Protex branded parts any good?

[notNA]

First of I would like to admit i was a moron in this instance.

Recently i ran into an issue with my car with the brake master cylinder leaking

I started off by calling ford to find out pricing and got quoted $1200 to $1600 then proceeded get annoyed at the ridiculous price they quoted.

Spoke to my mechanic who hasn't done me wrong yet he recommended a aftermarket protex branded master cylinder which he has been using and hasn't had issues with and mind you he works on stupid powerful cars like 9 second XR8's etc

The mechanic also tried to get a genuine master cylinder and was getting shafted as well, he showed me the prices and had the phone on speaker as he was speaking to the guy... i know his mark up his honest like that and doesn't dick you around.

by the end of it i was thought stuff it and went ahead with the it and bought the protex branded one at less then half the price installed with my break system fully serviced and bled.

Had a look at the unit and looks identical to the PBR one that comes on the car and works the same and feels the same to me.

Basically just want to know if its good or if i should start saving and try and swap it for a genuine one when i can?

TL : DR version basically want to know if its a crap brand or if its fine

Sorry for the long post with all the punctuation errors, typed this up on my phone while.

[baboon]

Purchased protex brake caliper rebuild kits for 2 BA falcons front and rear and they fit very well and no problems with them in my experience.

Good luck.

[notNA]

Originally Posted by baboon

Purchased protex brake caliper rebuild kits for 2 BA falcons front and rear and they fit very well and no problems with them in my experience.

Good luck.

yeah that's what i saw, i see people using them in old cars and even jap imports with no issues.. couldn't find anything negative about it online

[raceteam]

Used plenty of Protex stuff including calliper pistons etc. - no problems.

[notNA]

Originally Posted by raceteam

Used plenty of Protex stuff including calliper pistons etc. - no problems.

nice post count 666 just had to point it out

[Adamz Ghia]

Nothing wrong with Protex, I avoided it at first but then I became eligible for staff pricing so gave it a go. Hasn’t let me down so far.

[Interceptor]

generally protex gear is of acceptable quality

[notNA]

fair enough

[mike_nofx]

Originally Posted by notNA

Recently i ran into an issue with my car with the brake master cylinder leaking

fully serviced and bled.

Protex is a sub company owned by Kotex.
I'm not surprised it solved your leaking system and was easily bled out.

[solarite_guy]

Sometimes i don't know when people are joking, besides it's late here which makes it even worse. That would mean Kotex would own Bardahl which owns Protex.

[notNA]

Originally Posted by mike_nofx

Protex is a sub company owned by Kotex.
I'm not surprised it solved your leaking system and was easily bled out.

mateeeee almost had me

[falconhell74]

Not top of the line but defiantly decent quality products.

[notNA]

Originally Posted by falconhell74

Not top of the line but defiantly decent quality products.

what would people consider "top of the line" since i head a rumor PBR have stopped making master cylinders hence the price hike..

[66FAIRLANE]

Will definitely try to never use them again. If I do I will dissemble and check everything.

Fitted rear brake cylinders to my Fairlane. Put my foot on the brake to bleed & one of them 'popped' & fluid everywhere. They left out the bloody piston! Thought it felt a bit funny when inserting the rod. Should have popped the dust seal & checked.

Next was a master cylinder which they supplied cheap due to the brake cylinder debacle. Could not get 2 of the lines to seal no matter how tight I did them up. After much on & off swearing & cursing I figured out they hadn't tapped the threads deep enough! Luckily I had a 5/16 UNF tap so I disassembled the mc fully tapped the holes & re-assembled. Grrrrrrr!

[falconhell74]

Originally Posted by notNA

what would people consider "top of the line" since i head a rumor PBR have stopped making master cylinders hence the price hike..

Brembo

[Stock XR]

Put Protex rotors on the front of our BF Tradesman ute, they seem to be up to the job. Was a bit unsure about Protex at first.

[marty351]

Just warch out for the Durex ones. They're prone to breakage when not installed properly.

