I took her back and they came up with some crap about while bleeding the brakes in old cars sometimes the valve in the master cylinder will go out and that I needed a new master cylinder. The master cylinder was fine whenever I took it in there. That, and I just payed $846 for new shoes and the 4 wheel cylinders. I believe I was already screwed on the price, but I just want the input, advice and insight any of you may have. My boss told me that there wasn't a valve that hey are speaking of. Please help anyway. I want to be prepared whenever the guy calls me about Ms. Pearl today. Megan
Hi Meg:Usually when wheel cylinders are bad they start to weep brake fluid. Generally they will weep for a long time before you notice any problems but this is dangerous because if you get low on brake fluid you loose your brakes. So I would trust them on the wheel cylinders being bad and needing to be replaced. The same corrosion that causes the wheel cylinders to fail can also cause corrosion in the master cylinder. When you bleed the brakes the pedal travels further than normal which can cause the seals in the master cylinder to get torn up on the rough surface of the corroded area and then the master needs to be repaired or replaced.
If they were doing all this work they should have replaced the hoses as well. There are three rubber hoses on the system. These hoses fail with age and generally fail from the inside out so you don't know they are "getting old". I replace these as part of the first brake job on any old car I get.
Pretty much I expect to have to do all this work on any old car when I get it. I'm not surprised to hear that your car needs all this done but.... #1 The price is crazy. They have about $300 (max) in parts right now and 4 hours (max) labor. I would expect this to be about $300 cheaper. #2 They should have never sent you out in the car with the brakes not working right. This tells me they are clueless. Goodness forbid you had been in an accident and gotten hurt... that was very negligent on there part. #3 Your car is old, but the brake design on your car was used for eons. I wouldn't be surprised if they had problems with a 50's Imperials brakes but the system on your car is very straightforward and similar to the rear wheel drums still used in production today. This should have been a no brainer for them.
Start looking for an independent shop that will work on your car and keep it away from the chain places. These kinds of storys are very common with the chains. If I were in your shoes I would start looking now and be prepared to have you car towed there and repaired if Midas can't get it fixed.
Steve B.
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