replacement brake pipes

spinybif_2

My fiancee's ford fusion has an MOT advisory on corroded brake pipes. Passed this time but will need doing, any idea how much it will cost - local garage quoted £200 ( not main dealer) which sounds a lot.

AHAR

It was 7-8 years ago but when I had the pipes to the rear brakes replaced on my old Mazda 323 a price of £90 (+ VAT no doubt) rings a bell. I think the job involved removing the petrol tank otherwise it would have been less.

captainawsome

How olds the fusion? They don't seem to be that old to suffer from corroded brake pipes already, take it for a 2nd opinion. In my opinion that sounds alot too.

Stigy

How many brake pipes? A small section of pipe on the rear brakes will obviously be a lot less than all the brake pipes would be to replace!

forgotmyname

Does the pipe go above the tank? Seems common on a few fords.

Nearly_Old

For 3 years the main dealer that used to MoT my Citroen put an advisory on for corroded brake pipes, together with 3 or 4 other bits and pieces. Due to a dispute over other work I switched to a recommended independent and at the next MoT there were no advisories. He had looked at the brake pipes, cleaned them to make sure that there wasn't anything other than on the surface and protected them with Waxoyl. Obviously you need to be 100% sure that there is nothing more than surface corrosion but it might be worth getting a 2nd opinion.

mikey72

I had an advisory, then they burst.

reeac

mikey72 wrote: »

I had an advisory, then they burst.

Way back, I had an MG Magnette ZB [anyone remember them?] which had a rusty looking brake pipe at the back. Had it replaced and cut it through at the worst looking part and polished a cross section. Corrosion had eaten half way through the wall - and there was no guarantee that I'd found the worst place. Moral? Watch those pipes!

paddedjohn

OP, without knowing which pipes or how many of them then that could be very expensive or bargain of the week.

gilbert_and_sullivan

Get underneath and have a good look yourself, rub the rust down with some sandpaper and appraise them properly.

Might get away with rubbing them all down and then greasing them up with Castrol CL waterproof grease, and spraying grease or waxoyl into the hard to get to points where the pipes disappear over the subframes..paying particluar attention to getting anti corrosion spray under the clips on the pipe run.

If you are unsure of the condition get a proper mechanic to inspect them.

You should of course do this as soon as you buy a car, i haven't changed a brake pipe on my cars for probably 25 years, my present car is 16 and the brake pipes are as new under the grease.

The problem with renewing pipes is that you don't know how far down the system you are going to have to go before old pipes undo without destroying the next pipe or flexible hose or snap off in the caliper/slave cylinder, pipes over the subframes can mean dropping the whole frame.

A £50 job can soon be £250+ if things go wrong, thats why preventative rustproofing is never money wasted..

oldagetraveller

"Way back, I had an MG Magnette ZB [anyone remember them?]"
Certainly do, I did some "learning" and passed my driving test in the one my father owned! I think the dreaded tin worm killed it.