Urgh.. brake line issues

Okay so in another post of mine I mentioned that I had a busted brake line. Initially this was going to be fixed by a neighbor of mine who has his own shop, but I don't know what the deal was (my dad worked it out with him), but I need my car to be driveable ASAP.

So good ol' enterprising Roo buys a set of line wrenches (gasp!), I found out which line was leaking, and tried to take it off... buuuuuut lo and behold, the nut on the end of the line is rounded off. Does anybody have any suggestions for getting it off? I can't take heat to it, otherwise I'd probably mess up the other brake lines, right?

I'm stumped. And annoyed.

I had a similar quandary when I bought my caprice. It has locking hubcaps (with rounded locks) the owner lost they key to unlock them. Enterprising me figured out of you catch them just right with a pair of needle nosed pliers and turning slowly they'll loosen. I then replaced them with a similar sized hex bolt. Id try that with a bit of pb blaster/ wd40 and try and spin them loose with the pliers.

I do have some PB blaster handy... and a decent pair of vise grips.


Hmm...

EDIT: So I don't feel like a fool.... when looking at the front of the car, hood up, would I turn the wrench/pliers/midget to the RIGHT? Because when you face the bolt itself, that would be the same as turning it to the LEFT. Or would I turn it left facing the car, and have been doing this wrong the whole time?


And the previous owner of my wagon was smart and just put some standard flathead bolts into these stupid hubcaps which I hate so dearly. lol

Squeeze the flare nut at 90 degree angles and then try to loosen. That flexing generally helps break things loose.

FWIW, PB Blaster is one of the lesser effective penetrants. There was a study online done. I forgot which one is better.

I'll go give the squeezing thing a try. I'm literally in front of the car, wrenches, vise grips, pb blaster (hmm..), and laptop in hand. lol

Stingroo wrote:

And the previous owner of my wagon was smart and just put some standard flathead bolts into these stupid hubcaps which I hate so dearly. lol

If you ever plan on dumping them, I'm looking for a spare set

Where are you located?

Send me a PM. I'd be happy to. lol

Stingroo wrote:

Where are you located?

Send me a PM. I'd be happy to. lol

I'm in Massachusetts, unfortunately.

Rats. That would suck.

On a happier note! I GOT THE LINE OFF!

The line wrenches couldn't grip. Vise grips didn't give me enough leverage, and the nut was all the way in so I couldn't bend the sides up. I figure since it's rounded off, it's worthless anyway for re-use (actually, I don't think you're supposed to reuse them anyway, but whatever.

So I saw that a half inch wrench could get around it... so I went one size smaller and gently hammered a 7/16 wrench down over the nut, and it broke free. I then took it off and twisted it slowly but surely off with the vise grips.


SUCCESS! Puerto Rican engineering at its finest (Disclaimer: Yes, I'm Puerto Rican).

When replacing a line, the easiest way to get the fitting off is to cut the line right next to the fitting with a mini tubing cutter, and use a socket.

Wish I had one at the time, then. LOL

Ah well, it's off now. Time to get a new line and figure the rest of this crap out. The FSM is so stupidly vague on brake lines.

jayoldschool wrote:

When replacing a line, the easiest way to get the fitting off is to cut the line right next to the fitting with a mini tubing cutter, and use a socket.

^^^That would have been my suggestion. I just removed the air injection tubing from my LO3 that way (although I had to use a box end wrench on a couple because of clearance issues). I ended up cutting the lines with a bolt cutter because I could not get a tubing cutter in there.

Well I don't have a tubing cutter, but I do have a set of bolt cutters that would have worked.

Ah well. Now to figure out where the other end of this thing is and get it replaced.

FWIW the box says LF, so I'm presuming somewhere near the left front wheel. lol

Two more tips. Make a pattern of your new line out of a coat hanger. You don't need a tubing bender for your final line, just use a brake rotor. Three nice radii that give beautiful bends.

