Rear brake lines, pipe, replacement - old ones crusty and now leaking

Hi Chaps


I recently posted about my seized handbrake, which turned out to be one, of a few issues.
After replacing the shoes, cylinders and spring kits, I thought all was well...

...I noticed the rear brake line was a bit crusty, but thought It wouldn't need replacing. Sadly, it's got a leak ;-(

Before I order the relevant items, has anyone got one words of wisdom, about tackling the job myself.

*** Update for anyone else looking at doing this.

Been quoted £5.62 and £11.58 [offside] + VAT for said items.

Cheers.

bba

I take it, it's easy then ;-)

I replaced both rear lines on my FSI with discs.
They are fairly easy to do and though I bought the clips (that hold the lines to the rear axel) I didn't need to use them as the old clips were fine.

I've not needed to do any brake pipe work on the A2 so these are general comments.
Biggest problem is the tube nuts can rust onto the brake pipes and the pipe can neck off when you try to undo them - obviously not an issue if you are replacing a full pipe run. As with any rusted fitting, 'work' the nut by tightening then slackening a few degrees at a time and keep the thread 'wetted' with WD40.
May be worth investing in a proper brake pipe spanner - like a hex ring key, slotted to slide over the pipe. This lessens the risk of rounding off the hex head on tube nuts which usually happens if you use a normal open ended spanner.
Blow the pipes out with an air line before fitting.
Where possible use brake pipe hose clamps on an upstream flexi brake hose to limit fluid drainage.
Have some water handy to wash off brake fluid splashes from paintwork.
Fingers of disposable rubber gloves are useful to cover ends of brake pipes to prevent contamination and dripping brake fluid.

Cheers Spike

Many thanks Guys, some useful tips.


Will let you know how I get on.


Cheers


bba

Sorted the issue, looks like I had probably damaged the original line, when I replaced the cylinder.

FWIW
I would say you need an 11mm spanner, shorter the better, as access is difficult and a long spanner fouls the underside of the car, when tightening and loosening the nut that connects the rear brake line to the flexible pipe. This is the most time consuming part.

Access is great if you've small hands!

Thanks again for the tips, all is good again.


bba

A tip from another club member on changing rear brake cylinders is to unscrew the old cylinder from the pipe. That way you don't risk necking off the brake pipe if the tube nut is rusted solid.
It's also a good idea to make sure you can undo the bleed nipples before changing pipes as its soul destroying to find you can't bleed the brakes after finishing the job.

Cheers Spike

Just got advisory on brake pipes slight corrosion.

Not something I'd tackle myself - therefore how much time to replace at rear? Couple of hours maybe?

To a competent mechanic on ramps I would say 30 mins work. If I was doing at home then with coffee and faffing about three hours! It is not a difficult job. I would also consider replacing all flexible hoses at the same time (easier and if they are old then they will be knackered anyway). Also you will need a full brake fluid flush to do the job right. So actually probably an hour or so for a decent mechanic.

Any specific part numbers for the flexible hoses do you know? I can start to collect them in anticipation of work as it sounds like I have some time.

Sorry revisiting this one. If I were to approach fixing rear brake lines myself I'm assuming I'd need:

3/16 brake pipe (25ft standard)
Fixings too replace old crusty ones
Flexible hoses

Can anyone help to define the fixings I would need and any flexible hoses to Replace old?

Thanks..

Do you not also need a flaring kit for the pipe ends?


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Yup I was assuming I'd need to acquire tools.

Was talking more about parts in this case.

Ah. Sorry.


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