Is a master cylinder from a car with ABS suitable?

[Matthew]

Hi

My donor car has ABS and I'm not sure whether the brake master cylinder will work in the roadster. Does anyone know, and if not then what size do I need?

Matt

(Disks all round if that makes any difference)

[flyerncle]

The cylinder feeds the ABS unit where the valves inside it regulate the feed to each wheel,the ECU controls the valve block to efectively swith on and off the flow to the wheel it senses locking hence the 10 HZ buzz from the pedal under hard braking.
If the cylinder has three outlet pipes,two at the front(for right and left front) and one at the rear(close to bulkhead for rear brakes) it should work ok.

Someone with more Ford knowledge may prove me wrong so dont take this as gospel but I hope it makes a little sense.

[RAYLEE29]

Hi, the master cylinder on mine was all part of the abs system and as such was totally unsuitable, my car was a j plate 2litre estate
you need one from an early non abs car or someone used one from a p100
Ray:)

[Matthew]

Thanks Ray

Guess I should have looked before asking, but it was early. It's pretty obvious it isn't going to work:

http://www.tcodd.demon.co.uk/images/Sierra/BrakeMasterCylinder.JPG

Is the bore diameter of all the other cylinders the same, or do I need to find one from a disk braked car?

Matt

[flyerncle]

Long time since I worked on an ABS fitted Sierra too !

[twinturbo]

The ABS PUMP unit has been proven to work fine on it's own with a sierra in fact it gives good power brakes.

However

1) it's big and heavy
2) although cars are passing MOT's like this, I am not sure what the IVA man would do???

TT

[tex]

ideally with any braking units it would make sense to use new components. yes cost can be an issue but new parts are designed better now and it will stop headaches later on trying to set it up - take away worries about safety and reliability too. dont skimp on safety it aint worth it

[ozzy1]

I'm sure AshG posted a link to a supplier he used for a brand new master cylinder which wasnt badly priced.Maybe search would turn up the info.

[twinturbo]

probably www.brakesint.co.uk

TT

[mr henderson]

2) although cars are passing MOT's like this, I am not sure what the IVA man would do???

TT

I understand that they disable the system (take out the fuse or whatever) to check that the brake balance is still ok without it.