Rotted brake lines!

[SonicRiot]

My brake lines in the rear have rotted and I've sprung a leak. Anyone know -positively- if the fittings and flares are metric or standard?

Are there bolt-on replacement lines available? That would make my life much easier... we have them for Porsches, but it's really the only brand I've seen with bolt-on replacement lines for PS and brakes.

Also, what tool is neccessary to bleed the Ford ABS unit? It's not even functioning currently b/c of a bad wheel speed sensor wire, but I want to bleed it for when I finally replace the bad wss wire.

Any reccomendations or tips specific for the SHO?

Thanks for any help.

 

[SHOracer14]

Which lines in the rear have rotted? If its the small rubber lines that connect to the calipers themselves they make replacements (14 bux or so IIRC). They are metric... pretty sure most everything on those lines are 10 or 11mm.

 

[SonicRiot]

No, the hard lines from the proportioning valve to the caliper lines.

I know the fittings are metric, I meant the flares. Are the flares metric?

Thanks.

 

[HighSpeed]

Aren't they double flares?

 

[JTSHO]

i could have ya a set pretty quick i got a 91 parts car that i could yank em off of.

 

[SHOracer14]

My brake lines in the rear have rotted and I've sprung a leak. Anyone know -positively- if the fittings and flares are metric or standard?

Are there bolt-on replacement lines available? That would make my life much easier... we have them for Porsches, but it's really the only brand I've seen with bolt-on replacement lines for PS and brakes.

Also, what tool is neccessary to bleed the Ford ABS unit? It's not even functioning currently b/c of a bad wheel speed sensor wire, but I want to bleed it for when I finally replace the bad wss wire.

Any reccomendations or tips specific for the SHO?

Thanks for any help.

Sorry I do not know about the flares or if the lines are even available at a parts store. As far as the ABS goes the dealer does have a special tool to do it but usually if you have the car running when you bleed the brakes you should have no problem.

 

[SonicRiot]

Brake line information

Ok. Here's what I found:

-The lines are double wall steel (as usual. The ONLY acceptable brakelines!)
-Ford uses two different flares on each end.
-The proportioning valve end of the line has a 13mm Flare nut with an ISO metric flare (bubble flare).
-The flexible line end of the line has a 7/16" flare nut (my metrics wouldn't fit. May have been an 11mm or a 3/8". Too much corrosion to tell.) The flare is an inverted double flare.
-The brake line is 3/16"


I remedied this ridiculous Fordism by going to see the boys at Fair Auto Supply in Fairfield, CT. They have a knowledgable staff and a huge assortment of fittings.

I picked up the parts for the right side rear brake:
-5 foot section of 3/16" double-wall steel tubing. Pre-flared and fitted. It came with a double flare and a 3/8" fitting on each end.
-One adapter to adapt the 3/8" double flare fitting to a 13mm fitting with an ISO flare. The adaptive fitting has an ISO style male end and the female end had a seat for the double flare.

Ford bent the original line for the car into a pretzel. I put the line on the car in it's original plastic brakets and bent it at each end, carefully. No bending tools, no flaring tools. Just a can of PB'laster and some wrenches.

Total cost? $7 and some pennies.


Just some info in case anybody else runs into some problems finding parts.

 

[smak]

one end is a "double" flare and the other a "bubble" flare i believe..

any tips for proper bleeding?

I had the rear metal brake line and two metal lines running front to back rot out/leak then burst on me (in that order) so i took it to my local shop for repairs.. not upto a driveway job of this type (although probably next time)

anyways after they replaced line, and bled only the two rear wheels (rr then lr) they were done and handed the car over to me.

the pedal is still pretty mush, but stops.. eventally.

i figured i'd take her on a good and bumpy road to try and get some trapped air bubbles knocked loose and take the car back in the morn (was near closing time anyway).

is there some special procedure for abs brakes the shop may not know about? maybe some reason they avoided bleeding front calipers? was all done under the car while it was on a lift. i think i read here that the car should be on the ground for bleeding?

help. thnx.

p.s. i noticed in the rl wheel while bleeding the fluid coming out was white and hazy.. like with air bubbles? when i noticed they were having trouble with bleeding i mentioned that there may be contaminated fluid still in the line since its coming out like that. they blew it off explaining that when the fluid is under pressure it just comes out like that.

(shurg)

 

[SonicRiot]

You must bleed all four calipers in the factory reccommended sequence. Also, air my be stuck in the ABS unit. That too must be bled. if that's the case.