Can you replace a section of brake pipe

longwalks1

We have corroded brake lines that run front to back on our car. The issue is the pipe itself is very awkwardly routed around subframes, the petrol tank etc. I can see the corroded part, along the passenger side sill (2 pipes). The rest of the long run looks OK, I'm assuming as its a lot more sheltered from the elements.


Can the corroded section be cut out and replaced and joined with unions? Or does it have to be done as a whole pipe?

Craig1981

IMHO, i would replace the whole line though, you dont want to spring a leak or blockage in your repair on the motorway!

TheMoonandBack

Yes, you can. No, I wouldn’t.
If a section you can see is badly corroded then there could be equally bad corrosion elsewhere on the pipe.
One of my cars actually burst a corroded brake pipe above the fuel tank, where it couldn’t be seen, during the MOT brake roller test. The rest of the pipe actually looked ok and the tester said it had passed the visual inspection.
I wouldn’t take the chance with it.

sheslookinhot

What would you save doing that ? would you like to buy a car with that bodged repair on a safety critical item ?

mchale

Yes you can repair and the repair will be as good/safe as normal

TheMoonandBack

mchale wrote: »

Yes you can repair and the repair will be as good/safe as normal

The repair will be good, what about the rest of the pipe that is hidden from view ?

mchale

TheMoonandBack wrote: »

The repair will be good, what about the rest of the pipe that is hidden from view ?

OP was asking if a metal brake pipe can be repaired ?

Hasbeen

My son is mechanic, I asked him he replied if it was customers car replace pipe. £££ If it was his car repair.£

If people are worried about further corrosion then replace all brake pipes at cost which would probably be not needed.

Leon_W

I cannot, for the life of me, work out why car manufacturers still use steel brake pipe.

The additional cost of using a copper alloy would be pence.

Hasbeen

Leon_W wrote: »

I cannot, for the life of me, work out why car manufacturers still use steel brake pipe.

The additional cost of using a copper alloy would be pence.

The total cars sold everywhere was 86 Billion in 2018

A few pence on each car saved?

EdGasketTheSecond

You can replace the section so long as you use proper unions and double-flare each end. As it is aged steel pipe that means you need a good quality flaring tool capable of doing the job in situ e.g. something like this might be enough:


https://www.amazon.co.uk/Draper-BPF-SAE-Hand-Held-Flaring/dp/B008YFX2LM