just got the replacement lines and dot 4 fluid. i thought the lines would be smaller than they are. i also noticed some strange looking ball joint type thing at the top with a hole in it for the fluid. never seen a setup like that before in my life.

is it an easy job replacing them? need to know asap... tbh ill probably already be starting by the time i get a reply here because its already starting to get dark out and i cant drive it till ive changed at the very least one back line which blew out.

so cross your fingers i can do it quick or ill be walking tonight again lol

just taking a minute now to get a smoke, have a drink (coke not alcohol lol) and blasting trance in my ears before i go out to freeze to death trying th swap a line before it gets totally dark.

 

Are you talking about the rubber lines or the hardlines?

If you are changing the rubber lines my only word of advice is to make sure you have some penetrating oil like pb blaster or wd-40 if that's all you got. Soak the connection up real good where it meets the hardline. Use a brake line wrench if you have it because the brake lines tend to round off easily. Use a hammer and tap tap tap on the side of the wrench to knock it loose. If you do happen to round off one of the connections the other option is to get some vice grips and crimp it as hard as you can and use the above technique. I've gotten all my brake lines off using the above methods, some need more coaxing than others.

Good luck

 

got the leaking one changed easier than i thought. theres a hitch tho. the hardline must have been really old because the nut wouldnt turn and the pipe twisted a bit and cracked so now i have a new rubber line and a fucked hardline. im allmost tempted to think up some way of wrapping/clamping the hardline where its cracked so it doesnt leak. i froze my manboobs off out there lol

so that brings me to my next question. how hard is replacing the hardlines? it looks like loads of fun since it disappears into the wheel arch. how the expletive do you find the other end of it?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by DmcL &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">i also noticed some strange looking ball joint type thing at the top with a hole in it for the fluid. never seen a setup like that before in my life.</TD></TR></TABLE>
It's called a banjo fitting, and is very commonly used for hydraulic brake lines and fuel lines.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by DmcL &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">ghow hard is replacing the hardlines? it looks like loads of fun since it disappears into the wheel arch. how the expletive do you find the other end of it?</TD></TR></TABLE>
The other end of that line is actually at the proportioning valve in the engine bay. Yes, it's that long. It runs all the way from front to rear through the interior. You have to remove various interior pieces to change it; it's a real pain.

You may be able to mend the line by cutting out the damaged section and splicing in a new section of hard line with a compression fitting.

See here: http://volksweb.relitech.com/brakeln.htm

 

Ahhh man, I don't think there is anyway you can clamp the hardline to keep it from leaking, there is a lot of pressure in there to keep pressure on the brakes. As far as changing out the hardline....get ready to get friendly with your interior.

The hardline goes all the way from the prop valve in the engine bay, through the interior, then to the wheel arch as one long piece. It's not bad if you have stripped interior but I think it might get to be a bitch where it runs through the firewall if I remember right. You might have to take out the glove box and the fan motor behind it to get to the line. I had my interior out when I messed with it so I can't remember exactly. I really don't think its too bad of a job, just becareful not to bend the new lines, getting them in through to the interior you have to work with it's limited flexibility, you will realize that when you take out the old line.

 

whoa!! so its a fix it job then. no way am i pulling half the interior for a stinkin hardline lol

i had a couple ideas to fix it. as its too big for a clamp as is i was thinking i could get a small round peice of metal (about 1/2 inch diameter by about 1/2 inch tall) and drill a small portion out thats the same size as the hardline so that i can put the round peice on the hardline, wrap some sort of thin-ish rubber peice around that and hose clamp the lot together so the rubber and clamp is over the break in the hardline.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by DmcL &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">whoa!! so its a fix it job then. no way am i pulling half the interior for a stinkin hardline lol

i had a couple ideas to fix it. as its too big for a clamp as is i was thinking i could get a small round peice of metal (about 1/2 inch diameter by about 1/2 inch tall) and drill a small portion out thats the same size as the hardline so that i can put the round peice on the hardline, wrap some sort of thin-ish rubber peice around that and hose clamp the lot together so the rubber and clamp is over the break in the hardline.</TD></TR></TABLE>
That will fail. Hydraulic brake lines undergo very high pressures. The only proper way to fix it (other than replacing the entire line) is to splice in a new section of line using a compression coupling specifically for brake lines:

 

ahh.. seen those before. might be a pain in the *** tho. the bust is very close to the threaded fitting on the hardline that the rubber line threads on to.

 

NEVER try to fix damaged brake lines, always replace! Why half *** one of the most important things for your car. Do it right.

 

got 2 of the little threaded fittings for the end of the hardline. one for the broke side and one "just in case" for the other side when i do it.

i went to my uncles parts shop for the fittings. anyway.. they say i need a flaring tool. i understand what theyre saying and how it all works the problem is the flaring tool is £30 and i need to use it once, maybe twice. the break in the hardline is so close to the original threaded fitting that the play in the rubber at the front of the wheel arch will be enough to get it to join the rubber brake line in the stock position.

so unlessi can find someone with a portable flaring tool i can borrow im gonna have to buy this one for £30.

one thing im not too sure on is they say you can only flare copper hardlines and not steel. the ones on the EF are so covered in crap i cant tell if theyre copper or steel. id guess they are copper since they twist really easily. i dont see why i couldnt flare it anyway even if it was steel?

 

they are not copper, copper is to soft of a metal to safely handle the pressure. A flaring tool should be able to flare steel tubing which is what stock it. Make sure you get a brake line flaring kit. You were probably looking at a copper flaring kit.

 

it was a hand held brake line flaring tool. i dont see why it would only work with copper like they were saying tho??

 

If the original lines are in that bad shape in the first place, I'd just replace the entire line. Its not that difficult to get the interior peices off that you need to get to the line, the line runs up along the floorboard. You'll be safer and it will be better in the long run. Use brake line wrenches on both sides of the fittings so you don't round them off or kink them at the ends.