HELP!!! Car is stuck at mechanics!

[opus10583]

Hi,

My car is in a shop having the soft brake lines replaced with the braided set from Vick's and they've had a problem with the center rear hose that joins the tee fitting, it isn't sealing.

I've verified with VAS that part is correct and even had a NOS tee block overnighted and still they haven't got it. Unfortunately the shop owner, who worked on Spiders when they were new and is the reason I use this shop, is out of town, and his guys are lost.

Does anyone have any insight or experience with a similar problem?

Thanks,
Mark

[WYSpider]

I lightly wrapped my stainless lines with teflon (white plumbers) tape. I did this on all my threaded joints - master cylinder, caliper, junction of hard line to new stainless lines, etc.

The tape is on the threads only. And wrapped in the same direction as the threaded fitting screws in. Otherwise it will unwrap itself. 1 1/2 stretched wraps should do it.

Finally charge the shop $125 as a consulting fee on the install.

Here is what Jon Logan wrote to me when I asked him about installing his stainless lines:
DO NOT use any liquid/paste compounds as you do not want it to contaminate the brake fluid and get stuck up in the bleeders. Use teflon tape or nothing.

[majicwrench]

You should not need to use any sort of tape to get brake lines to seal. If you are using tape to make it seal, something is wrong.
Lots of possibilities, wrong threads, different flare fitting, etc etc.
The "mechanics" at the shop should be able to see the issue, this is not rocket science. Wait for the real "mechanic" to take a look at it.
Keith

[baltobernie]

The center rear hose shipped by most vendors is often just barely long enough. When the car is on a lift with the axle unsupported, that hose can be stretched to its maximum. Perhaps they buggered the hose or the tee?

[narfire]

When the car is on a lift with the axle unsupported, that hose can be stretched to its maximum. Perhaps they buggered the hose or the tee?

I'll second that. My mistake in installing the rubber hose the first time. Ended up with a small leak and with time the fitting and hose pulled a bit more. I recently swapped to SS lines and did not let the axles hang to their full extent. No issues to date.
Chris

[manoa matt]

The rear center hose does not have a bubble flare as it enters the "T" block. The center hose seals via a copper crush washer. However the two metal brake lines that enter/exit at either side do have bubble flares. At the other end of the rear center hose the metal hard line also has a bubble flare.

They should be using a copper washer.

[wikkid]

...a new, unused copper washer.

[TX82FIAT]

I think WYspider does have a point with the teflon tape for some limited use applications. For example, I used a little teflon tape on the bleed screws allowing me to obtain a quicker and better seal reducing some were on delicate bleeder screws during bleeding process. The tape may be a good alternative in limited applications when you have older fittings.

[opus10583]

Thanks everyone!

[opus10583]

Yea... It's none of that: Copper washer, the car is on jackstands, not leaking from the crimp.

The guys refused to try the Teflon tape kludge, and I'm grateful.

It's a bad part. Even tried a NOS Tee-block.

A rubber one on it's way... 250 wasted dollars not including the labor or the two quarts of brake fluid they've gone through trying to make it work.

On the bright side, out of the $2,500 worth of parts this is the last of, this is the first to be bad.

If I only get taken 10% of the time I'm ahead, right?

...I will miss the Covered Bridge Tour.

[131]

None of the brake fittings seal on the thread, they seal on the flared end of the pipe or a crush washer. Putting anything on the threads to seal is a waste of time and only masks other problems. I sometimes put a minute amount of nickle antiseize on the bleed nipple thread before screwing it in, not to seal but to prevent it seizing.

[vandor]

The rear center hose does not have a bubble flare as it enters the "T" block. The center hose seals via a copper crush washer.

Unless I am getting old and senile, I am pretty sure that the stock center hose does not use a copper washer at either end. Maybe the aftermarket SS braided one does, but not the stock one. Possibly this is what the problem was, since the original one did not have a washer, they did not put one on the replacement.

[opus10583]

Hi,

They used a copper washer, they tried a NOS tee-block again with a copper washer. Since the joint is not finished to seal on the washer it doesn't. I don't know how anyone else makes this work but after examining the parts myself I fully understand why is doesn't.

...How much do you think the profit margin on a set of braided hoses is increased by not using the longer fitting on the center hose?

Thanks everyone,
Mark

[So Cal Mark]

I'm surprised the vendor couldn't offer advice on how to make their product work properly.

[bradartigue]

A rubber one on it's way... 250 wasted dollars not including the labor or the two quarts of brake fluid they've gone through trying to make it work.

They ran two quarts of fluid through it trying to make it work? I think I would get the thing home and make sure they did the rest of the brake job correctly. Why not get the vendor to replace the part? You've spent the money on stainless. Pretty sure if the part is made poorly they'll replace it. Well, most of them will anyway.

An "expert" recently replaced the clutch cable on a friend's Spider for $400. This was before i knew the guy had bought a FIAT...long story short, when it broke due to misrouting and I swapped it in his driveway in 12 minutes he was kind of pissed. If you know how to do this stuff yourself - even if you don't do the work yourself - you can save yourself some misery.