Has anyone had a REALLY hard time removing the reservoir (seals are leaking) while the master is still on the car? I pulled so hard I was afraid if I slipped, I'd go through the hood. Am I missing something obvious? There is nothing holding it to the cylinder other than the press fit into the seals.

 

Yeah, that's a bitch all right. The parts of the reservoir that protrude down into the grommets have a widened end on them and the diameter of the widened end is much larger than the inner diameter of the grommet. Try putting a strong, steady upward pressure--like pull hard--on the reservoir while gently rocking it back and forth. It will eventually come out slowly using that technique, but it take a bunch of muscle and more time than you would think.

How bad is it leaking? If it's just getting damp and not dripping, it won't affect your braking effectiveness, so consider just leaving it as is until the next time you replace or rebuild the MC. I just installed a newly remanufactured MC and had to use my existing reservoir, so removal from old--install in new. The installation was as difficult as the removal, too. The grommets on my "new" MC look a little damp, but the reservoir is not losing any fluid so it's not a problem. At least I don't think it's a problem.

 

Pry from each side with a screwdriver. Seperate the front half, then move to the back. Getting it off is easy. Fixing the leak is hard.

You can replace the master cylinder rubber bushing, but you will find it may leak. I tried everything to fix this leak on my car. After 2 years of messing with it, replacing multiple cylinders, bushings and resevoirs, I finally just put two hose clamps on the resevoir to hold it down tighter. Has not leaked since.

 

Aaron, did yours actually leak, like in drip, at the grommets? Like I said above, both mine seem damp but there is no indication that the fluid is actually leaking out and dripping down the side of the MC. I can't decide if this is a concern for a good, solid air-free system. Specifically, will air leak into the MC at those points or will the minor amount of hydraulic pressure loss there affect pedal feel?

 

Mine would slowly leak, then run down the brake booster and ruin the paint on the frame rail. I think it may have started to leak again because there's a telltale line of damaged paint running down my (freshly painted) brake booster.

 

Haven't noticed that on mine yet. What's your take on the effect of this on brake performance?

 

No effect. It's just the resevoir leaking.

 

Thanks!

 

Hmm any place in particular where you can buy just the bushings?

Mazda dealership doesn't seem to have them unless you buy the whole reservoir.
I finally rebuild my MC, and stopped the leak where it connects to the booster, but now its leaking from the reservoir (where it connects to the mc).

Thank god its parked for the winter.

Thanks
Gee

 

I got them at the local Mazda dealer a few months ago. If I can remember, I'll get the part number off of the bag for you tonight/tomorrow. Cost about $5/pair, IIRC.

 

The part # is 0305-49-686B (the letter "B".) Hope this helps.