power booster pump

first of all, thanks in advance for any help and thanks just for being here, i appreciate all the input i have recieved in the past. replacing my entire a/c was a chore but i got it done, but somehow broke something (a vent door for the floor vents or something) so every time i start or stop the engine or push on or off the recirculate button i get about 12 seconds of clicking noise from the vent, but i can live with that considering its a 10 yr old with 220K.

now to my sons truck - '96 350 Z-71

brake pedal is very mushy and has a "air suction" sound. holding a baggie around the brake rod grommet at the firewall shows that air is passing from the cab into the firewall, assumedly into the booster pump. so - assumedly this needs replacing.

having never messed with these before - any suggestions? questions:

are there any tricks to removal and replacement, or is it just straightforward? is a brake bleeding necessary afterwards? is a used part worht the savings? any way to tell if i should replace the master cylinder also, or is it recommended to go ahead and do it anyway?

also, i glanced through All Data DIY and didnt see much in there about the booster pump but i really didnt have time to look too hard last night, and chiltons has nothing. does this mean it is too much for a DIYer?

david

Yes, the booster is bad. You shouldn't have a Vacum leak inside the Cab. Think about where the Vacumn connection connects at. The Front of the Booster. With is leaking your going to get a Hard Brake pettle.

Pull the Master Cylinder off the Booser, leaving the Brake lines connected. As long as you do this, you can just bolt it right back onto the New Booster and won't have to do anything with the rest of the brake system. There's normally 4 sometimes 6 nuts back behind the Dash you have to remove. and the connection to the brake pedle to undo.

If you get a Rebuilt booster, then more then likly there will be a core charge on it and you need to trade in the old booster to get your core charge money back. Now only the booster but the Rod that goes into the booster.

No need to screw with the Master unless you have some other problems. For example the booster failed because the Master Cylider is leaking out the back into the booster.

All depends on your skill level. On a 1 to 10 Scale, with 10 being the hardest and 1 being checking your tire Air Pressure, I rate this job at a