Hidden Brake Pipe Corrosion

Description
A brake pipe burst on a MOT test today
This could have burst on the road

[@stephenfoster3953]

Excellent no-nonsense video that, for a layman like me, demystifies a commonly seen comment on MOTs. Many thanks

[@BruceBoschek]

The owner can certainly be thankful the pipe broke during the test and not while driving! Good work and good explanation, John. Thanks.

[@seanpaul3050]

Nice of you to give the engine bay parts a nice thick coating of paint stripper. This is why I service my own cars.

[@doubleboost]

DOT 4 No longer strips paint .Thanks for watching

[@rgdegregori8744]

Randy from Malibu CA. I had a 93 Dodge 4X4 truck with the Cummins engine for 20 years/200,000 miles. The early Cummins do rattle at an idle. There are two coiled steel brake lines coming from the master cylinder that feed the front and back brakes. At about the 15 year mark just after replacing the front pads a small leak developed. Upon close inspection I found the leak where the two lines vibrated against each other. Some brake tubing, a bender and double flaring tool put it right. I was sure to keep good separation between the two lines. I do miss that truck but am spoiled by the new/used 2012 RAM Cummins. Thanks for the informative and interesting videos. RD

[@swarfrat311]

John, That's scary about the brake fluid pipe breaking like that! Like you said, it's good it didn't blow out when something was cruising along! Thanks for the video. Dave

[@Tore_Lund]

Factory mild steel brake lines!!! Get rid of them. Quite tedious to route new copper ones yourself, but it is cheap and worth it. Also prevents internal rusting which becomes coffee grounds in your brake fluid abrading your caliper seals from the inside.

[@jix177]

All very speedily and efficiently done. Good work.

[@MaxDJsWorkshop]

In my experience your workshop videos seem to show relatively late model vehicles with lots of undercarriage corrosion. Here in Australia we don't have much in the way of icy roads. Presumably the corrosion you show is the result of ice salting or somesuch?

[@doubleboost]

MaxDJs Workshop The salt on roads is bad for vehicles

[@bcbloc02]

What do you like to use to clean up the brake fluid off the car when you are done? That stuff is nasty corrosive and hard on paint. I find soap and water doesn't seem to do much for it.

[@doubleboost]

bcbloc02 tap water removes it

[@Opinionator52]

Hi John, thanks for taking the time to do videos like these in the mix! :o] O,,,

[@becomematrix]

Overlooked parts of maintenance. Good repair

[@pierresgarage2687]

Hi John, Looks like your in your area, you are using salt to deice the roads in winter, it ruins a car in no time. I guess that keeps the car manufacturers happy... Here in Canada it's a shame to look at cars after only a few year. Tanks for sharing.

[@جلادالمعيزوالمطبلين]

How long did it take you to change both sides?

[@JackHoying]

Some good tips here for brake repair. I had a 1976 Ford van years ago that the brake line wore through from contact with the tire while turning (over many years). We were driving in the Smoky Mountains at the time of the failure, heading down a mountain. Luckily, the emergency brake worked!

[@messenger8279]

Nice bit of info and high quality images.

[@Zakardis]

Other day here, a lady bought a used RV off a lot that was red tagged for no brakes. They told her, and made her sign that it wasn't safe, needed towed and repaired... she jumped in and drove it off down a hill into the water and died.

[@jeffleblanc8850]

If you take to a licenced mechanic and they tell you you need new lines they can refuse to release he car if the lines are bad and you don’t want them chanced I guess ther responsible if they see a dangerous car they are suppose to make you fix it if you don’t they can impound the car I do my own brakes but just saying

[@MyShopNotes]

Hey John, I liked this vid. I hate working on cars because I know $%*t. Little tidbits like this help a guy like me.

[@andymandyandsheba4571]

brake were the thing i used to do a lot of john had a few blow on the ramp and the rollers thing is used to hate when someone else had tested a car and failed it on every single pipe you can quite easily spend a full day on refitting a full set of pipes stripping them making them fitting them and bleeding them up i used to love my vacuum bleeder cracking video john

[@johnrichardson544]

How come, when you were doing this job, you never had brake fluid dripping when you removed the old pipe and installed the new one? Had you somehow dried out the line or something? I've just done this job myself, that inner hex bolt was a major pain in the rear, and I had brake fluid dripping all the time, until I replaced the pipe.

