Brake master cylinder

My vehicle is a Vauxhall Agila Design automatic. In 2014, the master cylinder was replaced by my local garage because it was losing fluid from the rear. The vehicle had only covered 7863 miles. Now the brake master cylinder is losing fluid again and another one has been fitted. I do not cover a lot of miles and think that the cylinder should last longer than two years. It costs £88 plus fitting each time. L Tibbett

I am not sure of the year of your vehicle, but there was a recall issued by Vauxhall in December 2002 concerning brake master cylinder problems. The recall reference was R/2002/161 and the title of the recall was ‘Possible reduction in brake performance’. The defect was a potential soft brake pedal and reduced brake performance due to water induced corrosion of the brake master cylinder and consequential fluid leakage. The remedial action was to replace the brake master cylinder and refill the brake system with fresh fluid.

It would be worth contacting Vauxhall to ensure your vehicle is not subject to this recall, although I would have expected that any replacement master cylinder fitted in 2014 should comply with any updated specifications. I would also have expected the brake fluid system to have been flushed with fresh brake fluid. It may be worth ensuring that the garage who fitted the replacement cylinder did bleed through the brake fluid to ensure any possibly contaminated fluid was flushed from the system.