Front Flexible Brake Hose Broke

[Cadillac Jim]

On the afternoon of Christmas Eve (Wednesday), I braked abruptly to handle an unexpected traffic situation and the right front flexible brake hose broke. I took it in Friday morning and had it replaced. The front flexible hoses go through a fender mud shield, and over the years it had worn through there. There was no deterioration due to age, so we replaced both front hoses but left the rear hoses alone. There was no sign of rust on the brake lines, an obvious aging hazard on any older car.

My car is a 1997, and has about 140,000 miles on it. In the last eight years, most of that mileage has been in-town miles; not city streets but average speed below 30 mph. This means lots of turns and less than Interstate-quality road surface.

If you have a brake job, be sure and check the front flexible brake lines for wear where they go through the fender well. This isn't easily visible on a casual check. If a thin spot on a flexible hose goes, it will happen at the least opportune time, when you brake hard. The car will stop on the other two wheels but an inexperienced driver may not handle the loss of half the brake pedal very well, and the stopping power is a lot less; I stopped with the ABS shuddering.

[navion]

Jim,

I'm glad that your situation didn't require a maximum braking effort! You are fortunate that you didn't collide with something. The last time I drove a vehicle that had only the rear brakes working, I would rate the available stopping power at about 25 to 30% of normal.

You raise a very good point about checking your flexible brake hoses.

As an aircraft mechanic, I was taught to look for points of interference that may cause wear on hoses, lines, controls and electrical conductors. This is rarely, if ever done on today's vehicles.

Each time I have a wheel off, for any reason, I scan the area for just such problems. It is not something I plan, just a habit learned from working on aircraft.

For anybody that does their own maintenance, making a conscious effort to scan for problems will usually identify an issue before it turns into a failure.

A vehicle that has been repaired following a collision, should be subjected to a rigorous inspection to make sure that all lines, wiring and controls have been properly reinstalled.

The same is true for a vehicle that has had a major component replaced. I have found many instances where a "mechanic" has failed to properly secure wiring and hoses following a repair.

One time I fixed a leaking cylinder head gasket that had just been installed by a Ford dealer. It seems that the "mechanic" failed to notice that he bolted the head down with a ground strap caught under the corner of the head!

I am extremely glad that your brake hose failure was a "non-event".

Britt

[Cadillac Jim]

Yes, it was a non-event, other than:

• I didn't have the car Christmas day.
• I learned how to drive my Cadillac without brakes to keep from pumping the rest of the brake fluid out on the street, a skill I had forgotten since I occasionally drove customer cars in to my dad's brake/front end/spring shop in the 1950's. Then, when taking it to the shop, I remembered the emergency brake, which worked well enough to take the skill out of the equation.

The Cadillac has diagonal dual braking; I had the left front and the right rear. With the ABS, I had what felt like about half the braking. That was enough for the emergency that caused me to jump on the brake with enough force to break the hose.

I've had my experiences with careless mechanics, including a shop rag left in the water jacket of a 235.5 cid Chevrolet six-cylinder, but no one stupid enough to clamp a head down against a ground strap and not test-drive a car. I did have a mechanic badly damage a vacuum modulator; it wouldn't come out of low gear and smoked like a mosquito sprayer, so I know they didn't test-drive the car. Both experiences were in San Diego, where you would think that this level of stupidity wasn't that common -- but it happened in the 60's...

I looked for quite awhile before I settled on my current mechanic. He has at least two levels of code reader, the lowest being a portable unit that looks like the $500 readers I have found online, and he complains about the annual cost of software updates for it, and for his *real* code reader that resides in a computer in the shop where he does state-certified emissions inspections. I spotted a dealer tech bringing *his* car to this guy.

[JohnnyG]

Jim, I'm glad you're alright! It's not everyone that can handle the sudden loss of brakes and come out without a scratch! Good job!

I've posted this here before, many years ago, but this seems to be an appropriate time to mention it again: Rolls Royce has always built cars to last a lifetime, and the only recommended maintenance other than the normal "consumables" (oil changes, etc.) is that every 100,000 miles, the brake system fluid should be flushed (changed) and all of the rubber brake hoses should be replaced.

I guess now we know why.

Thanks

[Cadillac Jim]

Rolls Royce is legendary and for very good reason: their reputation. But, after inspection, we left my rear brake hoses alone because they are fine. I did still have half my brakes when the hose broke.

I think that perhaps one reason that my front ones wore at the fender well hole is my normal entrance to our driveway, a high-camber ramp that must be taken at an angle to avoid scraping the underside -- or worse, on a street that can be busy in rush hour. I hit it at about 10 mph with the wheels cut for a right turn. The ETC is my daily driver and we've lived here for over 4 years now. I'll make a point of checking the front hoses every year from now on.

I once heard a tale from a Rolls Royce owner. He was vacationing in France in the car, and in a small village he managed to get it stuck in the mud. It had been raining for a week and he couldn't get it out. Eventually he managed to break a spring trying. He got a ride to the next town where they had a phone and called England. The next morning two mechanics from England picked him up at his hotel, paid the bill there, took him in their rental car to his car, got it out of the hole with their equipment, fixed the spring, and drove off. Back in the US, he waited for the bill, which never came. After 90 days or so, he called Rolls Royce and asked about the bill. He was put on hold, and after a few seconds a manager came on the line and informed him:

"Rolls Royces...do...not...break...springs."

[JimD]

....the only recommended maintenance other than the normal "consumables" (oil changes, etc.) is that every 100,000 miles, the brake system fluid should be flushed (changed)....

I'm going to challenge the Rolls Royce (mileage based) brake fluid recommendation.

Accumulating 100,000 miles could easily take as long as ten years or more. Maybe our British cousins have developed a brake fluid chemistry that is far superior to any DOT specified fluid available world-wide, but I doubt it.

FWIW, my DOT 3 brake fluid is flushed (changed) every two years regardless of mileage. Moisture is the enemy.

[Ranger]

FWIW, I once asked the GURU about his in a similar brake related thread and he said once every 10 yrs/100K.

[Cadillac Jim]

My brake fluid was untouched until my first brake job this year. That was about 12 years and 135,000 miles from manufacture. It was fine, indicating that the seal had never been broken. I suspect that the dealer checked it in California at 30,000 miles but re-sealed the master cylinders correctly. In the event that there is the tiniest air leak in the seal, a check within 2 years or 30,000 miles, whichever comes first, should catch it OK. Perhaps checking the brake fluid at antifreeze changes is appropriate, if not at 30,000 mile or two year intervals.

[JohnnyG]

You all make some fine points. But I realized, as I thought about this post, was that it was a LONG time ago. Like in the 70's! Lot's of things have changed since then including rubber composition (chemistry) fluid compostition, and the introduction of plastic (see through) master cylinder reservoirs just to name a few.

It still sounds like pretty good advice to me though, considering the cost of these items and their importance. The point we all should take from this is that a good inspection, and a little thought should be given to these items, anytime the opportunity presents itself.

[KHE]

I checked both of my Sevilles this morning after reading the post. The lines are metal until they are in the wheelwell area. I did not see any place the rubber line could rub. Jim, do you have a photo of the area in question?

[Cadillac Jim]

I didn't do the repair myself; expecting a rusted-out brake line I took it to my mechanic. I'll take a look and get a photo up here, in this thread, before the New Year.

[Northstar]

Mine are also metal until after they come through the fender well.

[Ed Hall]

The aftermarket department sells metal braided brake hoses. The biggest advantage is a more positive braking feel since it doesn't have the expansion of a rubber hose. But another advantage I can see is that it would have a longer wear life.