Broken metal brake line

[SupraTrbo89]

Today while driving the guy in front of me slammed on his brakes and I bumped into the back of him (no damage to either car). As soon as this happened my brake pedal went to the floor. I popped the hood and most of my brake fluid was gone from the reservoir. I looked under the car and saw brake fluid leaking out to the left of the rear differential. I checked the tsrm and it looks there is a t fitting which connects both sides and goes upfront.

My question is where is the best place to source these lines? Does the dealer still sell them? What brand fluid should I use? The cap says dot 3 but is one brand better than another? Lastly, any tips on replacing this or is it straight forward? I know I'll need to bleed the brakes afterward.

Tomorrow I'll check to see exactly which line broke. Hopefully it is one of the side ones.

 

[Billybob9187]

Any Dot 3 should be fine. Make sure you use the right wrenches. You can strip the fitting easily if you use the wrong ones. Here is a link to cheap set that will work. http://www.harborfreight.com/5-pc-metric-double-end-flare-nut-wrench-set-61357.html . Make sure you also bleed the brakes well from all 4 wheels. If its just one of the lines that run to the wheels you can buy replacements at any auto parts store but you will have to bend them to match the bends of the one you take out. Its not a difficult job but its time consuming.

 

[Suprapowaz!(2)]

Once you've figured out which line it is you could always see who's parting out their car and buy one. I second that using FLARE nut wrenches. Using regular wrenches will easily strip the nuts. Can you show pics of the carnage once the bad part is out. I'd like to see how a hardline would fail under extreme braking conditions. I always thought that it would be an old crust hydraulic line that would rupture first before a hardline goes.

 

[SupraTrbo89]

Thanks for the feedback guys. Luckily when this happened I was a few miles from my parents house and was able to make it there. I went over there this morning to look at the lines and there is a hole in the long line running the lenght of the car right as it connects to the t in the rear which isn't what I wanted to see. It was raining so I didn't take a pic but I will take one and post it. I think the impact of me hitting the guy was enough to cause a line that was already corroded to break. Is it possible to replace a section of the brake line so I don't have to remove the whole thing? In the mean time I'll order some wrenches and look around for a new line from someone parting out. Only issue is they would have to be close as you cant ship the line.

 

[Enraged]

if you don't want to replace the whole thing, just buy/borrow a brake line flaring tool and a cutter. Cut the line short to fit a new section you buy from the parts store. Make sure to get the same flare type fittings as stock, and it should be fairly straight forward.

 

[Suprapowaz!(2)]

Skip to 3:30 to see the two types of fittings you can use to fix the brake line. Depending on how big the hole is you could get away with this kind of fix. Compression joint & double union flare https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7HJ1o__oZcs


If there's a bit of corrosion on the line you might want to replace part of, or the entire line. If you do it yourself, and you can, that will require some small tools to get the job done. The tools aren't that expensive. Brake tubing is cheap. You could do it yourself, and have tools left over for another project down the line. There's lots of vids on youtube that can make you a pro at it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bqyoTWFZ5K4

Notice how Eric breaks the nuts with flare nut wrenches. He then finishes off the job with regular wrenches. If you try to break the nut with regular wrenches there's a high chance you will strip them. If you're careful enough you can reuse your stock brake line fittings when forming a new line. Just make sure you insert your fittings on the line before your flare them.

You don't have to go out and get the Mercedes of brake tools, so don't spend a fortune for a simple fix. Cheap tools will be good for several brake line jobs. You won't be using them often. Good luck and let us know how it goes.

 

[SupraTrbo89]

Thanks guys, appreciate the input. My goal for the evening will be to go to my parents house around midnight so there is no traffic on the roads and drive my car back to my house and get it in the garage. It's about a 10 min drive on open mostly flat roads. I'll drive very slow and use the ebrake. I'm going to test this 1st in their driveway to make sure this will be possible. I don't drive my car ever in the rain and it annoys me its sitting out. My wife is due tomorrow with our 2nd child so I may not begin working on this until the weekend or following week. I will keep you posted.

 

[SupraTrbo89]

Got the supra home and in the garage. E brake only braking worked great (although not recommended). The pic below shows the hole in the line right at the "T" which is the line that runs the length of the car. There are a bunch of bends at 1st then it straightens out under the middle of the car. I'll cut the line there and fit in a new section of line using a compression fitting like in the video link copied above. I may also replace the right line in the pic which is one of the rear lines as it doesn't leak now but could cause me an issue in the future. I did snap off all 3 clip bolts that hold the lines in place. I drilled out the old bolts and will tapping in with new screws. I was able to order a new "T unit" from the dealer for $20 however they no longer sell brake lines in the US.

 

[Suprapowaz!(2)]

Congratulations on the newborn big Daddy.
Yeah, it doesn't look to be a difficult fix. You'll have it back on the road before you know it.

 

[Billybob9187]

Wow it looks like that line lives in the ocean.


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[SupraTrbo89]

Congratulations on the newborn big Daddy.
Yeah, it doesn't look to be a difficult fix. You'll have it back on the road before you know it.

Thanks....yea just need to find the time. Most likely after everyone goes to bed.

 

[SupraTrbo89]

Wow it looks like that line lives in the ocean.


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Yea previous owner told me one of the reasons he was selling the car was bc it wasn't good in the snow. I'm guessing salt played a roll in this. The kid who owned it blew the motor from it being low on oil then had the jdm motor put in before I bought it. Another classic example of someone who shouldn't own these cars.

 

[SupraTrbo89]

I removed the passenger rear metal line I will be replacing and will bend a new one tomorrow. Now I am working on unclipping the long line that runs the length of the car. There are 3 clips I will need to undo until I get to the center of the car where I'll have a nice straight piece to use a compression fitting. Does anyone know how the clips come open? It looks like there is a plastic piece I can turn and it will pop open? I could unbolt the clips from the frame but the 4 lines would still be all clamped together. If no one knows what I'm talking about I can post a pic tomorrow.

 

[SupraTrbo89]

To answer my question above the clips can be pried open however to remove them you need to unbolt the metal piece and spin it to free it from the plastic piece.

I was able to finish the job and my car is back on the road. Bending the brake lines by hand was as described......not bad but time consuming. I did not use a compression fitting to join the old and new lines. I actually flared both ends which from what I understand works better. Also, copper line can be bought for $50 a roll and is much easier to bend then the standard line I bought. If I was going to replace all the lines in the car I think the ease of bending would be worth it. Lastly, after replacing all the fluid the brake pedal is much firmer. I never thought replacing the old fluid would help that much.

 

[Suprapowaz!(2)]

Don't you feel accomplished that you did it yourself and saved hundreds of dollars by not taking it to the "professionals"? Every time I do a repair on any of my cars no matter how small I save money. I must have saved thousands of dollars throughout the years doing my own stuff.

Can you imagine what you would have paid the professionals to do this repair? Now go spend that money you saved on pampers and other baby needs.

 

[SupraTrbo89]

Yea I bet someone would have charged $300 to $400 dollars for this repair. I like fixing things myself because it helps me learn more about the car.