[John Roberts]

Originally Posted by notNA

First of I would like to admit i was a moron in this instance.

Recently i ran into an issue with my car with the brake master cylinder leaking

I started off by calling ford to find out pricing and got quoted $1200 to $1600 then proceeded get annoyed at the ridiculous price they quoted.

Spoke to my mechanic who hasn't done me wrong yet he recommended a aftermarket protex branded master cylinder which he has been using and hasn't had issues with and mind you he works on stupid powerful cars like 9 second XR8's etc

The mechanic also tried to get a genuine master cylinder and was getting shafted as well, he showed me the prices and had the phone on speaker as he was speaking to the guy... i know his mark up his honest like that and doesn't dick you around.

by the end of it i was thought stuff it and went ahead with the it and bought the protex branded one at less then half the price installed with my break system fully serviced and bled.

Had a look at the unit and looks identical to the PBR one that comes on the car and works the same and feels the same to me.

Basically just want to know if its good or if i should start saving and try and swap it for a genuine one when i can?

TL : DR version basically want to know if its a crap brand or if its fine

Sorry for the long post with all the punctuation errors, typed this up on my phone while.

Had a new Protex-branded master cylinder installed on our ACR30R Tarago by Midas 3½ years ago after the original 17-year-old one started losing pressure. Now this one is starting to do the same thing - it can drive all right for miles on end, and then you suddenly notice it's taking longer to stop coming up to a light.

If you hold your foot firmly down the pedal will sink, but not all the way to the floor. A light pump restores the pedal. (I thought it could be the ABS module, but the fact it pulls up straight when it occurs means that all 4 dump valves would have to fail at the same time - extremely unlikely).

I have bled all four brakes twice (a total of 9 bleeds per wheel) with not a bubble to be seen. Not impressed, Protex - will have to locate a different brand.

[Franco Cozzo]

Everything is cheap and **** these days, the only thing that changes is whats on the box and the price, we have no standards for replacement automotive components in Australia like they do in EU countries.

If its non genuine then its junk as far as I'm concerned, I'm none too impressed with RDA rotors, used them on two cars now with their drilled and slotted range, got nothing on the OEM Ford stuff.

[oldel]

Protex are just standard local generic stuff, cheap items that your local mech could get at auto-one (E: I think the non WA equivalent is bursons?). Used to be OK, but it's on par with chinese cheap stuff you could buy on ebay these days. A trade name, an 'aussie company', but generic chinese production quality.
Most aussie brands have gone the same way, all made in China now, so why pay more for some people in australia to sit in an office job taking money from you but not providing anything tangible for it?

Buy direct from the source or somewhere not australian and get them cheaper if you're OK with cheap non OE stuff.

[Franco Cozzo]

Protex comes under the banner of a company called AAD which are part of the BAPCOR group:

https://www.bapcor.com.au/specialist-wholesale

There's other options out there, usually you'll have an independent clutch/brake specialist business who will have various brands on their shelf.

Protex is a very common one you'll find in that category.

Moving forward it's going to get tough to find replacement parts for Falcon/Commodore as these vehicles are mostly unique to AUS/NZ markets, low volume so the business case for these vehicles won't make it past corporate accountants as they'll need to invest in overseas tooling.

[oldel]

Yeah, that's why I went searching for something different for a "long term ownership old car" in the BMW.
For the falcon BA ute I have it used to be a work car, get rid of it ASAP, but I'm in two minds now, only 130k kms and except for the shockwave paint failing I dunno*. Prices are going up even for the crap barra, and I like it and it's been reliable except for trans and rust which has been well sorted now. I'd like a respray and dump the tub and fibreglass canopy and hold onto the BA ute maybe.

Now that I work at a place that sells alu trays and canopies I'm going to ask for employee discounts . I'm going to be a manager at my own store all alone with stock and a forklift*
I think people that want a tub body aussie ute will tend towards commodores, the falcon ute market is maybe all about tray backs/flat beds, and considering mine started out as a 1 tonne cab chassis I might revert back.

