URO Brand Master Cylinder

[TheCabinetmaker]

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I bought one of the aftermarket master brake cylinders for the 914/911. It is sold for about 1/3 the cost of the ATE brand cylinder.

The casting is near as I can tell an exact copy of the original, right down to the "19" number cast into the body and the "F" and "R" cast near the front and rear ports. (although the cast in "ATE" is not present!) The URO does not have the screw that the ATE has , the screw that holds the forward most piston from being removed after the rear piston is removed. The boss for the screw is cast into the cylinder, but the boss is not drilled and tapped. I fail to see the function of the screw, many other cars with dual circuit masters do not have such a screw to retain the front most piston.

The bore of the cylinder looked very nicely polished, the rubber parts appear to fit with simular interferance as they do on the ATE brand master. Internally the parts are slightly different. The metal piston has a lightly different shape, but is of the same lenght, the spring is made of a different diameter wire, and has a different number of coils, but is the same length, I tested both ATE and URO springs by compressing in a bench test, they appear to have simular spring force.

One nice thing URO did was they provided a larger chamfer on the ports for the resevoir hose gromments, this allows easier installation of the gromments.

New resevoir hose gromments were included with the URO master, however the two washers that go under them as on the ATE master, were not provided, however my old ATE washers fit perfectly on the URO master.

Overall the quality appears very good. Road testing will tell more. stay tunned.

[Joe Bob]

Good luck....the URO electrical parts have a less than stellar reputation.

[dave 911]

Yes, I'm interested in a full report also. I just found a bit of brake fluid under my pedal cluster this weekend while cleaning, so I'm going to be needing to replace my MC soon also.

After just replacing the MC on my 62 beetle a few weekends ago....and brake lines on both cars, caliper rebuilds on the 911, new wheel cylinders on the beetle...I need to buy stock in a brake fluid company....

I've been hesitant to use the URO but keep us posted.

[drtyler]

What country was it manufactured in?

[john walker's workshop]

good luck and buckle up.

[KNS]

I was looking for some metal water pump and power steering pulleys to replace the plastic ones on my BMW. The only ones I could find were URO sold by Pelican. I'd heard of the less than stellar reputation so I called Pelican to ask.

The rep on the phone said that while the URO pulleys were a fairly simple part (what could go wrong with a pulley?), they tended to get a lot of returns with URO parts.

I've heard of enough problems with URO Porsche parts here and URO BMW parts on other BMW forums, that's enough for me.

[schumicat]

that would be China. They also make the S oil hose that people have reported failing after a short time and dumping all oil on the road, which could've destroyed engine.

Originally Posted by drtyler

What country was it manufactured in?

[Joe Bob]

MY S hose adventure......

ALMOST blew my engine.....

[dave 911]

'nuf said....I think I'll stick with the "Aw-Tey" MC, the first one lasted 36 years in my car....

[TheCabinetmaker]

Originally Posted by Joe Bob

MY S hose adventure......

ALMOST blew my engine.....

I read the post on the engine oil hose. Didn't see the original poster mention it was an URO brand, but maybe a missed that, it was a long set of posts. One guy other than the original poster did say to avoid URO, but really didn't specifiy if that was a problem or not. Reading other posters comments, it seems even OEM hoses can harden and fail.

I will do carefull monitoring of the brakes when it is in use.


I am not going to try to blow URO's horn. but one of the reasons i decided to examine them was i think there is a good chance they make a decent part, i see that they make a huge number of brake masters for all sorts of makes of cars. They are widely used, and sold by many vendors with decent reputations. i know this alone is not evidence of quality, but it is not like I bought a one off master in a back alley. I doubt the oil hoses and brake masters are made on the same assembly line, they could be made by completely different makers, but all sold by URO.

There is no country of orgin noted on the part nor box it came in.

I know Red China has had a bad reputation, however they are getting their act together quality wise. The afore mentioned oil hose failure was posted 3 1/2 years ago.

Heck the I-Phone is considered quality and it is made in Red China. They are not stupid people, and may overtake us in innovation and quality before where know it.

At anyrate my road testing will start in the next few days. I will make sure my E-Brake is fully functional.

As far as ATE, my ATE master installed by prior owner (was not original to the car) failed, when i got a rear caliper leak, BOTH frant and rear reserviors emptied out, The master had leaked internally.

I remember when Japan was considered to be a third rate builder of junk stuff, look at them now.

I will procede with caution.

thanks!

[Joe Bob]

My hose wasn't a URO as far as I remember, I consider the part a wear item that needs watching though. Mine WAS on the engine when I installed it and was subjected to abuse on two subsequent pulls.

I HAVE had URO DME relays fail out of the box.

[john walker's workshop]

ever see their window switches? all plastic and the retaining ear breaks off on installation.

[Travis Neff]

There rubber formulation is not great. The turbo tie rod kit I bough lasted less than a month before the all the boots tore, bellows and tie rod boots.

[brads911sc]

the ATE is only $260.

This is like buying used tires. Its silly and not worth it. Its one thing to go on the cheap on a window switch. Its quite another to go on the cheap on a brake master cylinder. If it were me, id buy the ATE, toss the URO in the trash, and chalk up the $ you wasted to a learning experience.

[dshepp806]

Don't even take the chance when it comes to brakes,..return it and go the right route.

A good while back, I changed out the S-Hose on my 89, as a wear item,..then discovered about 2 months later that I had installed a non-Porsche hose.....I noticed that it seemed to droop a bit more than the one I removed....I freaked and immediately ordered one from Porsche and installed it......seems a bit more rigid and I can sleep better at night.

As Brad noted: $260,...wha? Go for it, I'd say.

BEST!

Doyle

[TheCabinetmaker]

Been driving with the new URO master for a while. No problems noted. pedel feels fine, no leaks. I got mine from JC Whitney. Since it is less than half the cost of the ATE brand, i will likely use URO again on my other 914 if I need a replacement.

I took the URO apart before install for inspection, the qualily of the construction appears very nice, as good as ATE, nice smooth bore, nothing funky looking.

I'd do it again.

[zippy_gg]

Nice t hear you have had good luck with a URO product.
May I suggest Motor Meister for your next engine rebuild? OK OK, just kidding

[Packet82]

Bought a URO master cylinder last year for my 911. It was dead straight out of the box. Wouldn't make any pressure and was letting air in to the system somehow. Replaced it with an ATE MC and it worked like a charm.

This seems to be a common occurrence with URO parts. Every time I thought about saving some cash and bought one, it has always been of poorer quality than original parts.

[Reiver]

My best friend does quite a bit of business with Chinese manufacturers and his experience is....one month the product from the same source is good, the next month it is total crap...he has to inspect indetail every shipment from any Chinese factory every time.
He's especially had problems with any seal, rubber or flexible plastic elements as they tend to 'cheat' on ingrediants to save in the margins. This shows up in casting and later in wear out.

[kidrock]

I've purchased URO parts and saved a bit of money, but usually wound up replacing the part within 2 years. Never again. I've had much better luck with factory or OEM parts, which usually tend to be of much higher quality and last almost as long as the original part. Over the long haul, this has saved me much more $$$.

I wish the OP the best of luck with the URO part. I, personally, wouldn't trust something as important as my brakes to a parts manufacturer with a sub-standard reputation. But sometimes, you find a gem amongst turds.