How to Replace a Master Cylinder - EricTheCarGuy 

Well after 15 years of doing it every day I would hope I know something but in truth there is still soo much I don't know. Since it's my show however I can focus on the stuff that I do know so I don't appear so ignorant. Thanks for watching and supporting my friend.

Thanks for sharing your video Eric - great video btw. Regarding the Master Cylinder bleeding procedure, one alternative that worked really well for me was to perform the bleed procedure while installed on the vehicle, which should ensure air has been purged from the master cylinder prior to reconnecting into the brake system and with minimal brake fluid spillage. Here is how I did it: Prior to proceeding, spray the master cylinder (MC) nuts and brake lines where they connect to the MC with a good lubricant and let it soak ( 1 to 5 minutes depending on how much rust is observed) 1. Place a catch rag under the master cylinder (MC) and disconnect the two attached brake lines and remove the existing unit. As you recommended, disconnecting the MC booster hose, accelerator and cruise control cables (if equipped) from their hold down brackets makes the procedure much easier 2. Install the new MC (one nut snug tight should be sufficient) with the brake lines still detached. If the new MC did not come with the rubber gasket, you may need to use a donor from the old one. 3. Add the bleeder kit per the instructions 4. Top off the brake fluid and pump the brake pedal SLOWLY until all the air bubbles disappear (typically between 15 to 30 pumps) 5. Loosen the MC nut(s) so that there is a little play and remove one of the bleeder hoses and begin threading one of the brake lines by hand (5 to 10 turns should be sufficient) 6. Repeat the same procedure for the last line 7. Tighten both MC mounting nuts to spec (132 inch/lbs) 8. Tighten the MC brakes lines snug tight and wipe down both lines with brake cleaner fluid and paper towel 9. Tighten each line another 1/4 to 1/2 turn or until the fluid no longer drips from the line 10. Ensure the brake reservoir is topped off and pump the brake pedal another 5 to 10 times 11. Recheck the lines for leakage and tighten in 1/4 inch increments until no further leakage is visible 12. Start the vehicle and ensure the pedal firmly stops somewhere between 1/4 and 1/2 to the floor 13. If more travel is observed, check for leaks at each wheel and bleed each wheel cylinder per the owner's manual

Thank you ERIC ! I am in the jungle in Honduras with no "bleed kit". Your push and then two finger 'bleed kit'. saved my azz......My Ranger now has brakes again... No driving over a cliff for me .. Thanks again... By the way, your camera man is lovely !

@joeypauga These are my favorite comments by far, I'm glad my video helped you. Thanks very much for the comment.

excellent tutorial. Never seen the advice about pre-filling and bleeding the master cylinder before fitting before but worked it out for mysdelf many years ago. Another benefit is the M/S seals get lubricated so that there is less chance of them turning themselves inside out when pumping the brakes to bleed the system Probably the most common mistake that causes problems bleeding the braking system. Thanks for posting

It might suck on your fingers but don't get too excited lol

Hi Eric. Did this little job on my wife's '90 Accord this morning in a little over an hour without a hitch. My rubber gasket thingy stayed with the car and would have caused me lots of head scratching if you hadn't warned me. And while I followed your suggestions to avoid bleeding the brakes, I couldn't imagine air wouldn't get in, so I bled them anyway. Not a single tiny bubble came through. You're the man. Thanks!

10 plus years later, you're still helping us with this video, sir!!!! Gotta replace the master cylinder on my mint 2002 CR-V and this video really helped me, especially the bench bleeding part. Thank you so much!!!!

"You might feel it sucking on your fingers a little bit but don't get too excited" hahahaha

I also shot how I picked it up with my magnet but I didn't have enough time to put it in. I think it's good to show that I make mistakes too just like everyone else, the point in my opinion is to learn from those mistakes, if people learn how I deal with my mistakes I think I'm doing my job the way I've intended all along.

@zelemont I love comments like this were someone saved a bunch of money and I was able to help. I'm going to see my brother later this week, I'll pass it along. Thanks for the comment.

remembering the good old days with Eric the car guy before he became successful-and went commercial missed this guy.

Eric you rock! Love your vids. They've helped many times and saved me the expense of having a mechanic fix my vehicles. Keep up the awesome work!!

Great video, love your stuff. One thing I noticed and was curious if it was an oversight or left off the video. Why didn't you measure and adjust the brake booster push rod to make sure you had proper clearance with the primary piston?

@nextrider123 Actually I did shoot some video on that years ago before ETCG even started, I thought about editing it and putting it out at some point. Thanks for the comment, I love hearing stories about how my videos help people.

