Replacing Brake Lines, and other Braking Questions

[Rennen]

Well, one of my rear calipers is leaking, so I bought some new(to me) calipers, and will install them soon. I also took this opportunity to do one of my stock legal mods, Stainless Steel Brake Lines.

Background Info: non ABS 89 240 SE, swapping rear calipers off a non ABS 93 SE, replacing all stock rubber lines with SS Russell brake lines from PDM.

Before I start this I want to ask a few questions:



1.) Will I need any special tools to remove the rubber lines, or replace them with the stainless ones. I only have a 200 piece Craftsman socket set and some misc screwdrivers, and some penetrating oil. The FSM shows some weird ass tool that is called "Flare nut torque wrench", but I'm not sure if I need it for the rubber side of the lines.

2.) How do I keep all of my fluid from coming out when I take the brake lines off? Or should I let it all come out? Will the escaping fluid make air go into the MC?

3.) Are there any special precautions I need to take when completely removing the entire rear caliper assembly, and swapping them. Should I take any of the steps of retracting the piston as with pad replacement?

4.) Will DOT4 fluid be good enough for me? The car is a daily driver, and I do Autocross sometimes, and I have recently found a fairly fast backroad, but none of these see any really hard braking, not like that on a roadcourse.

5.) Oh, and any tips on bleeding the braking system, I picked up a set of speed bleeders from PDM, that should enable me to do this alone. How much Fluid will I need to completely replace all the old stuff?

Sorry for the barrage of questions, but I want to do this right. Thanks in advance:bow:

-Matt

[Tricky1980]

your giong to want to bleed the brakes obviously and get the rear caliper tool from autozone forl ike 7$ that screws the rear calipers back into their seated positions i tried to do it without and it was a pita!, i havent messed with the lines yet so sorry cant help anymore.. but the little cube tool for the rear calipers is a must i believe.
JaY

[negular]

1.) Piston compressing tools that you can either buy/rent from autozone, like tricky said... everything else its just common tools like wrenches and a couple of tubing-wrenches. (thats what they're called I think)

2.) Just let it drip/squirt out, you're goin to have to bleed the system anyway. Just make sure you clean up the area where the brake fluid got, its corrosive.

3.) Use that little cube like tricky said above. You gotta twist, not just push. Use your head.

4.) DOT3 would do if your light footed. If you want something higher, then... I dunno.

5.) Never used speed-bleeders... always had a friend do the good ol' pumping. One of those big bottles of brake fluid should do... on sale 2/3.99 of DOT3 at autozone... if that's what your going to use.

Hopefully that helps a little.
edit: if I messed up anywhere, I'm sorry... its late and I'm going to bed.

[Rennen]

Ok, finally got my calipers in.

Will I really need to move the piston with that tool, even though I am not changing the pads, just sliding the calipers off and new ones on?

Oh, has anyone removed the lines? will I need the Flare Nut wrench or not?

The reason I ask all this in advance is that I wont have alternate transportation once I get the car in the air.

-Matt:confused:

[240Dave]

Use a flare nut wrench or don't even bother with the job...about all I know :hammer:

I swear engineers never consider the material and size of a nut/bolt compared to how much torque it takes to remove it :mad:

[Red]

I would get more the DOT-3 its just a little bit more $$

And if the tool is that cheep for the back brakes get it.. useing needle nose sucks HARD! and you could slip and hit yourself or the rubber thing on the brake.

If you have a small adjusable size monky wrench.. it works for the lines... And dont twist the flange nuts the wrong way on the lines... Its a soft metal...

You will need to bleed your whole system... I say drain out all your brake fluid and refill it with new stuff... I flushed mine out a few times..

Dont forget a bleeder...

[240Dave]

I dono if I took what you said too literally "I say drain out all your brake fluid and refill it with new stuff" but you shouldn't let the MC run dry. Have a full MC, do 1 corner and refill the MC and continue this untill you are all done...then go back and bleed. Or bleed as you go, I don't think it really matters much but don't let your MC run dry.

[Rennen]

OK, thanks for all the replies. I will probably attempt it this weekend.

Where can I get this Flare Nut Wrench? is that something I can rent from Autozone?

-Matt

[240Dave]

I bought a 3 pack (6 sizes) from autozone for like 8 bux.

[Red]

No.... Not dry dry.. What I said was kinda missleading... :o

I sucked about 1/2 the resavwore (sp) through each line... twice...

I did it once on each... Bled the system... Ran the car and hit the brakes a few times... then opend them up and at a time and did it again... Re bled all brakes and then was done....

I probley did not need a second time... But I wanted to make sure there was Zero air in my lines. I did not get any air the second time...

Yeah I would not drain ALL the fluid out... that would take alot more time to bleed once you got fluid back in it...

[240 2NR]

Check the FAQ section. There are a couple of good write ups on changing brake fluid and pads (I wrote this one (http://www.zilvia.net/f/showthread.php?s=&threadid=12990))

Also I second the vote for better brake fluid. Still inexpensive are valvoline synpower and Castrol GTLMA (a pdm recomendation). Both run about $5 per liter and carry a DOT 4 rating. There's really no reason to cheap out on fluid. It should easily last you a year or two with a few weekend events and will only save you like $2. Do it right the first time. Besides, if you're running a more aggressive pad you're going to raise the temperature threshold of your braking system and you don't wnat to let the fluid become the weak part, besidest he fact that the pads will want some more heat just to work their best.

Oh, as a for a flare nut wrench, I'd advise getting one. I changed my MC and it recomended one though I did it with a standard wrench. The first two worked fine but the third one stripped the sides since the metal is very soft. For the minimal investment it would be wise to get the flare nut wrecnh since stripping the nut too badly would be a PIA to replace. I lucked out and was able to use the remaining good sides, however if I did it twice I'd be SOL. When I do my brake lines I'll be sure to buy a FNW. If you decide not to get one, be very cautious and be sure you're turning the nut and not stripping the metal.

[Rennen]

Thank you all for your help and advice

240 2NR -- yeah I saw those writeups while I was searching, lots of good info on bleeding the brakes and replacing pads. I just started this thread to get some info on the brake lines

Well, I'm off to find some flare nut wrenches and fluid.

Thanks,

-Matt