I found a puddle of brake fluid under the left rear door of my 01TL this morning. After nine Cleveland winters, I guess I should not be surprised that the brake lines have rotted out. Has anyone ever replaced them before? I am trying to decide if this is a DIY project or not.

I tried to gently remove the plastic front and rear fuel pipe covers to expose the brake lines but I could not figure out how to take the covers off. Any advise on removing them?

Also, I am not sure if the brake lines can be replaced without using a lift? I have jack stands that can get the left side of the car tilted up with enough clearance for me to get under the car, but I am not sure that there is enough clearance to actually replace the lines.

 

Do have a line bending tool ? Also compression fitting tool, and a line cutting tool ? Bend a new section of line needed, (should be 5/16) cut off the rusted section, using compression fittings to connect it together. You will have to bleed the brake afterward.

 

Hi Rss :

Same thing happened to me, only I was 100 miles away from home. In fact I was in Huntsville where the G8 (and yes, President Obama will be there) will be happening next week and had to have both rear lines replaced. Apparently the plastic cable and line tray also collects and holds the salt in winter and rots out the brake lines.

I'm expecting the fuel line to start leaking any day.

 

The lines themselves are cheap to replace, even if you decide to go with steel braided ones. They're just a plug-and-play replacement job. But, I'd go to your trusted indy mechanic and have him do it, so that he can also bleed your lines for you after replacement.

 

if you are having trouble doing that, i would just let a shop do it, brakes are not something to be screwing around with lightly, you gotta be able to stop

you can buy new lines from honda (and only like $65 each side for the rears plus labor) and considering that section has rusted out, what says the other sections don't need replacing also (and rusting out shortly), better to just do it once and have it be good for another 9 winters, then to be patching it over and over

 

Im with fries on this

A tech can do an inline splice on their own car and get away with it but these are abs systems and people with limited skills- lets keep it simple and safe for them~

a ziner with severe rust issues is in need of replacement lines- SS lines are suggested as they have a plastic cover to protect the inner lines, the core is teflon and carries the fluid- thats protected by braided stainless steel wrap and all covered in several mm of plastic

100-120 bucks for full 4 wheel set from our vendors- or take a chance online with cheaper suppliers
(disclaimer- Im on 60 buck SS lines from the bay with no issue, but that seller is gone)

these lines improve pedal feel- especially when brakes/brake fluid are hot on mountain fun runs

 

ummm... it's the hard lines which have rusted out, not the rubber ones (from what i am getting)

 

ooooo that would be different and make much more sense!!! its a dededee day~

definetly not a DIY job without the right tools

 

Well, I took all the good advise and had an indy replace the brake tubes and the fuel tubes. He called me this afternoon and told me that he is having problems getting the brake pressure back up. I stopped by to test drive the car and when you apply brake pressure the pedal goes almost to the floor. You need to pump the brake pedal to get enough pressure to stop the car. The mechanic insists that there is no air in the lines so he replaced the master cylinder thinking that the seal might have been blown. All to no avail. Still no brake pressure. Seems to me that there must be air hidden in those lines. Anyone have any more good advise?? Pls help

 

normally..you would get pressure then do 2 stops with ABS active from 45 mph
If the 2nd stop had firmer pedal there was air trapped in the ABS controller- hidden air until abs pump pulses during use

must be a leak in the system if you cant get pressure..another line still bad

 

Hi, I'm a Japanese car specialist, first off and not to bash but any professional Mechanic letting a customer roadtest a car with a standing brake problem should not be in business. So I'm now wondering just exactly who is tinkering around here, anyway, again not to stir up any extra baloney, your brakes have air trapped in them and need to be bled with specialized equipment which pressurizes the system, no amount of manual brake pedal pumping will do it now as I believe the "mechanic" or whoever has let a good amount of air into the system; of course the air could have entered from the rusted line but when lines get disconnected in a repair a great deal of air can get in. Good luck! I'll check the thread periodically or PM me. ~TCR

 

cont. -this applies especially to ABS systems with their complex hydraulics, they are / can be much harder to bleed than regular brake systems. ~TCR

 

agree- when the system has been open and most or all of the fluid has drained out, then its time for the pressurized suction method or reverse pressure method to clear the air and have only fluid

Once there are proper brakes-
then the tech does the 2 abs stops I described above- thats right from the acura repair manual- to get any hidden air out of the controller

We dont have a special ABS tool to do anything to the system
Unless there is a secret acura tool I dont know of
Acura Techs- Managers--give us a hint==
how are you bleeding brakes after a major open situation?

 

a new master cyl that isnt properly prefilled with fluid and partially bled can be damaged immediatly on install- tearing the single oring that is the seal on the shaft

when I was in the biz, many techs didnt know or didnt care to do a `bench bleed` on calipers, master cyls, clutch slaves etc,,it wasnt getting done,,
and not long after the car returned with an angry customer behind the wheel~ or on The Hook--the dreaded `towed in` come-back car

 

+2 on the abs activation. It might even take more than 2 actuations if it ran dry. With the pedal soft like you describe, he's gonna have to find a dirt or gravel road to get the abs to engage. The master cylinder was a guess on his part which you shouldn't have to pay for. You might, however, want to offer him his cost on the part and no labor as your's was 9 years old.

 

actually think we do (i know my old 94 accord did), but was a specilized tool, that only the dealer would really have though
i was going to say that the brake lines replaced were after the ABS pump, so no air should have really gotten into it, but now that the master cylinder has now been replaced, who knows where the air might be trapped now

 

according to the book of Toms's knowledge from azine~

anytime you have a brake line disconnected- do the abs test
Thats swapping calipers or SS lines or master cyl install,,do the test after

If pedal was firmer on 2nd stop there was air in the controller- rebleed brakes

 

And the update? Problem been solved?

 

No update? hey I won't be helping you again, and I hope your odometer goes out [$900].

 

I'm guessing you meant to write double flaring tool, as compression fittings don't need anything more special than a couple wrenches. If not, you should know that compression fittings are NOT an appropriate brake line repair. The line is 3/16", or metric equivalent, not 5/16".

 

WHY ARE THESE STILL HERE. I just paid off my 03 tl s, if you have these in a few months I'd be glad to take them off of your hands !