[@doubleboost]

Trade secret. Put a bit of wood between the seat and the brake pedal with the pedal slightly depressed .It blanks off the ports in the master cylinder and stops the fluid running out

[@johnrichardson544]

Ah! Yes, that would make sense! The pistons block the flow of brake fluid of course?! While I'm at it, my banjo bolt is leaking slightly (only when under pressure) and not sure why? It came complete with a couple of non-removable washers (exactly like yours showed). I fitted it as tight as I dared to, but it still seems to want to leak? What did I do wrong? Not seated properly somehow?

[@TomWalterTX]

TuV Germany... oh what fun I had with them on annual testing. BMW failed due moisture content in the brake fluid. Datsun Roadsters (67.5 - 70) had plastic covered pipes on the Dunlop style disc brakes (same style as a Jag E type rear). Problem was ozone attacked the plastic, making it highly acidic. First thing was to slice off that black plastic and inspect the lines for corrosion.

[@doubleboost]

Tom Walter They test the fluid for water content We test it on a anual service but not the MOT test

[@stillbashingmetal]

Didn't they used to make brake lines from small bore copper tubing years ago? I seem to remember that they did, but maybe I'm mistaken.

[@Newmachinist]

Hi John thanks for the vid I lost my brakes on my van three weeks ago after making an emergency stop due to a distracted driver. Three stops later I had no brakes and off to the local garage to replace broken pipes. You mentioned that you can pressure test the braking system - could you describe how that's done as I have never heard about it before. Thanks again - Rod

[@EVguru]

After testing the efficiency on the rollers, you're supposed to do an overpressure test. This is just pressing very hard on the pedal! You're looking for the pedal sinking slightly which could indicate a slight leak or failing mastercylinder seals as well as a sudden failure like John had.

[@doubleboost]

Newmachinist All you do is "stand" on the pedal with the engine runningIf a pipe is going to burst it will then

[@RoadRunnerMeep]

1:58 I love that tip :)

[@johnwayne1179]

Do u reckon I could get away with wd40 and a Brillo pad?????

[@95tt]

To clean off brake fluid just use tap water, brake fluid is water soluble, thats why moisture in brake fluid is a bad thing :)

[@doubleboost]

95tt Water washes it off

[@BigMjolnir]

I think it depends on the brake fluid. What's used in cars (in the US DOT 3 and DOT 4) is. What's used in some other vehicles, such as Harley Davidson motorcycles (DOT 5) isn't. -- Mike

[@louisdale7115]

Thanks John your OK Louis

[@Oioisaviloy]

Didn't know gazza was an mot tester!. 👍🏼👊🏽

[@jq4t49f3]

Liked this video, but what about the other pipes?

[@doubleboost]

jq4t49f3 I changed both the rear ones All the others were very goodThese pipes are a common problem on this model

[@wanabear5716]

I wish i had one of these pressure bottles when i used to work on cars, It crazy having someone pump the brake and hold down then let of the nipple then tighten then tell them to release the pedal whilst on scissor jacks lol things have evolved haahaha..

[@SeanBZA]

Poor mans one hand bleeder works almost as well, just you have to keep filling the mater cylinder every few pumps to keep it up above the level. I have not had the steel piping go, just the rubber. Helps not having road salting, but living in the corrosion capital of the world the rest of the vehicle just falls apart around you. That engine looks so familiar, I have it's smaller cousin in my car. All you have to worry about are the plastic and rubber hoses and parts going brittle with time and cracking. That and of course idiots who overtighten cover bolts on the head and warp the thing.

[@wanabear5716]

Milk bottle and tube was used and the 2nd helper was sacked !ahaha

[@BigMjolnir]

I've seen systems here n the US where a sort of pistol grip pump is used at the wheel to force fluid into the system. You remove some fluid from the master cylinder to make room then pump the fluid in until it comes out the master cylinder. Tends to eliminate air bubbles, and messes at the wheels. -- Mike

[@Ropetangler]

BigMjolnir I don't like that idea much, as in my experience you get a lot of muck from wheel cylinders, or disk brake caliper cylinders when you first crack the bleeder open. Presumably this is caused by the hot conditions that these components operate in, and if you force new fluid in at this end of the line rather than at the master cylinder end, you force this dirty and contaminated fluid back into the reservoir instead of flushing it out as you do when pump the fresh fluid into the reservoir at the master cylinder end. Thanks for the good tips John, like using single hex sockets or flare nut spanners to prevent the rounding off of bleeders, especially if they have corroded somewhat.

[@brookewoody8620]

road salt what you going to do

[@mightyfinejonboy]

mk4 golf?

[@doubleboost]

mightyfinejonboy Nearly Mate VW Bora 2001

[@chrisyln1]

the brake pipe should go under the handbrake cable

[@doubleboost]

That is not the brake cable it is the wire for the ABS sensor

[@chrisyln1]

ok keep up the good vids