If you have any questions about the install call howe performance (619) 561-7764 5/15/2006 basic hydro-boost with ram assist (tc pump) hose installation diagram.
This is a universal seal kit meant to repair almost any hydroboost unit produced. Most hydroboost units are manufactured by Bendix and nearly all the seals in the units have remained the same. The pictures below are from a 2005 Chevy 1500 4x4 Truck, however, your unit may look a little different. Note.The meal pieces in the kit are not explained in this repair manual. As you go along through the repair and find any metal pieces that match the ones in the kit please match up and replace as necessary. Be very careful with these pieces as you may have to reuse a metal piece if not included in the kit.
We do not have any other parts other than what is provided in the kit so make sure you are working in an environment where you can find small pieces if you drop them. We are also including the manufacturers installation instructions that follow step by step procedures from Bendix but don't offer the pictures here in this sheet. If you have any questions regarding the installation or need help please let us know so we can help.
Remember this install sheet for reference only. Your unit may look different but the steps should be about thesame. How To: Hydroboost Rebuild Do you have power steering fluid leaking from the weep hole where the hydroboost unit bolts to the brake master cylinder? This kit is sure to fix it! Before you begin unbolting anything from the hydroboost, with your truck turned off, apply the brake pedal fully a few times. This depletes any reserve pressure from the accumulator.
Disconnect the brake master cylinder from the hydroboost unit by removing these two nuts. I use a 15mm wrench: Here you can either just crack these connections loose, or completely disconnect them. The steel lines can be tight if they have never been removed before. You'll want some rags/paper towels as these three lines will leak some fluid when they're disconnected. Now move into the cab and look where the brake pedal connects to the hydroboost. There are 4 nuts to remove. The threaded stems are long so you'll need a 15mm deep socket.
Look straight up at the end of the brake pedal and find the metal clip to remove. I use a flathead screwdriver to to pry it over top of the pin, then slide it off. Once that clip is off, you can simultaneously slide the electrical connector and the hydroboost rod off of the brake pedal.
Now from the engine bay, you can pull the hydroboost unit away from the firewall. You'll have to push the brake master cylinder out of the way. I pulled up on it slightly and pushed it towards the fuse box, while pushing the hydroboost towards the engine and pulling away from the firewall. Once the t readed studs were out of t e firewall, twisting the hydroboost counter-clockwise 90 degrees helped to get around the other obstacles in the engine bay. It should come out without too muchhassle.
Take the unit somewhere decently clean to work on. You're dealing with hydraulics and parts that have tight machining tolerances. You don't want dirt/debris getting into the unit.
If you have the appropriate Torx socket, use it. Otherwise, use a 12-point 3/8' box end wrench to remove the 5 'star-shaped' bolts.
These can be fairly snug. I had to tap on my wrench with a hammer to crack them loose. Once it starts opening up, a good bit of fluid trapped inside the unit will spill out. So prepare with paper towels or whatever you use to soak up the mess. Be cautious of any parts springing out.
Here is the unit in halves: Take the half on the right, and look into this hole. About 2 inches in is the bad seal and all you can see is the inside lip of it. I use two small flathead screwdrivers to get the seal out. You dont need to be gentle on the seal since you have a new one, but be gentle on the housing as to not scratch or ding it up. If you scratch anything inside your unit will never seal and leak forever! Just to check, I slid both old and new seals onto the piston to see if I could feel a difference. The new one thankfully fit much more snug and felt solid!
Install the new seal into the housing. Be sure you put it in the correct direction with the lips facing the piston! It can be tricky getting the seal fully seated. Just be sure when you have it in that it is all even and smooth.
You should be able to see about 1/16' of the lip all around. Once the new seal is in, you can start re-assembling. If any parts sprung out, be sure to p t them back correctly. The yellow spring goes into this small hole. There is also a small valve that can dislodge itself, my red arrow is pointing to this. My middle finger is covering some of it up. If it fell out, be sure to put it back in the correct way with the three dots facing out.
Put the unit back together in reverse order.
You know what I hate about computers? Anytime I buy something, it never seems to work. For example, if I buy a new program, download a player, try to play some type of game, it never works.
Brake systems are similar to computer systems. If each piece of the system is not up to par, it is not going to clamp down and stop the car like it's supposed to.
But what separates a computer system from a brake system is that if your brakes don't work, you ain't gon' be driving your car. Many auto enthusiasts think that as long as they have the latest and greatest master cylinder, booster, calipers, disc, etc., their car should stop on command. Unfortunately, this isn't always the case. When designing a brake system, you have to think about master cylinder bore sizes, booster sizes, and especially, vacuum.
Vacuum is often overlooked, or, at best, an afterthought. Without it, however, no matter what parts you have, the car won't stop.
In today's performance market, people are running such hot cams that it's killing vacuum, and is therefore killling the braking. On top of that, other areas of the car, such as automatic transmissions and A/C systems, also need vacuum, which then takes it away from the brake system. To compensate for the loss of vacuum, people install vacuum pumps, which, in some cases, still don't get the job done. Power Brake Service in Long Beach, California, has come up with another alternative-the hydroboost, which replaces the power booster in the system, and requires absolutely no vacuum. Instead of running off of vacuum like a power booster, the hydroboost is powered by pressure from the power steering pump.
The hydroboost taps into the power steering pump and uses the pump's pressure to help the system to deliver the necessary clamping force to the calipers without overworking your right leg. Not only is the hydroboost smaller than a 7- or 8-inch booster, (which opens up room to drop in some added cubic inches), but it can also generate anywhere from 1,200 to 2,000 psi of brake line pressure. Because the hydroboost doesn't run off vacuum, the calipers will be given the same amount of pressure from the minute you hit the brakes until the second you lift off them. You might ask, 'Does using fluid from the power steering pump require more horsepower?'
Yes, because anytime you add strain to the motor, it's going to result in horsepower loss. But why would you need horsepower in the middle of mashing the brakes? On top of that, by simply lifting your foot off the brake, your horsepower loss is gone. 'What happens if you lose your power steering pump or the motor dies?' Once again, no worries. The hydroboost's accumulator stores enough high pressure to have three full-power stops if the engine dies.
If the three stops aren't enough to stop the car, then the system resorts to manual brakes. Power Brake Service offers kits for a variety of applications, including Chevrolet musclecars. To see how the PBS hydroboost works, we found this '68 Camaro that had all kinds of vacuum issues, due to the performance cam. We switched out the old brake setup for the hydroboost in a matter of hours. Once it was all said and done, the car had gone from having no brakes to stopping on a dime.