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Hi all, I have a 2003 Acura TL. I was driving home the other day and noticed I had to press really hard on the brakes to stop the car. So I got home and checked the car out and noticed there wasn’t much pressure I the brakes. So I looked into the resistor of the master cylinder and it was empty. I found the leak On drivers side rear right where it goes up by the fuel tank. The leak is on the long horizontal line that goes from front to rear. I can’t get the black cover off. Anyone know how to get off? I was ready to rip the dam thing off.
Last edited by Acuratl3535; Nov 19, 2018 at 05:32 PM.
That first pic looks like those 2 tabs are holding it in on that end and you should be able to depress release and it would pop off. Not sure how other end is affixed
Finally replaced the brake line that had a pinhole. Now it’s time to bleed brake system. Since the master cylinder was empty do I need to bleed it? Also the employee at advanced auto recommended Valvoline dot 3/4 brake fluid. Never heard of it, is it ok to use? He said it was compatible with dot 3 or 4. Thank tou
Finally replaced the brake line that had a pinhole. Now it’s time to bleed brake system. Since the master cylinder was empty do I need to bleed it? Also the employee at advanced auto recommended Valvoline dot 3/4 brake fluid. Never heard of it, is it ok to use? He said it was compatible with dot 3 or 4. Thank tou
Yes you will need to bench bleed the master cylinder, well I would then pressure bleed the 4 corners. I believe thats the same I used on all my cars even my performance sedans.
The mechanic said something about 2 locations breaking (he tried to tell me exactly what but I was too busy on a second call and missed the technical parts, just heard that 2 lines had to be replaced). I saw on the ground that I had 2 spots where brake fluid spilled....could that account for the higher cost?
It sounds to me like you needed at least two brake lines. Based on that, along with typically having to un-seize bleeders, and flush and bleed the system, it sounds reasonable to me. Generally the job involves splicing in steel or copper/nickel line rather than replacing factory made pre-formed pieces. This consists of double or bubble flaring up to four fittings per spliced line, so it can be time intensive.
I'm recently retired, 45 years as a mechanic and shop owner.
My brake lines finally gave out and started leaking yesterday in the same spot where that plastic shielding is underneath the drivers side. Does anybody know what size the lines are off the top of your head? 3/16’’ 1/4’’ or 5/16’’? Just when you think 2020 hasn’t costed me enough money, this year sucks
thank you lol first time looking into replacing the lines and didn’t realize there were also fuel lines routed under the cage as well. That’s why I got confused with the pipe size.
