stomach was filled and my thirst is quench above all else.

So on with the car. Upon arrival, I instantly jump at giving the car a wash with Osren Bubble & Wax.


From a slightly different view so you can see the nice 328i badge.


Side view shows that it is nice and glossy enough already......


The front bonnet seems OK and no problems.......


The passenger side also looks OK and no problems......


Or IS IT!!!!!!


Glue marks all over the place.


On the door handles, on the door panels, on the rear bumper..... its everywhere.... surprises me is that they shouldn't even blame the tinting people as the tinting is done by themselves. If I was the sales person, it would not clear my conscience to deliver a car to my customer in that state.


A nice long scratch along the bodywork which will be corrected.


Then my biggest nightmare came true..........


Polish/Wax residue on part of the bonnet..... a very obvious part of the bonnet smack rite in the middle.


And I quickly took my halogen lamp out.......to reveal


HOLOGRAM HEAVEN........


Forget the hologram for now...... i continue with my cleaning expedition.


Rims were cleaned with OPC 1:3 and then with IronX. You can see plenty of reaction to IronX by focusing on the purple flowing liquid.


Clean rims..... but how clean?


Clean till the inside is awesomely pawsomely cleaned!!!!


Clean rims.... but at what cost? Owner's wife was actually very surprised that a clean rim could shine like this that she thought I have already coated the rims when I had yet to do so.


Cost.... me some blood. My finger got cut by the metal shield behind the disc. It was as sharp as a knife.


Engine bay was given a quick wipe down with one of my old micro fibers. Just an ultra quick one that lasted only 5 minutes or so. Was admiring at the heart of this beast.


Now we come back to the hologram heaven.... truly like a single color aurora in the north pole.... only thing is that this is annoying.



Half corrected. Can still see the hologram on the top part of the bonnet whereas the bottom part has been corrected.


Fully corrected hood. Luckily the hologram is only present at the middle portion of the hood and not the entire car.


It is a bit hard to see so I circled it RED. Even the owner did not realize it until I let him know. Hard to notice and even harder to capture on camera as it is only visible at certain angle. This is what severe hologram can do to your paint clarity.


After correction. Car was moved as it drizzled earlier before this shot was taken. But you can clearly see that there is no longer a difference in color and reflection after the correction.


This is the weather for that day.... ultra cloudy but nice day to be out in the open. I was actually having a flu but being outside and doing the things I love, I did not even once felt sick..... until I got home.


Oh yeah, the shot up there is actually cropped from this photo.... try to see if you can find which part of the photo it was cropped from. This is after the car was already done coated.


Coated sides....


Coated rims....


Coated passenger side and skirts


Final shot of the BMW before I had to go.


Time Spend: 7am - 2+pm = 7 hours plus?
Product used: Osren Bubble&Wax, Optimum Power Clean 1:5 and 1:3, Osren Perfect Cut + LC Black Pad + Ultramate DA combo. Optimum Coating 2.0, Optimum Opti Seal, IronX and etc that I could not remember at the moment.
Satisfaction Level: Owner was impressed

Note:
- IronX manufacturer seriously need to do something bout their so called "Cherry Scented" product. The smell is so strong that it even entered the kitchen..... RIGHT AT THE BACK OF THE HOUSE.
- If car sales person wants to make the car shine shine for the owner, please at least have the decency to engage a proper detailer instead of those whacko polish dude and wax boys operating at the road side. It is an embarrassment to the branding and to your own image to deliver such quality to a paying customer.
- I am currently throwing out my tantrum like a small kid.
- Back to proper noting on this detailing journey, Osren does sell pretty good spray bottles. I am loving it.
- BMW should look into their metal shield at the back of the disc brakes. It is too sharp. I have cleaned plenty of wheels and touched plenty of metal shield but by far, BMW is the only one that drew blood.
- Car manufacturers should look into using different glue for their "QC PASSED" stickers. Its a real pain to remove them without marring the paint.

Please do leave your comments (good, bad, gibberish, rambling or etc) as it is much appreciated.


Edited*
This is what the owner send to me. Always nice and cozy to have feedbacks from the owner themselves.

Nissan Latio Sport: Blemish killer.

Hi folks,

I am back and I bring you today a partial correction and deep cleansing of a white Nissan Latio Sport. As most of you already know, I own a white car as well and having a really clean white car is indeed a very awesome feeling.

Now, let the story begin.

Typical of white cars, your snow white always turn into zebra after a nice dose of polluted rain.


The color of the water after giving it a quick wash.


After a quick wash, the car was given another treatment. IronX and TarX. You see the purple lines, that is the result of IronX meets Iron. The chemical reaction creates the color. Plenty of iron at the back of the car.... i have no idea why.


Another shot of it after agitated with a brush to ensure all iron fillings are removed. No photos of the TarX in action but it was pretty much the same just brown color.


This is before wash, plenty of rain mark and is greyish. Not attractive at all.


This is after the quick wash...better but not perfect


Now, as the title says, blemishes..... actually refers to pimples on a teenager's face. In this car.... on the car bonnet. History lesson time:
- car was travelling on highway
- stone chips occured.
- owner bought some paint to touch up
- over time, the touch up part turn grey???


Now comes the blemish buster.


And you get back your glossiness and no blemishes.


Like all teenagers, scar is always an issue..... so this is consider as a scar on a teen's face.


This is consider scar removed..... with a bit of paint chip off as expected from a scratch.


Now, the car was given a partial correction instead of a full correction. To be explained further down.


Still looks pretty good if you ask me. Btw, that is my project Delsol there..... will have an update soon on that.


Notes:
- Car was given spot polishing to remove obvious flaws such as discoloration and foreign transference only.
- no attempt was made to remove swirls as owner only wants it to look awesome, not perfect. So according to the owner, awesome is given.
- white car is good in hiding swirls and scratches
- car was given a round of OPC 1:3 before the IronX and TarX treatment. Takes a lot of effort away from claying.
- the entire car was sealed using Opti Seal and given time to cure before a layer of Optimum Car Wax was applied. Last three shots was the result of it.

Time Spend: 4.5 hours
Product used: Osren Wash&Wax, Optimum Power Clean 1:3, Osren Crystal Cut 2.0 + LC Orange Pad + Ultramate DA combo. Optimum Opti Seal, Optimum car wax and patience.
Satisfaction level: Owner level = Awesome level.

Do leave your feedback if any (good, bad, gibberish or anything you want to ask) as it is much appreciated.