@ShadowOfADaemon If you do this like I show in the video you don't have to bleed at the wheels. Actually the Honda procedure for bleeding brakes is LF, RR, RF, LR, that is from the factory manual, I didn't believe it myself but it works and if you think about it makes sense as it gets the air out quicker in my experience. Thanks for the comment.

ACE Man I just fitted a new master cylinder to my ford transit without bleeding and spent ages in the burning sun trying to get some brakes with no luck, Ended up putting my old master back on just so I had some ( dodgy) brake so i could get to work,, NOW I know what to do haha Steady from the UK...

Hey Eric I really like your videos. I have recently moved to Mexico and most of the cars here are older models, It would be great that you do videos on corollas (they are real common here) like 85-2000 that way I can help some of the folks that get stranded or dont kniw how to fix minor things like alternator and starter replacement/troubleshooting, drum brake replacement, time belt replacement (this one is a must on 90 corolla$, I havent seen one in youtube for tjis model and year. Thanks a lot u have tought ne alot and saved me tons on bucks .

@mauricecomedy12 I'm not sure I understand the question but if you push the pedal and it just goes to the floor and stays there it's most likely going to be the clutch hydraulics. You can verify that by looking for the leakage I showed in the video. Good luck and thanks for your comment.

@nextrider123 Glad the video helped, thanks for your comment. I actually have lots of videos with this car if you'd like to check them out.

@phylrick1 I've worked on a few "vintage" cars in my day (One of my favorites was a 50 Olds 98) but to be honest all those "modules" just take the place of the mechanical things you used to be able to adjust, after all the the engine still works the same it just has a plastic cover now, these days it's more a matter of finding the right part to replace, I really don't feel like I "fix" things on modern cars the way I do when I work on older classic vehicles.

"LOvely Assistant Rob" looks exactly like "Concerned Customer"

@DBlockDmagic I love helping people save money. Glad I was able to help, thanks very much for your comment.

@syphilistic Your input is welcome and appreciated, like I said in episode 1, I don't know everything and I'm honored that people such as yourself take the time to comment and give input.

If you'll leave the top off of the reservoir after you've installed the new m/c and S-L-O-W-L-Y pump the pedal because pumping hard will shoot fluid out the top... it will give the air a place to escape and 90 percent of the time you won't need to bleed with a wrench/ cracking lines open. .. save you some time and headache.

I'm here for the acting.

I just got a new Master Cylinder, and while I was sure I could figure it out, the video made me much more confident that I will succeed in my repair. Thanks Eric.

I love comments like this, thanks, I'm glad I was able to help.

When I watched this video I kept smelling brake fluid and feeling it's weird rubbery oiliness on my hands.

Great acting from Bruce Jenner

Keep watching, I'm happy to give you all that I know.

@lakerfan90717 Thanks for the great comment. You may only have to adjust the brake light switch to remedy your brake light problem BTW.

Bruce jenner?

I was going to watch this video in my car while it was connected to the blue tooth and I got the ad where that women is giving birth now it sounds like I was watching hard core porn

Did the job today...took a little over an hour. Hardest part was to get that lower 12mm nut back on...dropped it twice. Thanks again for the video. Had no idea how to bench bleed a master cylinder.

Eric, as always, you nail it ! Great videos, really appreciate you taking the time to do all these. Clear instructions, great tips, relaxed and humorous, you are definitely TheCarGuy.

Dirty hands are happy hands.

Holy crap I thought that was Bruce Jenner at first.

@lakayyak I really don't see too many of those cars anymore, it's sad because I like them especially the Vigor. I'm actually looking for one of these cars, if I get one I will make the requested videos for you. Thanks for your comment.

@driftster99 You want to do both, bleed it in the vice first and also bleed it on the car. If not it will take longer to bleed and you may introduce air into the system. Thanks for your comment.

man that was tough...why cant we just have brakes that use water as fluid to get Pascals law into motion?..he reminds me of John Lennon

8:05 Is Rob gay?

Very thorough instructional video--showing how to bleed the master cylinder on the bench as well as on the car.. Didn't know anything about bleeding the brake system before I watched this today. Now I have the confidence to go do it. Thanks a million!

The best video and especially “editing” on RU-vid on the subject of car-break-system. THANK YOU!

Hey Eric, thank you for the most informative video I have watched for a long time. I don't know much about cars but I really understood through your careful explanation. I have witnessed my father's frustration for the last few days as his brake pads have locked on his car and the local mechanics can not find the issue, until yesterday when a new guy suggested to change the master cylinder. The car is a 1992 Automatic Honda Civic. We collect the car tomorrow so I hold thumbs.

@shatros I'm glad I was able to help, thanks for the comment.

