ok....so brakes lines on my 92 SE need to be changed. I've searched the 3rd gen forums, and didn't find much information, or extensive information. The fuel lines look like they're in ok shape...not great. I was trying to find a write-up, but couldn't.

Was reading that i would need to change out the fuel lines as well since it is quite hard to change the brake lines without damaging the fuel lines.

I read that it was better to get OEM lines. But if it is one huge single line and all pre-bent, how hard was it to fit the oem line back on? My guess is not as easy as an exhaust, but i only have jack stands and don't have a lift. I will also most likely be working solo on this except when bleeding the brakes.

But i read somewhere that the person who got OEM lines, would have opted for non-oem and bend them themselves and using a flaring kit and union joints where necessary.

I still haven't figured out if I have a LPV or a DSV abs brake system. I couldn't tell. I'll post pics later tonight.

So here is my question, if i decide to just change out on the section of the brake line that is bad, what are the chances that i will damage the fuel lines? If i do damage the fuel lines, can i replace the section i damaged on the fuel lines like i did on the brake lines? I don't have that much time, so i was either going to order oem brake and fuel lines from dave b, or just buy different lengths of brake lines, rent the flaring tool and tubing bender from autozone and see if that will work. I'm really torn right now and i need this car out of my boy's house since its been sitting there for over 2 months.

Also, this is what i imagine i would have to do. Cut the line, remove the bad sections. Bend the line down so i can use an actual tube cutter so i do'nt crimp the line shut. Bend the original brake line down so i can flare it so i can put a union joint to the new brake line. and hopefully bend the line back into place and hope the original line doesn't break. Is this the best bet?? i didn't see anywhere that has a break in the brake line where i can replace it by unscrewing a flare. The only flares i see that i can unscrew is all the way up at the proportioning valve and at the end where the steel brakes lines are screwed to the black rubber brakes lines.

 

buy the whole line. if one section is bad chances are the rest isn't far behind.
last I heard they were also pretty cheap.

 

yea, i heard they were pretty cheap, but shipping is a little more. But ok, here's my next question, should i buy non-oem line and bend it myself? or buy the oem pre-bent ones.

 

OEM line won't need couplers every 5-6 feet any non-OEM will.

 

correct...i understand that. But i only imagine it that it would be easier to install the brake lines in pieces instead of one WHOLE long line. However, flaring and connecting the brake lines might also be a problem since if i don't do it right, it'll have leaks. I guess i basically answered my own question then. Spend the time and annoyance and do it right, or opt for an easier way and hope that i won't have any leaks. I guess i'll call up Dave b tomorrow to get a quote on the 3 fuel lines, 2 brake lines, and a fuel vent hose

 

also, there wouldn't happen to be a write-up about this that i didn't know about is there? I just watched the videos on e-how.com But the guy was doing it on a for explorer/expedition, forgot what he said

 

no write up that I know of.
doing all 5 lines at once will cost you a chunk, last I heard $300+ just in parts.

 

suggestion on the brake lines. if they (the oem's) aren't that expensive, you may want to get them ordered from your local nissan dealership. you wont pay for shipping, and you will have true oem (or at least, lkq) parts.

 

courtesy usualy isn't very bad on shipping.. it's just $9 minimum so if you are doing a small order it's not worth it but for $300 worth of stuff it might be cheaper from courtesy cuz they deal in pretty high volume so their stuff is cheaper than my local dealer usually.

 

damn....i hope its not that expensive...maybe i'll just try to buy regular 3/16th brake line and bend it myself.

 

each line is roughly $60 last I heard.
I would only worry about the brake lines, they are the ones that rust out. people don't change their brake fluid and let the cars sit. Brake fluid is hydroscopic meaning it absorbs water. the water then sinks to the lowest point in the system and proceeds to rot out the brake line from the inside out.
fuel lines rot from the outside in.
Regardless of cost, I would replace the brake line in solid sections only.

 

i just called Dave burnette. He was pretty confused from the diagram he was looking at. He was quoting me like $16 and $12 on the lines.

i also went to courtesynissan to look at the brake piping...

courtesy nissan website


and looking at 46285m and 4628p, i hover over it and it says that i need only one per vehicle. So what exactly should i be looking at here? I know for a fact that there are two brake lines that run underneath the car. I even see it from the FSM. I don't mind spending a hundred or two on parts, but i just want to get the right ones. But the ones that he was quoting me seemed too cheap. I gave him my vin #, and but he wasn't sure if i had the dpv or lsv abs system sytem still. its a 1992 SE.

