Brake hose change and bleeding

[Shaundon]

Hi

My MOT showed up a bulge in the front nearside brake hose and i'm going to attempt to change this myself. I was going to replace the front two hoses with steel braided ones but is it advisable to do all 4 at the same time if I'm doing this.?

Also i notice the calipers have 2 bleed nipples , do i bleed each nipple in turn or will doing one suffice?

S.

[81AirCooled]

I've not replaced the front hoses so I can't give you instructions on how to do it but you don't need to do the rear ones if they have no issues.

What you will need to do is make sure that you don't lose all you're break fluid or you'll need to replace the master cylinder behind the dash, so use mole grips to pinch the hoses before draining but use a rag or something to protect the hose.

The bottom nipple is the for draining only, the top one for bleeding.

[nevill3]

I am not sure that letting the brake fluid reservoir to become empty would necessitate replacing the master cylinder, but I am sure more experienced members will be along to advise you.

The Flexi pipes can be very hard to undo and the little sections of brake pipes that go to the caliper can fracture whilst you undo the flexis. I would advise you to have a couple on hand just in case or replace them anyway, Brickwerks sell them but your local motorfactor would also be able to make them up for you. Whilst you are at it have a good look at the rest of the brake pipes. especially the front ones since you will be working on them. If they are the original pipes then they may need renewing anyway by now.

[Shaundon]

Thanks for the info
Think i'll get a set of brake pipes and renew when i'm at it.
Couple of more questions...

1. Do i hold the 11mm brake pipe nut and unscrew the 14mm nut on the flexipipe or the other way around.?

2. Do i need to remove and or replace the clips that hold them in place?

S.

[California Dreamin]

1) You hold the 14mm nut end and turn the 11mm union......round jaw Vise Grips are ideal for stubburn unions:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Visegrip-Irwin- ... +vice+grip

2) Yes you pull out and re-use the spring retaining clips.


Martin

[Shaundon]

The pipe at the chassis end broke when i finally got the 11mm nut to budge as it was pretty rusted up and had welded to the nut. Don't think its been changed since the van was made 29 years ago. Managed to get underneath and remove it at the 3 way T junction further underneath and luckily the guy up the road has the kit to make me a new pipe in copper alloy.

At the caliper end i managed to get it off eventually by cutting the rubber up close to the 14mm nut on the flexi hose and putting a long socket over it. Held the 11mm nut tight and turned the 14mm with the socket wrench. Managed to get this end off without breaking the pipe but replaced it anyway as was pretty rusty and i had taken the precaution of ordering a replacement from brickwerks when i ordered the hoses. Wasnt sure how to bend the pipe to the same shape but managed to do it over a scrap bit of 22mm copper pipe to get the right curve.

Just waiting for the new pipe now so i can fit it and bleed it...

Fingers crossed she'll be up running again soon.

[lloydy]

Well done

[Shaundon]

Well i got the new pipe on and everything reassembled and bled the system. Then went round to the other front wheel as i thought i best bleed that too in case any air has got in its pipe. But on inspecting the other caliper the bleed nipples have been trashed! Top ones nut is sheared smooth and the bottom one has been snapped in half!

So i took her out for a test drive anyway and the brakes seemed good.

I'm tempted to just put the van back in for the MOT retest before my 10 days grace are up and deal with this later.

Do i need to bleed the other wheel?

[pirate-pete]

I'm sure others more experienced than me can comment if I'm wrong but if you think it is OK then by all means let them test it at the mot as if there is a problem their tester should pick it up.

But sometime you really want to get the nipples replaced as you won't be able to change your fluid without them and you want to be doing that every couple of years to stop water in the fluid from rusting out your callipers never mind boiling under heavy breaking.

[Shaundon]

Plan to overhaul the whole braking system in the next few weeks, just want to get it through the MOT first before that. Hopefully they will come off with some mole grips and I can replace them. Got new flexi hoses for the other wheels too and will replace the old pipes when my flaring tool arrives. Just may take a while to get all that done as everything takes a while when your new to this type of work.

[nevill3]

A tip that I was given was to route your new front to back brake pipe differently, avoiding going over the fuel tank. Why make more work for yourself, you don't have to follow VW's route.

(That idea had never occurred to me )

[Shaundon]

She Passed!!

Thanks for all the help and advice

Now i just gotta find time to do the rest of the brake lines... :0

S.