Oh, one last tip. Don't forget to put the nuts on before you flare

One more tip: When you use an old coat hanger, also remember which order you did the bends. Some of these lines will only install in one way.

Thanks for the tip. Does anyone know what the size of the brake lines are?

Can't remember. I have it in my manuals at home. Just bring a fitting and a piece of line to the parts store. Two more tips... it is ISO bubble flare, not double flare. And, the parts store likely has a section of pre-flared tubing with nuts that is close to the correct length you need.

And even better my dad works at the parts store. lol 20% off anything I buy = win.

I'll check into it. Like I said though, I have the '92 FSM and it doesn't say anything about the length or diameter or anything about the brake lines at all. It's frustrating.

Hooray! Both nuts on the ends of the line are off... and I return with more questions!

So, it looks really difficult to pull it out without breaking anything. Is it okay/safe/possible to put the new line in but not run it through those clips on the frame? It seems as if it would be a hell of a lot easier...

Yes. It will be fine. You can use a zip tie here or there to snug it down.

Thank GOD! Those clips look like a SERIOUS pain in the ass.

So then what about the bends? Can you just make the bends as simple as necessary to fit and look good, and not have to worry about the whole multiple loop looking thing that's there now?

Which line is it?

Left front.

Yes, just get the line from the ABS to the rubber line connection on the frame. Doesn't really mater how it gets there. Obviously, keep the line away from anything hot or moving.

Opening those clips is easy, though. Give it a try and get the old line out first. If you are cutting the line, make sure you are cutting the correct one...

I'll try and open the clips first, it just looked like quite the PITA to do.

I'll obviously keep it away from the headers and such. lol This is much easier than I anticipated it to be.

The saga continues. Line is halfway installed. I bought one from Advance, and with dad's leverage borrowed their tube bender and away I went. Got it bent up, lined up, and attached it to the brake hose down by the rotor and caliper. When I went to connect it to the ABS box-thingy (yeah, technical terms FTW), the nut that was included on this pre-flared unbent line was too small. So I bought another line, and used dad's leverage again to borrow the double flaring tool they keep.

I'll deal with it tomorrow. As for today? It's TOO DAMN HOT!

[/rant] I want to drive

Stingroo wrote:

I'll deal with it tomorrow. As for today? It's TOO DAMN HOT!

[/rant] I want to drive

Same here, I've been repainting the trim molding and i've got about 2/3rd's of it done but its too flippin muggy to finish it today. I have the front quarter on the drivers side and from the front passenger door to the quarter on the passenger side left...

It's 88 degrees. According to weather.com this is us:

Right Now

Mostly Cloudy
88° F
Feels Like: 107° F
Wind: From E at 15mph

It's BULL!

According to my phone its 82, feels like 85, 62% humidity, with a tornado warning. Wtf? this is Massachusetts...

lol I lived in Mass for 3 years. No tornadoes ever. >_>

Stingroo wrote:

lol I lived in Mass for 3 years. No tornadoes ever. >_>

Ive been here since I was born. We've had funnel clouds, but never a full tornado... Where did you live?

Methuen then North Billerica.

Stingroo wrote:

Methuen then North Billerica.

Ah. E.Mass. I live out in the Springfield area, like an hr and a half away.

HOORAY! I fixed the car! I feel accomplished!!!

So dad wasn't feeling up to doing it today, he was tired after church and other stuff, but I insisted, because I've been applying to lots of jobs and stuff and could have an interview any day now (pleeeeeeeeeeease). So I got adventurous and looked up bubble flaring on youtube. I grabbed the tool, worked on a few pieces of brake line until I figured it out 100%. I showed dad my new awesome flaring skills, but he insisted it would be "dark" before I could finish it again (this was an hour ago... FYI it's still not dark).

So I persuaded him and did it on the car. It worked beautifully. I bled the little bit of air out of the system that there was and took it around the neighborhood a few times. It's back to its old self. I couldn't be happier.

Now all I need to do is find a pair of rear tires....

I feel great!