Brake Servo
Brake Servo
Author
Discussion

phil the rep

Original Poster:

27 posts

257 months

Saturday 18th February 2006
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my S2 has just failed its mot with a rust hole at the bottom of the brake servo. Any body know the make or part number for a new one

GreenV8S

31,017 posts

313 months

Saturday 18th February 2006
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Allegedly SAAB 9000 non-ABS.

HarryW

16,026 posts

298 months

Saturday 18th February 2006
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Do a quick search of recent S post 'flow8rain' put something up about this .

jwoffshore

461 posts

283 months

Saturday 18th February 2006
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I have been through all this in some detail, clambering around in scrappys etc. The remote reservoir type is SAAB 9000. The integral reservoir type is similar to 1990's Ford FWD e.g. Escort, Fiesta. (The Sierra is a completely different servo push rod fitting to the pedal and will not fit.) For both the SAAB and Ford FWD types, the bulkhead fitting is the same hole pattern, so you can swap between them. There is a huge variety of detail differences across the Ford range/years with a choice of Girling, ATE, Bendix fitments all sort of interchangeable. The TVR servos are Lucas Girling make. The integral reservoir type on the TVR S is just the same as the Griffith/Chimaera one anyway, which you can buy as a TVR spare.

You cannot generally swap the master cylinder across between the different makes/types of servo, so you have to have a matching pair (always a nice thing!)

In the end the simple solution is to buy a new TVR Griff/Chim servo and master cylinder. All in this will cost £200-ish and you will have the neater integral reservoir. TVR supply the new cylinder not including the reservoir, but you can grab a reservoir to fit off a Ford in a scrappy or call Bell Hill for the exact TVR one. I guess Bell Hill could also sell you a complete secondhand servo & cylinder from a Griff/Chim. On the Griff/Chim, the servo does not rust out because it is inside the footwell. I advise you to repaint the new servo when you get it. Even new, the paint is very thin and just for decoration really, it does not offer much long term corrosion protection.

If you want a cheap & cheerful solution, you can grab a complete servo/master cyl off an Escort in a scrappy. However, most likely you will end up with an ATE or Bendix one. I did not see many Girling ones in my local yard. The TVR master cyl is 7/8" (22.2mm) bore. There is no guarantee what bore the secondhand Ford one will be. Sometimes it is marked on the side in mm (I think). You will be struggling to find a secondhand non-ABS SAAB servo in decent nick. I found one but it was rusty too. The Ford ones seem to stay fairly rust-free.

I hope this helps. Basically, if you have the remote reservoir type, I wouldn't waste time trying to replace it exactly, just swap the complete servo & master cyl to the more easily available integral one.

This is the best of my knowledge, but you should always double-check for yourself. Never trust the (mis) information you read here!

Cheers, JW.

phil the rep

Original Poster:

27 posts

257 months

Sunday 19th February 2006
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Thanks for the info guys, I'll let you know how I get on. I've booked a MOT retest on Friday it looks like I'm going to stuggle to make it.

phil the rep

Original Poster:

27 posts

257 months

Friday 24th February 2006
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Good news, it passed its re-test today. I rang TVR Carparts they wanted £225 + vat for a new servo. £204 + vat for a Griff Set up. In the end I got one from a Saab breakers for £55 + vat. Job Done.

jwoffshore

461 posts

283 months

Friday 24th February 2006
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Good result Phil. Which Saab breaker helped you out? I could only find rusty ones.

JW