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Brake reservoir caps (white ones)

Posted: Mon Apr 22, 2019 12:28 pm
by Texas710
Was doing my yearly maintenance and was having having trouble bleeding my brakes with the motive bleeder.

Finally diagnosed the issue, one of the white caps on the reservoir is split, so it won't hold pressure. I was able to use a clamp to get it to pressurize and bleed it but not something I am going to drive around with.

Seems to me, I don't want to leave this cracked and at a minimum will need to seal this from the outside air. I feel like I will need to replace the caps, SAV looks to have them in stock, but they may be for version II?.

first question: could a broken cap cause any issues with the brake system?

Bigger questions being: how in the world do you replace these caps? I have read a lot of thoughts on not removing them, but are you able to replace these? I remember trying to remove them when I first got my truck and was not able to without thinking I was going to break something. Do you replace the whole reservoir? Does anyone know if the version II fits, any thoughts on this?

Re: Brake reservoir caps (white ones)

Posted: Thu Apr 25, 2019 10:36 pm
by namtinker
I had the same issue and could only order SAV replacements after 7 months. I molded/cast a reinforcing ring around the split cap with alumilite, then glued it in the ring with brake fluid resistant rtv silicone. Lasted and sealed perfectly. Key thing is to mold it thin enough to fit.

Cheers

Re: Brake reservoir caps (white ones)

Posted: Fri Apr 26, 2019 10:27 am
by Texas710
Thanks for the heads up, I figured I would be going the sealant route. Never used the alumilite stuff, looks cool, will probably just see how the RTV will hold up without it...

Did you just end up replacing the whole reservoir, or could you replace just the caps?

Thanks

Re: Brake reservoir caps (white ones)

Posted: Sat Apr 27, 2019 10:56 pm
by namtinker
Just the caps. In my case everthing else was fine. Just be careful with the Rtv. It is not structural, so cannot handle any real pressure.
Another alternative is the high strength silicone emergency tape. Make sure you remove all fluid traces, then tape. But all these are short term temp/emergency fixes only. Not worth taking chances with the brakes. Not with vehicles with almost no modern safety features.

Cheers

Re: Brake reservoir caps (white ones)

Posted: Tue May 07, 2019 8:53 am
by Texas710
When thinking about the repair with RTV, I know it would work, but I do agree, a patch on a Pinz brake system did not seem appropriate for long term.

Poised the question in the classified and was able to source a reservoir and a set of seals from a forum member. I learned that there are a few versions of the brake reservoir and they are interchangeable. This is good. With some wisdom from Paul about the different versions, I decided on Rev II, as it only has 1 cap and seemed easier/less stuff to fail on it.

Swapping them out was a piece of cake. Remove the fluid from the original, lift up on the reservoir (I used a flat-head screwdriver to pry up one side), then remove the other side and the thing is out. Pull out the old rubber seals. Clean up everything, drop in the new seals and push in the new reservoir. Easy swap.

I opted to bleed the brakes after doing this because I figured the pressure bleeder would tell me pretty quick if a seal wasn't installed right. Everything held nicely and the Rev II version is a nice addition, I like the way it look and seems like it is easier to see the proper level of fluid.

Re: Brake reservoir caps (white ones)

Posted: Tue May 07, 2019 10:18 am
by pcolette
Very nice! I'm glad it went well for you.

Re: Brake reservoir caps (white ones)

Posted: Thu Jul 04, 2019 1:35 pm
by ExpeditionImports
The "side caps", "float caps," etc. are readily available. I cannot count the number of times that customers don't realize that to fill the factory reservoir you remove the CENTER CAP, and fill both sides from there. The side caps are not really designed for regular removal.

If you need just the caps they are here:

https://expedition-imports.com/0004311633

Cheers,

Scott