Hydro Booster

[glivingstone]

Looking for a little advice.
Has anyone out there had trouble with their Hydro Booster leaking oil inside the vehicle?
Can you purchase a repair kit/seals or do you have to replace the complete assembly?
Are there any suppliers of non-genuine parts out there?
Looking forward to your replies.
Regards
Greg

[DmaxMaverick]

There is a kit available, but I don't recommend it. By the time they start leaking externally, either in the cab or out, the internals and accumulator are about due to fail. You should have 4-5 engine-off full brake applications. One of the first indications is the loss of reserve braking, and the leak you are experiencing. Special tools are also required for overhaul.

[jspringator]

I had mine replaced recently. A couple of days later, when you turned the steering wheel while driving the brakes applied! Drove it to another franchise of the same shop and they towed it 12 miles to the original shop for repair.

[Robyn]

Been there done that.
Get a rebuilt from a reputable rebuilder and swap it out.
I have done one of my Subs the Blazer and the Gasser 1 ton dually. They can be a bit of a pain to get at some of the bolts up under the dash but its doable. I rebuilt one a while back. Was not real tough but I had to get inventive to improvise the special tools. Luckily I have a Mill and a lathe in my shop and did not care about the time to do the repair. The last rebuilt I got came from the NAPA store and it was worse than the one on the rig. The replacement for that one had one of the hose fitting seats all beat out so it was no good and I did not see that untill I had it all ready to screw the hoses back in. Thats when I tossed the thing at the parts man, got my old one back and fixed it myself.
If you ever wanted to see what the term raving bitch meant that was it.
I had to drive 20 miles each way 3 times to get this stupid thing done and over with. My old one was not too bad, I replaced the accumulator and resealed the unit, sprayed on some black paint and it works sweet.
The chevy service manual gives the scoop on rebuilding them.
Its a breeze if you can get a good rebuilt unit but some times that can be tough. The rebuilders are all using low life labor that dont care if its right or not. Be sure you check the rebuilt one to varify that it has the proper rod length as they can come in with none or too short or long. This is always nasty after you have it up in there and the rods wrong and nobody knows what on earth you are talking about. My last one I had to reuse the front mounting bracket and the rod. There is a special tool needed to remove the front nut and bracket assembly. You cant buy it anyplace I could find so I built one from a socket and welded on some tangs to index the nut.
AAAAARRRRRRRRRRRGGGGG PITA for sure. OH BTW the kit is available from the chevy store.
Good luck
Robyn
Hope this helps
Robyn