replace master brake cylinder, do it myself or not?

I want to replace the master cylinder and bleed brake lines to get new fluid throughout the system in my '91 Accord. I was thinking I might install the new master cylinder myself and then take the car to a shop that's only about 1/4 mile away and have them bleed the lines.

But, I'm wondering whether I should just pay the shop to do the whole job. Any opinions?

I can get a master cylinder the local auto parts store for somewhere between $39 (re-manufactured and old reservoir would need to be transfered over) and $47 (new w/reservoir).

Its not hard to do but I would not drive it if it has air in it. Your brakes may not work. If you do it your self make sure that you bench bleed the master cyl before you install it or you will be taking it back off and doing it again.

Thanks for your reply. Yeah, I'll try the bench-bleed procedure. What I intend to do, if I replace the cylinder myself, is to not drive the car anywhere except directly to the repair shop. I could drive over there by just using the parking brake. The shop is only about 1/10 mile from where I live, with 1 stop sign on the way.

So, I'm thinking that I need not be too concerned about doing a good job of bench bleeding the m/c since the shop would be bleeding the entire system anyway.

if you have a helper, it's not that hard to diy after you replaced/bench-bleed the system

there's also some diy single person kits out there as well

your risk of taking it to the shop with air in the system