Replacement brake and fuel lines.

[fuzeman]

Well I have a leaks in both a brake line and a fuel line and need to replace them.
Where is a good place to buy them if I wanted to do it myself?
Here's the part where you double over in laughter and realize what a dweeb I am.
The vehicle in question is a 1994 Plymouth Voyager.
Might it be better to go to a local shop and spend a few $ to prevent a headache or three?

[nirvana]

Unless you know what you are doing i would go to a shop.  I've never done it before and i can't even be called an amateur mechanic but I think this is what would happen.  You would have to totally drain the brake system or the majority of it.  Once you install all the brake lines, granted they are all correct and nice, you will have to pump up the master cylinder again and possibly the slave cylinder if it has power steering, not sure.  The fuel line i'm not really sure on, sorry.  I don't think it would be as complicated as a brake line because air in the fuel line should be fed out into the tank.  That's just a guess though.  Good luck:aok

[Captain Virgil Hilts]

Have it done. By the time you buy the tools and the parts, you'll have spent more than they'd likely charge you. Further, you may have trouble finding the correct tubing and/or hose.

[loser]

Yes, you are a dweeb, or a soccer mom. Either or.

I assume the brake lines went on the soft or rubber part of the line on the front and back wheels. (Hard lines run up to the soft lines, which are there to allow the wheel assembly to move up and down/left and right.)
Buy the parts from wherever...

Changing these lines is actually pretty darn easy with basic hand tools:

-Pull the wheel.

-Apply some sort of penetrating oil to the fitting where it goes into the brake cylinder (drum brakes) and caliper (disc brakes.)

-Remove the lines using TWO opposing wrenches (to avoid twisting the hard line and breaking it.. this sucks.)

-Install your new soft line making sure you dont get any dirt in the ends of the new fitting or the hole in the caliper/cylinder. Again use TWO wrenches.

Bleeding the brakes:

-Remove the plastic cap(s) from your master cylinder after cleaning around it. That is if the MS resevoir isnt clear and you can see it is full already (if the lines are leaking chances are it isnt right?)

-Put the cap(s) back on.

-You bleed the brakes one at a time. On each caliper there is a bleed screw or "nipple." Turn the wheels on the van to make them easier to get at.  On the cylinders it is usually on the back of the dust plate and is a little harder to get at. (Jack the van up and use jack stands.)

-Go get a friend. Or if like me and you have no friends.. someone who can tolerate you for 10 minutes or so will work.

-Crack the bleed nipple just a bit.. usually half a turn or so works. Just enough to get it to drip. Get your friend to SLOWLY depress the brake pedal over and over again until only fluid comes out.. and no more air bursts.

-After you are getting straight brake fluid. Have the friend depress the brake pedal one more time and hold it HALF WAY to the floor.

-Tighten the bleed nipple.

-Repeat for the other 3 corners of the vehicle.

You may have to refill the MS resevoir a few times in this process depending on how much air there is in the line.

You can also make a little tube and jar set up to bleed the brakes. Basically just a clean jar with couple inches of brake fluid in the bottom with a tube that runs from the bleed nipple and then into the jar with the end of the tube being immersd in the fluid. No more air bubbles in the jar while depressing the brake = no air in the brake lines.

Oh yeah, make sure if you spill any brake fluid (er when.. not if) you clean it up. It will eat any paint fast.

Make sure you use the correct size wrenches too. No crescent wrench B.S.

If you can get this...actually it isnt that big of a deal, the fuel line should be a snap.

Nirvana what are you talking about?!?!?!?

[RAIDER14]

you could go to a juunkyard for car parts for cheap:aok

[Chairboy]

Going to a junkyard for brake lines is past the point of diminishing returns.  They're cheap, same with fuel lines.

I second (third?) taking it to the shop if you've never done it before.  Mushy brakes can be very dangerous and are very easy to get if you make a mistake.  A deadly combination.

[MrRiplEy[H]]

I used to work at BTR Hi-Flex with high-pressure tubing. It's possible to make brakelines etc. if you have professional tooling and shops like I used to work in will make the lines for a fraction of the cost if necessary. Most popular item was the turbocharger oil tube which cost $40 made by us and $600 as a Volvo sparepart.

Having said that and given that I have professional experience in making high-end pressurelines, I would never even dream of making brakelines for my own car. They are relatively cheap even as a sparepart and your life literally depends on them.

Very, very stupid place to save money.

[nirvana]

Like I said, loser, I can't even be called an amateur mechanic.  I figured you had to bleed the system to get the air out, at least I know air in the brake lines = bad.

[SFRT - Frenchy]

Buy the HAynes book at Autozone for your bucket. It should give you an idea of what's required/what to do.

[Gunslinger]

Well it really depends on the setup.  On my Jeep I had to replace almost everything that was rubber on it a year ago because I lived in one of the most god forsaken deserts and they ALL dry rotted.  To get to my fuel lines you had to drop the tank.  This wasn't easy and some genious engineer decided to put the fuel pump and filter on top of the tank so I changed these out as well.

The tubing for the fuel lines is pretty standard as long as you know the inside diameter.  

As far as the brake lines go all mine are stainless steele braided so I didn't have to mess with them.

[fuzeman]

Thanks for the replies.
I've done brake work before but this has anti-lock stuff and seems to have an additional line going to each rear brake [ no it's not the emergency brake cable ].

I've been my brother's 'push down , release up' guy many times. I was hoping to return the favor to him when I did these I think if i spilled brake fluid on the paint it would actually help it. Its got that peeling paint syndrome from back when they didn't do something right. My sister's Dodge is even worst than this one though.
I was thinking of an 'Aces High' paint job if I ever do get it painted. Hmm, a P-38 on the hood and a B-17 tail gunner on the tail gate.

Loser, definately a dweeb I am. I used to use Voyagers in the SF Bay area when the company supplied them and probably have more miles in them than any other vehicle I had. It's actually the metal lines that have holes on both brake and fuel lines and I looked under the van yesterday to get a better view. They look bad so I think I'm in for a total line replacement.

I may not want to live to 100 but a junkyard for brake/fuel lines??? Man I hope you don't work on anyones car!!!

I have the Haynes book on said vehicle but it's section on fuel/brake lines isn't the best. Seems more tuned to the fuel filter and brake shoe stuff but I'll definately give it another read over or three.

I think I will visit the dealer today just to see how much they'd gouge me and then look for other places to get the high end cost. Then check out the parts shops to see the low end , aspirin taking, bleeding knuckles low-end price.

This thing has been sitting for a couple of years so I expect before it's roadworthy I'll have ingested a ton or two of aspirin. Not no measley 81mg ones, the big 325mg-ers.