IF your really worried about it, just take the other side apart and see if the questionable side has the same components as the known good side. Thinking about it logically though, If it seems to be working AND there is no fluid leak, then I would think its fine. Best way to test is just to drive it man..Drive her around and after a few more good hard stops check it out. IF there are still no leaks, and the brakes seems to be grabbing like normal, then be happy and good job. IF it's something that is gonna bother you in teh back of yoru head then replace it and be done with it. Fact is, the rear accounts for so little stopping power anyway its not gonna cause an accident even if it did go. The front is what stops you the most.

 

:yeahthat: I just did brakes and the little buggers popped out on me too, I did as banditz and you described. I put em back together, checked for leaks, pumped the brakes a bunch, checked again, then roadtested it. Hasn't leaked since and I'm stopping better after I bled them, so it should be fine. Those wheel cylinders are definitely at least sold as an assembly. Good price on those, Advance Auto by me didn't have them and they're $50 at the dealer. Good thing I didn't need one.

Just keep an eye on it and if something seems like it's not right, just replace it.

 

I popped one of mine when doing the shoes; I popped it back in and all was good. (Yes, I had to bleed the brakes) Almost 30k later all is good.

 

Hey, thanks for all of the replies. It makes me feel better that I wasn't the only one who did this (and not the only one who probably felt that sinking feeling as the spring rolls across the floor and the fluid pours out of the cylinder!).

1badI5- I am glad that yours lasted 30k, as that makes me feel better. I know that the rears do little for stopping power but if that bad boy pops when I am coming to a stop I would imagine that my front calipers would lose all of their power. I just can't believe what holds them together! I mean all of that pressure and there are 2 little O rings and a boot to keep dirt out...AND the boot is not even fastened to the assembly. Kind of makes you wonder how many mechanics or even dealers have had this same issue and just picked the parts off of the floor and reassembled them!

Just because I am anal about that type of thing (or anything on my truck at that matter) I am going to check for how much a replacement is at Pep Boys or Auto Zone tomorrow. Napa will unfortunately be closed. I should have picked one up considering I asked parts and they want $20 for a new one. If the price is similar I may just purchase one and replace for peace of mind…and really it looks really simple to replace.

Keep the posts coming! Hopefully others with a similar issues will come across this thread (I constantly search this forum for issues) or maybe will help to avoid the same thing happening to them!

 

NO, fronts are seperate from rears. A loss of rears would leave you with fronts but still throw a light for the rear via the pressure differential valve. So yeah...you would lose rear brakes. But NOT front. Your master cylinder is actually TWO seperate master cylinders.

 

But like I said bro, if it means that you feel safe..forget what we say..do what makes you happy and feeling safe man!!

 

When I began working on the family cars as a teenager, you bought rebuild kits consisting of seals & cups & springs. You used a 3-stone hone to clean up the brake cyl., cleaned everything, reassembled it w/ fluid in the cyl. before attaching the brake line to the cyl again. You just skipped the honing step! If you have a firm pedal & it doesn't pull to one side, you should be good. Brake system flared tubing nuts are what flare nut wrenches are for. Now, probably because of liability, those kits are not avail. here.

I think it was around 1966 the federal gov't. required dual chamber master cyl's. so if you had a leak in a line you would still retain brake function.

 

I actually had this happen to me... and lost my rear brakes. It was very, very scary. I didn't feel safe driving it, in fact. The fronts really don't stop as well as you think. Seriously. It was bad. It's worth the $20.

 

banditz- thanks a lot of the info man. I didn't realize that the braking system is built that way and knowing that makes me feel a bit safer.

I think I am still going with my intuition and replacing the cylinder today since I did not closely inspect the O ring on the piston before putting it back in. My thinking is if it came out in the first place it likely needs to be replaced. I will be going to the store (when they open) to pickup a new one today. I will post back here with the price if anyone needs it later today.

 

Sounds like a plan brother. That's very little money to pay for piece of mind!

Glad I could help

 

Well, went to both PepBoys and Autozone and neither had them in stock or stocked in any surrounding stores. I rode around for a few hours today and everything seemed fine. I will peel the wheel back off later to see if anything is leaking. If not I think it is safe to say that everything will be ok however I may but the one Napa had in stock just in case it blows.

 

As others have said it happened to me also. I put it back together and it has been working fine for over 10,000 miles now. You should be fine.

 

Happened to me saturday put it back together bleed brakes works fine.

 

Believe it or not they still make rebuild kits for wheel cylinders. I worked at Advance for a couple years and only sold about 2 of em. I do believe that Tru-Torque were the ones we sold. Why buy a rebuild kit for a part that only costs 9-11 bucks. I've used the rebuild kits before and had good success though. I only used it because I didn't have any line wrenches and the nut looked like it wasn't going anywhere without breaking the line and I didn't have any flare tools/fitting handy.

 

It probably didn't tell you how to service them in the manual due to cost of labor of a shop servicing them its cheaper to just throw a brand new one on I've done the exact same thing and I don't seem to have any leaks I didn't pull the drum to check for sure though, my fluid reservoir has remained at the same level since I did it so I'm pretty sure its not leaking.

 

No one sells rebuild kits for wheel cylinders anymore because they don't make enough money that way so they sell them complete. i have 2 extras lol

 

Unless I got a bad part somewhere else. If you rear wheel cylinder pops out you lose all brakes... ask me how I have a bent fender. I had metal to metal rear brakes and was heading home to replace them and. Lady slamed on brakes and I did the same and the pedal went to the floor so I swirved and hit her back corner. It was leaking fluid out the back. So I put a set of vise grips on the rear brake line so I had front brakes again and drove home(after I got a ticket of course for fualty equipment)

 

the wheel cylinder has pistons inside that push the shoes against the drum. When there is no resistance on the pistons they will pop right out and start leaking brake fluid. this leak will cause you to lose brake pressure in those lines.