Thanks Eric, I followed your technique for a 1999 CRV and it worked well. Because I'm in Aus its on the other side. Master cylinder was fine so I just replaced the slave. First time I've ever done any engine work so even though it was minor I'm pretty stoked it worked. I did it buy my self so the bleeder worked well. Your vid is Nicely edited and put together so it's easy to follow. Got my flared spanners for $25 a set, $49 for the slave online and $5 for the dot 3. Cheap as! Your a legend!

Hey eric, love the vids. I am in mechanic school and we just got done with the steering and Suspension section and we just started the brakes section. your videos helps me in 2 ways, the first way is by helping me with understanding how things work, the procedure to replace something and how to diagnose something for mechanic school by being able to replay your vids as much as I need, they've helped already. the second is by just watching them and knowing how to do it for future situations.

Eric, your videos are awesome and thorough. I'm about to work on my master cylinder this weekend and this gave me the confidence to do it. I've already replaced my axle after watching "that" video of yours. You're awesome!

Thanks alot Eric! I also have to do this job on my accord CB3. I knew it would be a fairly easy job, but now I am way more confident in starting the job thanks to you man! Greetings from Belgium!! Keep up the good work.

i look forward to fixing cars because i learn so much from you eric, and its just good fun problem solving. thank you for what you do!

I love all your videos. If ever I have a question about something I’m doing on my car, your videos are my number one “go to”! Thanks EricTheCarGuy

@zhander88 The videos I make are based on the vehicles that come into my shop so in order for me to fill your request the same vehicle needs to come in with the same problem, if that does happen and I have the time I'd be happy to make a video for you.

Thanks! Was going to take it to the dealer, but after your video decided to do it at home. Wasn't quite as smooth as your install, but my brakes are way better than they were before the job! Thank you again. Great videos.

Eric, another huge THANK YOU! In 2005, we had the MC replaced and I think it was right around $300. But 2 weeks ago, my wife started complaining about spongy brakes so I decided to replace the MC--this time myself. Well, after studying this video a few times, a new $53.99 MC from Autozone and 1.5 hours later last night, VOILA! The hardest thing was gaining access to the MC, but once there it was easy. Thanks again. Your video gave me confidence & saved me, especially learning how to bench bleed.

@carlosgomescardozo I don't have a video for that specific vehicle but the procedure in this video is the same and can be used on that car.

What a helpful video.... I'm going to replace the master cylinder on our 1988 Honda CRX, but first looked to your video for a little tutorial. Well explained and laid out..... many thanks. You do a great job on your videos of explaining and showing how to do the job.

@sakitlikod1 Watch the "How To Deal With A Spongy Brake Pedal" video that I did, I believe I posted it as a response to this video.

@Dcarlsonn Perhaps you missed the very beginning of the video where the 'customer' describes the issue and I say that in my experience in this situation it's often the master cylinder. At some point I'll do a brake diagnosis video but I did address your concern at the beginning of this one. Lastly keep in mind when I posted this video I could only upload 10 min videos. Perhaps you should watch some more of my videos to get a better idea of what I'm about before making such a comment.

@singhsarbjit1 I appreciate that very much, thanks for the comment.

Eric you are awesome man its good to see your videos on RU-vid my friends have gotten me into cars a few years back and I wanna learn how stuff works plus I wanna at least be able to work on my car and know what to do and what not to do. thanks again man I'm learning a lot 👍

awsome videos i own an 95 4 door Gs-R and the videos are such a huge confident booster, i know i can tackle much bigger jobs than i thought i could thanks to your videos being simple and "easy on the eyes" good camera work and explanations. The fact that your working on another acura just makes it that much better for me since its nearly the same as mine

Thanks Eric car guy I don't know where I'd be without you.......thank you internet God's!!!!!!!!!!

@spelunkerd Yea sometimes rear calipers can be tricky, glad you got it figured out though, your right, that was better than replacing the master cylinder. Thanks for the comment.

@opiate2L The bubbles are normal but you should address ANY leaks in the brake system ASAP. As for pedal feel a lot depends on the adjustment of the rear brakes so if you haven't adjusted them it might be a good idea to do that first. Good luck and thanks for the comment.

@chivita10 Glad I could help, getting comments like this is one of my favorite things.

Just changed the master cylinder on my work van using this video, worked like a charm, thanks Eric!

Thanks man , It had been awhile. You definitely know your stuff and how to clearly explain in a way everyone should be able to understand. I like that little comment you made about not getting to excited about the master cylinder sucking your fingers. Have a great day.

You have turned my husband Joey Pauga into a mechanic stud!!! Thanks for teaching him something that he really enjoys doing.

thank you so much, I just changed my master cylinder, and my reservoir is completely separate, this is the only thing I could find on instructions to bench bleed without the res, thank you so much, and I anticipate I will be watching more of your videos as I do more maintenance on my P.O.S.