Anyway, I've used RDA and protex gear before, it's just average. Last time I needed rotors I went even cheaper and bought some no name stuff for the same results -OK - nothing special - E: Remembered 'horsepower' brand coated rotors and pads for $160 total for all corners.

*If business is slow and no one checks up on me I could move my compressor and guns there and even DIY respray myself after hours ;)
Question for anyone that knows - my windscreen is trash with scrathes so I'm happy to get a new one if I respray. I'm just going to rip out as much of the rubber seal around it, as that was a huge pain last time I painted trying to get under it with speaker wire. Is that top windscreen rubber seal hard to get these days?

[lumen8]

I bought a protex master cylinder for an AU2 one ton ute (no crack pressure on rear circuit) last year.

Couldnt get it to work. Would try bleed the brakes and it would lock up as soon as the rear circuit got fluid into it, pedal wouldnt go down (even with bleed screws open at calipers) .

Didnt bother trying to look in it to find out why, was able to return it. I think i mightve mentioned all this on this forum somewhere else.

After that episode I wont be buying another. I dont know if it was a one off, or if none of them work for the utes and barely anyone has even tried one. One ton utes differ from the other AUs as the utes rely on a prop valve fitted on the axle to regulate pressure on the rear circuit, non one ton AUs (all the other AUs) have a 'crack pressure' built into the rear circuit in the MC, which relieves pressure after a certain point. And sedans, fairlanes and wagons have their own unique MC 'crack pressure'.

Id go with OEM unit and try find an older school shop that rebuilds them, like Power brakes in Adelaide... who do take jobs from all over the country, you can mail them the parts. https://www.powerbrakes.com.au/

I dont even know if other aftermarket masters are even available for the AU that arent just the same protex deal. I think i remember theres a bosch one but it looks alot like the protex, and could be the same thing rebranded, i dunno. As FC said there arent many choices and it wont get any better.

[aussiblue]

Just warch out for the Durex ones. They're prone to breakage when not installed properly.

Just like their condoms too; prone to leakage if not installed in accordance with their instructions.

[FTE217]

not much like the good ol PBR or Girling brands of back in the day.

Protex been around for sometime as some may know.
The company as Franco points out Babcor actually bought out the originators of that brand formally known as ATAP.
The owners backgrounds were from PBR ol school - so their programs weren't too bad overall as they expanded from pads/rotors into hydraulics.
Very good product in the HDuty Industry.

It is a price pointed product but I can't agree that all Aftermarket product is junk as Franco quotes.
Some items in box's is from the same OE line for eg.....

Protex like all have WTY's - it does have to meet a standard especially being brake product otherwise we'd be having failures left right and centre/law suits and fatilities galore.

As for brake and brands, I'd normally stick by the "known" ones such as Bendix/TRW/Bosch etc....sure they have factories everywhere today but they do OE in the first place.

[66FAIRLANE]

Deleted. Just noticed I responded years ago

[John Roberts]

Originally Posted by John Roberts

Had a new Protex-branded master cylinder installed on our ACR30R Tarago by Midas 3½ years ago after the original 17-year-old one started losing pressure. Now this one is starting to do the same thing - it can drive all right for miles on end, and then you suddenly notice it's taking longer to stop coming up to a light.

If you hold your foot firmly down the pedal will sink, but not all the way to the floor. A light pump restores the pedal. (I thought it could be the ABS module, but the fact it pulls up straight when it occurs means that all 4 dump valves would have to fail at the same time - extremely unlikely).

I have bled all four brakes twice (a total of 9 bleeds per wheel) with not a bubble to be seen. Not impressed, Protex - will have to locate a different brand.

Edit: Finally got around to having the master cylinder replaced with a genuine Toyota one today. The Midas man told me the old one was actually BOSCH, distributed by Protex. This is disgraceful. If my experience is typical, Bosch should stick to electrics.