Broke a brake line today. Need Help!

[Beefy]

Broke a brake line today. Need Help! *Update* Even Worse Now!

Hey guys,

Today when I was parked in front of the pizza place, I gave the hand brake a yank and the brake pedal quickly lost all its pressure. I looked under the car and found this under my car along with a nice puddle of brake fluid:

I got the car home (slowly) and now I'm wondering exactly how I'm going to fix this. Looks like a good 10" section needs to be replaced and I have no experience in doing anything like this. For reference, its the last section of pipe just before it goes into a rubber hose which looks like it runs into the y-adapter next to the differential.

Also, if you didn't already see my question in the picture; whats that second line? Looks like it might run near the gas tank so maybe its a gas line?

 

[mightypoof]

wow...very rusty....it is against fedral law to only replace part of the brake line (and very hard) You need a whole new piece from connector to connector. You may want to replace all of the lines if they look like that, they don't look very safe to me.

-TG

PS-The handbrake is not hydaulic and has nothing to do with your problem.

 

[chaka]

I don't know about laws. But if you get a hold of a flaring tool you can splice a piece in. Have done it numerous times and it works.

You will need two brake line unions, two brake line fittings and whatever length of brake line. Cut out the rusty section. Put the fittings on properly. Flare the line and put the section in. Then bleed the brakes and check for leaks.

 

[Beefy]

Coolio. I don't have a flaring tool though. How much do they cost?

 

[chaka]

Not sure Look it up online. Harbor Freight, Autozone, or Northern Equipment. My guess is 20 or so dollars. I forget what I paid for mine.

When you flare. You might want to practice a bit. The flare acts as the sealing surface. The fitting just pulls the flare into in. Like those Russel Hose flare fittings. Try and imitate the brake line you buy

The What's This may be your gas line. Track it down and check shouldn't be too hard.

 

[89lx2.3]

I replaced mine from connector to connector when I broke it putting in my hanger for dual exhaust... i had to use 3 pieces of line connected together to get it to reach, the total legnth was about 6" longer than what the stock line was but that gave me some wiggle room since I am not that great with the tube bender... I just drilled out all the rivets holding the line then when i got it in place pop riveted them back in. I would say the total cost of the project was about 30 bucks since i also had to get a speed bleeder and i used a lot of fluid to bleed them out to make sure there was no more air in the line... well worth it to do it right when safety is involved.

and i agree that looks like a fuel line, if i remember correctly they ran along side the brake lines most of the way up to the engine compartment. be careful around that.

 

[jonafer23]

If you decide to flare the line, make sure you get a double flare tool. Some lines are single flare and some double. Guess what,You have double flare. To bleed the brakes it's best to use a buddy to help.One pump the pedel and one adjust the bleeder screw. Just take your time and be safe. Good luck

 

[Beefy]

Thanks a lot guys! I'm gonna jump on this tomorow afternoon (providing it doesn't rain ).

I think I'm gonna look real quickly into compression fittings and if they're either to expensive or not quite strong enough, I'll go grab a flaring tool.

 

[chaka]

DO NOT use the compression fittings.

Bad news there man. You need the pipe to be flared.

Also I have only seen double flaring of the brakeline connecting to the MC. If you buy a section with fittings from an autoparts store you can choose flared or double flared. Auto tranny lines use the double-flared.

If you don't want to drop the cash on a flaring tool (worth it IMO), do like 89lx2.3 and change from a connector to connector.

 

[Beefy]

Well I went and bought all the goods I needed today after looking under the car and finding the line had actually broken all the way through. I bought some 1/4" line, the fittings and rented a flaring tool (not paying $70 CDN for one).

Got under the car and pulled the braket off that was holding everything in place and lo and behold, the brake line was leaking but the one that was rusted all the way through ran into the FUEL TANK!

I've racked my brain reading through my Haynes manual but I can't figure out what the hell this line does. Also, judging by the decay, it had been broken for a very long time

Here's a quick diagram I made to show what I mean:

Please help me figure out what the heck it is. I know that the line connected to the fuel filter runs along the drivers side and I know that there has to be a return line and I think a sender line for the gas gauge (Which works but it's scale is wrong).

 

[SVO1]

the brokn line going to the fuel tank is the vapor vent line. It should run to the charcoal canister.
Be carful with that line, there will be fuel vapor present!

 

[SVO1]

Oh and the yellow line is the return line. The tank has three lines:
Fuel feed, return, and the vent valve.

 

[Beefy]

Ok, so I'm geuss I should replace that busted section then since it's been dead for so long. What kind of problems could it have been causing?

Oooh, and you're referring to the line on the passenger side right? I geuss that means the line running next to the main fuel delivery line is the return line?

 

[chaka]

Oooh, and you're referring to the line on the passenger side right? I geuss that means the line running next to the main fuel delivery line is the return line?

Yes.

It may cause raised emissions. IRC it was added to reduce emissions.