removing rusted brake line fittings / what is the fitting size?

[idosubaru]

any tools or trick to getting the brake fittings undone?

 

i've been hitting them with PB Blaster. Maybe I'll break out the YIELD I got from GD.

 

torch?

 

flare wrench (never owned those but i've heard about them), are those any help here or I'm I plain hosed?

 

anyone know the fitting size so i can get going on parts. someone mentioned M10?

[Fairtax4me]

A flare nut wrench usually works for me. But if they're really rusty stuck the wrench will just expand and round off the corners. (unless you buy some high end $150 wrench set, they might work better) That's when you get to use the vice grips. Or get out your favorite saw, cut the line, then put a socket on the nut and use an impact gun on it.

[GeneralDisorder]

Flare nut wrenches for sure. Yield and heat will help. Heat it up and then dowse it with the Yield. Do that a couple times then use the flare nut's on it. It might be worth investing in some decent Flare-Nut wrenches for the brake line/hose sizes you deal with most - in your neck of the woods that would seem a solid investment.

 

GD

[WoodsWagon]

Cut the line off right at the fitting, then put a 6 point socket on it. It's you're only chance.

 

You can buy brake lines with the ends already flared with nuts on them, so you just bend them to shape and put them in. That's if you can get them apart at the junction block. The 180 degree bend in the wheel well can be aproximated with a bigger radius if you're careful about keeping it out of the way of the wheel. Don't heat the fitting on the end of the hose, it will destroy the hose.

[GeneralDisorder]

Cut the line off right at the fitting, then put a 6 point socket on it. It's you're only chance.

 

That might be the case. But if you let the Yield soak in for a while and periodically reapply it, it can and will do wonderous things to rust.

 

Also - if you can apply shock to the rusted parts - all the better. Even a hammer/punch will help break the bond. Put a backer behind it and smack it a few good blows with a punch. Then more Yield, etc.

 

I have a very high percentage of success with rusted and frozen parts using heat, shock, and penetrants of various types. Just yesterday I removed an EJ crank timing belt sprocket that was badly fretted and rusted in place. The Yield eventually moved it and I was able to get it off after about 30 minutes of working it. Broke the sprocket but those are easy to come by and I saved the crank nose, oil pump, and block so all is well.

 

Patience is the key really - and knowing when to use force, how much, and when to "move up" the scale to more intense tools.

 

It is actually very rare that I have to break out the blue wrench.

 

GD

[OB99W]

A flare nut wrench usually works for me. But if they're really rusty stuck the wrench will just expand and round off the corners. (unless you buy some high end $150 wrench set, they might work better) That's when you get to use the vice grips.

If there's enough room, one trick that sometimes works with flare nut wrenches is to clamp vise grips around the wrench end to help keep it from spreading. And yes, it also helps to buy good ones.

[idosubaru]

i'll get some flare wrenches, i could use those anyway. i've doused them a few times with PB blaster. i'd be surprised if these bust loose, it's got that real bad rust that's easy to come by around here. like "where's the nut....oh, why does it look round" kind of rust.

 

i like the cut it off and try a socket approach. that has to be way better than a wrench right?

[GeneralDisorder]

i'll get some flare wrenches, i could use those anyway. i've doused them a few times with PB blaster. i'd be surprised if these bust loose, it's got that real bad rust that's easy to come by around here. like "where's the nut....oh, why does it look round" kind of rust.

 

. I remember rust like that - when I was working on Hummer's in Hawaii. . We were replacing brake lines of course .

 

You needed a tetnis shot just to look at the Army trucks on the island. It was shocking.

 

GD

[WoodsWagon]

Same thing in the northeast, we get enough above freezing days with freezing nights that they salt the everlivin crap out of the roads. Highways can be literally white with drifting salt, no snow. I've had rear crossmembers rust through, front control arms rust through, plus rockers, floorpans, doors, it all dissapears in a poof of rust. Just recently I was using 13mm sockets pounded onto the heads of the headbolts of a 351w, which are normally 18mm equivalent size heads. I was lucky I was able to get enough of a grab. Sometimes you have to grind off the heads and then use vicegrips to pull the "stud" when you get the manifold/head/other component off. My 2001 tacoma already had the frame replaced because it rusted through. There are no pre 95 subarus on the road here, they all rusted through. They don't even come through the junkyards anymore.

 

6 point socket is the only way to go, flare wrenches are for installing new flare nuts. You're replacing the line, so cutting it off is not a problem. You may need to go a size or 2 down on the socket to get enough of a grip on the flare nut.

[idosubaru]

i've pounded sockets on before too - some still have the bolts in them or i just scrap them that way, not worth messing with as new sockets are easy to get.

[1-3-2-4]

My wielded nut for the drivers seat in the rear part snapped right off when I went to remove my seat when I had to take up my carpet.

[idosubaru]

My wielded nut for the drivers seat in the rear part snapped right off when I went to remove my seat when I had to take up my carpet.

those seat bolts are TERRIBLE no doubt. i've had a bunch rust, strip, or not go back in the hole. my current OBW, which doesn't have much rust is in that boat. grrrrrr!!!

[WoodsWagon]

i've pounded sockets on before too - some still have the bolts in them or i just scrap them that way, not worth messing with as new sockets are easy to get.

 

Use a punch and brace the socket on the jaws of a vice and pound the bolt back out. Smacking the socket with a hammer on the side while holding it with an extension against an anvil works pretty good too. I've never lost a socket, well except for ones I've blown the sides out of cranking on something pretty hard.

[Fairtax4me]

. I remember rust like that - when I was working on Hummer's in Hawaii. . We were replacing brake lines of course .

 

You needed a tetnis shot just to look at the Army trucks on the island. It was shocking.

 

GD

 

I've seen that kind of rust on 7 year old Toyota pickup frames. It's not pretty. (the first of Toyota's recent major recalls)

[GuamSTI]

Any ideas to fix this?