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MG parts spares and accessories are available for MG T Series (TA, MG TB, MG TC, MG TD, MG TF), Magnette, MGA, Twin cam, MGB, MGBGT, MGC, MGC GT, MG Midget, Sprite and other MG models from British car spares company LBCarCo.

MG TD TF 1500 - Sudden brake failure

Happy New Year
After having the TF tucked in the garage since November 10th, I fired her up today for a New Years run.
Not to be. No hydraulic pressure. There was a puddle of brake fluid under the master cylinder on garage floor. I had not noticed this in November and had no leakage this fall.
I suspect this situation of sudden leakage of fluid in a parked car, from the MC, is diagnostic.
Has anyone encountered this same situation? I am presuming that I will be buying a new MC. Plan to remove it tomorrow.

Tom
'54 TF
T Norby

Tom,

If, after disassembly the interior of the cylinder is smooth and not rust pitted a rebuild kit will do the job with a small expenditure of dollars and effort. There has been comment that repro units are less than one hundred percent reliable. I am certain that others will comment.

Have a great New Year,

Jim haskins 1953 TD
J. M. Haskins

Tom,
If there is pitting you could consider having the cylinder sleeved. I had mine done in stainless steel and am very happy with it. The longer life of the ss sleeve and keeping the original master cylinder rather than going to a repro are both big advantages as I see it.
Michael
M R Calvert

Thanks gents for early comments.
This MC is not original. I just dug out the receipt from July 2003. Moss reproduction. 15 years of life in a car used intermittently seems reasonable. I just crawled underneath. Leakage from the rear end of the MC where it attaches to the pedal box.
In '03 they cost about the same as now. I suspect I will buy a new one. Seems I have read much here over the years about difficulty replacing the rubber components in the MC's. Moss currently states "no rebuild" kits available for both units they sell.

Tom
T Norby

Try Abingdon spares, Martin Cooke is increasing his inventory and lowering prices
Len Fanelli

Len, would I get a different product from AS, or just a different price?
Can't imagine that there are too many manufacturers of MC's for these cars. Moss lists TRW as the maker of their repro MC.

Tom
T Norby

Abingdon Spares lists only one version of a complete master cylinder for $124, while Moss lists two versions at $165 (TRW) and AP brand @ $254. Chances are the Abingdon product might well be British made. Call him and ask. You will be talking to the new owner when you call. Ask about shipping cost, too.
N Tesla

The only ones that I have seen for sale over here in the UK are TRW and AP, with the former being preferred and sold by MG Octagon Club.
Dave H
Dave Hill

There have been recent comments about new units just failing, don't remember which ones, search archives. A couple years ago some of the rebuild kits had incorrect piston cups (Bud K did the research on this) so be careful if contemplating rebuild. There have been some nice looking rebuild kits on ebay recently that included a new piston, no experience with them. George
George Butz

Tom, I rebuilt my original master cylinder with a kit from one of our suppliers 5 years ago and have not had any problems. The bore in the master cylinder was in near perfect condition, so I was fortunate. All I did was run a fine hone in it. PJ
Paul161

I have helped friends with three total failures of AP cylinders and would never use one again. It seems the as if the seal material is too soft. You can use your original piston in this cylinder with new seal as it has the same dimensions as the original.(the recuperation holes are in the same place as the seal).
I posted about this March this year
Ray TF 2884
Ray Lee

See "brake master cylinder failure" in archive.
Ray
Ray Lee

Looks like TRW preferred over AP.
Sounds like AP marketed to the "if it costs more it must be better" crowd. Get a TRW unit from Abindgon Spares, and nuts to the higher profit margin of the other place.
N Tesla

Order in today at Abingdon Spares. Great price for the TRW unit. Hope to get in installed next weekend.

Tom
'54 TF
T Norby

I think the original Lockheed company became AP/Lockheed, and continually produced variations of the original cylinder. At some point the piston/cups were changed to a couple variations of a more modern style. While not exactly original, these were correctly sold as OEM cylinders. A while back someone reproduced a much less expensive generic aftermarket cylinder. I think these are now the TRW branded ones, with the original type internals. George
George Butz

I have a TF1500 that suffered one of the 3 total failures of the master cylinder referred to by Ray Lee. It was a one year old AP cylinder from a well known UK MG supplier. It was subsequently replaced by a TRW unit supplied by UK MG Octagon Car Club, and has been on the car for one year and 4000 miles since without any problems (so far !!).
Neil.
N D Wallace

Phoned my order in Monday morning to Abingdon Spares. Had the new TRW MC in my mail box Wednesday afternoon via USPS Priority. Fabulous!
I will definitely use AS more often.
I wish Mr. Cooke would drive over on Saturday and install the sucker.

Tom
'54 TF
T Norby

This thread was discussed between 01/01/2016 and 07/01/2016

MG TD TF 1500 index

This thread is from the archive. The Live MG TD TF 1500 BBS is active now.