Christoph,

DO NOT tamper with the bomb!
It is not called a bomb because it looks like one, it's called a bomb
beacause it IS one.
Before removing it you must make sure it is discharged by pumping the brake
pedal several times with the engine off until the pedal goes hard. If you
don't, you will find out why it is called a bomb as you look at the stump
that used to be your hand!
I would advise you not to try to take it apart, or poke anything into it for
the same reason.

Jim.
"Christoph Bollig" > wrote in message
...
> Hi Ian,
>
> Thanks for your reply,
>
> > Hi Christoph, here in UK I managed to source a refurbished "bomb" from a
> > Citroen Hydraulics specialist company. I paid less than a hundred UK
Pounds
> > (180 or so US Dollars) including delivery.
> >
> > http://www.pleiades.uk.com/
>
> I just sent them an email, let's see what they say.
>
> > I don't know if Citroen vehicles are prevalent in your Country, or if
any
> > similar company to the above exists. You may wish to make similar
searches
> > in South Africa.
>
> Citroen is not very common here (unlike Audi). Power steering pumps
> etc are no problem to get refurbished, but the break bomb seems to be.
> I got the impression, almost no-one cares, if it's gone. The Audi
> dealer doesn't have one in stock and they have stock of most items
> which fail regularly. I went to a specialist break and clutch place
> some time ago because of my clutch and asked the owner to check out my
> breaks. I told him that I thought they were not as good as the ones
> from the other Audi I have. He drove the car and said something along
> the lines: "You can get the wheels to lock, that's pretty good". Here,
> some consider their breaks to have a problem if you press hard and the
> car doesn't stop.
>
> When I figured out the problem with the bomb myself (after reading
> about it on the internet) I went back and he confirmed it immediately
> when he pressed the pedal. But even with broken bomb, the breaks
> perform better than most other cars he gets in.
>
> What I am getting at is: I assume that on 80 to 90 % of the cars the
> bomb is not replaced when broken, unless it is serviced at the dealer,
> in which case there is probably a slightly higher chance. But they
> will not use a third-party refurbished one, so there is no marked for
> those here.
>
> > Regarding differentiating a good from a bad bomb if you do tour the
> > scrapyards would be along these lines....
> > 1.Maybe.....
> > Failure of a bomb would be as a result of loss of pressure/gas on the
> > nitrogen side of the rubber diaphragm.
> > In which case, would the hydraulic oil capacity be higher for a
defective
> > than a good bomb ? I seem to remember my fluid level diminishing as the
bomb
> > died. Sorry I don't have the capacity of a good bomb to hand .....
>
> The problem is that the fluid is gone by the time the car is scrapped.
> I was wondering whether it is possible to look into it or stick
> something in to test how big the space in the bomb is. But I don't
> know what they look like inside.
>
> > 2. A refurbished bomb is likely to have been repainted ? ( mine was )
>
> If anything, the ones on the scrap yard will be official audi
> refurbished ones. I don't know whether they repaint it.
>
> Thanks for your help anyway. I guess I just have to go to a big scrap
> yard and try to see a few.
>
> Christoph
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