Well, I'm replacing my master cylinder tomorrow. I have a 1982 Chevy C10 with a 305, nothing special. Found out the fun way that it was time for a new one, almost missed my turn when the pedal went all the way down without even beginning to brake. Then it stayed on the floor board, it was exciting. But I used my feet to pull it back up and I tapped it quickly till I got enough pressure to stop. I'm certainly no mechanic, but I'm learning how to do everything. What better way than to get an old truck and do everything yourself. Thanks for the video, seems quite simple really after watching.

@Lokivoid You don't need to bleed the wheels if you do it the way I show in the video.

Excellent tutorial one of the best I've seen so far; You simplified it so well, and even through in the mistakes "thanks" great job thumbs up!

Wow Now I knew I would definitely find something more to learn from your videos here (after learning how to bleed brake fluid AND successfully doing it) but I was not expecting a video on replacing the master cylinder. Thanks a lot Eric.

@vanishi Glad you liked it, thanks for the comment.

Thank you ETCG for all your of back yard mechanic helpful hints and tips over the years. Totally dirty over here.

Hey Eric love your stuff all the way over here in Australia. You always explain things in a down to earth straight forward way. After I install a bench primed master cylinder, I always suction fluid back up unto the master from an tube in fluid on each of the front wheels. I just reckon it's more natural that way because the air is closer to the top and would prefer to rise. Everyone's got their preferences and ways, that's just mine. Thanks for the great vids. Love your work.

Thanks Eric. It has been a long time since I have bled breaks and never had to bleed the master cylinder before. Well, as fate would have it, while bleeding the brakes I overestimated how quickly the fluid would run out and accidentally pumped air into my brake cylinder. I wasn't certain until your video exactly how to go about bleeding the master cylinder, now I am so I'll be off to bleed the system all over again shortly, thanks again.

@1834Benji Happy to help, thanks for the comment.

When you replace a timing belt it is common practice to replace the water pump at the same time as you have to go through the same procedure to get to it. That Accord has 2 belts, one is a balance belt. A valve adjustment is sort of an elective but if done properly it can make the engine run very smoothly (I did a video on this). As for the interval, time is actually more harmful than miles, things will tend to dry rot over time if they don't get used.

Great video. When I did this job I bought new line fittings and had them silver soldered shut. I then used them as plugs and installed the new cylinder and bled it with the brake pedal.

Very concise, well paced and easy to follow. Thanks! Blessings, Ron

Boy you sure know your stuff! I've learned so much from your vids. I'll never be able to exicute most of it. But it's really helpful to have a grasp on it.

Fantastic video. I have to do this in the next couple weeks and this is awesome. Thanks for taking the time to do this. It was funny too.

Your welcome, thank YOU for watching.

I'm going to do this to my Chevy Camaro and am feeling more confident after watching this! Thank you so much for the helpful information.

Excellent video. Wish I had seen it a few weeks ago before I replaced a master cylinder in my 91 Accord. Still, I'm glad I found your video. It gives me some confirmation that I did OK when I replaced mine. For my car, I bought a master cylinder with a new reservoir on it and I'm glad I did. I probably could have cleaned the old reservoir but it looked quite nasty inside,.

Another useful video, Eric, Thanks. I just finished rear brakes on my Son's 2001 Jetta, and one of the boots on a rear caliper was torn so I replaced the caliper boot/seal. On finishing, after bleeding, brakes were spongy and I first panicked and thought I needed a new MC. But then I realized that I left the caliper on that wheel a little too wide, and it evidently was open too far for it to automatically adjust itself. When I closed that caliper a little it works great, no need for new MC.

Thanks for the great info. I am helping a friend do this today and this was the first and only one I needed to watch.

@joeypauga Good luck and don't forget to have fun. Thanks for the comment.

Thanks man! Like always your videos are simply and straight to the point!

@keasy84 Glad you got it all sorted out, thanks for the update and for your comments.

Thanks for taking your time to make the video, very helpful.

@coolhotct1 Your most welcome, thanks very much for your comment.

Truly well done. All how-to videos should be this good.

Run across your channel, glad I did. You obviously know what you're doing. Thank you.

Just want to say thanks for all your videos I have a 93 Integra and it really helps me out a lot I appreciate it

great vids man, I seem to always check your how-to's before I start a job. Thanks man. Keeping it Real!

Sir I had to stop and tell you that your video is Badass. Thanks a million bro. Really informative!!!

@driftster99 I'm glad I was able to help, see being dirty isn't so bad.