So now i'm wondering, is it 2 brake lines of around 7-8ft long each what i need? Or is it like 2 4ft sections that i need. i'm getting confused and beginning to hate this stupid brake line!

 

don't get the universal brake lines. the flares might be right now and chances of leaking are very high.

get the OEM ones.

 

I replaced the rear hard lines on my 94 B13. I got the tubing from the parts store. It was a 50' roll, so no splices. I went from the fitting on the firewall all the way to the rear calipers no problem. The fuel lines were no issue, but some of the bolts were rusted pretty good. I did it on jack stands with a buddy in a few hours. The longest part was bleeding. I bought a flare tool and bender along with a pack of threaded fittings. Total cost was about $50. I had about 2' left over so a Max may need more than a 50' roll.

 

was this a regular parts store? or like napa or some sort. That's pretty cheap imo for a 50' roll. Do you remember the name of it by any chance?

Also, anyone know what size tubing i need? I know that we're suppose to use metric, so 4mm....6mm..?? or am i wrong and need like 3/16th. I was also looking on ebay....

link to brake line

and was wondering if that was sufficient or not.

 

problem is i'm not sure if the oem lines he was quoting me are the ones that i need.

 

the one marked 46284P is what is needed. you may also need 46285M. Because of the questions I will go back to recommending that you go to your local dealer and get it there. If there is a problem you can walk in and explain/show them the issue and get it taken care of faster.

if you have ABS then you have the LSVs (load sensing valves) if you do not have ABS then you don't.

 

thanks...i'll go over to the local dealership tomorrow and see what they have to say. Hopefully i'll be able to get the right part.

 

at least there you can blame them face to face and they will usually be more helpful because it is obvious.

 

It was from VIP, similar to the other stores. I cant remember the size, I took in a short piece of tubing with a fitting and matched it up. The roll of tubing was not coated which may make it cheaper. I just threw away the receipt go figure.

 

Update***

went to my local dealership today..saw the same diagram that courtesy nissan had. So i told the guy what my concern was. So he ordered 3 things (not usually in stock). Cost is around $90. Supposedly its for both of the hard brake lines that run from the front to the back brakes. Hopefully this is it. Fuel vent hose that i was looking to replace costs $53 there. I'm gonna see if i can find it any cheaper.

A little off topic, the right headlight doesn't work, i'm going to see if i can fix the problem, but if i can't, is it bad to splice wires from the harness on the left headlight to a new harness for the one to the right?? I know it shouldn't be a problem if the wires are thick enough to handle the power consumption. But i'm just afraid that i'm going to burn out the harness on the left side also. Again, splicing the wires to the left headlight is goign to be the last resort if i can't figure out whats wrong with the right side and can't get it fixed


(left headlight) ..................... (right headlight)
|-----------------high beam----------------|
|-----------------low beam-----------------| (non stock harness)
|-----------------ground-------------------|
|
(left harness)

 

i would not suggest splicing the harnesses together like that. In the headlight switch they both have their own contacts, and they both have their own fuse. Does the bulb NEVER work, or just doesn't work for low, or doesn't work for high. I'm going to assume you are smart enough to have ruled out a burned out bulb haha.

 

LOL...yea.....i ruled it out.....switched the bulb to the other side and it doesn't work. It doesn't work for low AND high beam. The guy who had the car busted the corner light, and was taped back on with duct tape. My guess is that water/moisture had eventually gotten to the wires and corroded the wire. Hopefully that it's not the entire wiring harness and gives me enough wire to replace a new harness. However, if that doesn't work, i am going to splice it into the left headlight just to pass inspection so i can get registration (Va only gives you a temporary registration if the car has not passed inspection).

My concern (like you have mentioned) is that the fuse and the wires will not support two headlights (since it wasn't mean to support two headlights). I just wanted someone to confirm this, LOL. This car has been giving me a little more trouble that i had originally thought.

 

i would try a different headlight switch first... or at least pull yours off and use the FSM to see how to test the switch. My neighbor's daugher has a 3rd gen also and both her lowbeams went out at the same time. I swapped in the switch off my parts car and it worked. So it might just happen to be that your right-side contacts are both messed up.

 

i'll try that. Never really though that it could have been the switch on the steering wheel since the left one works..hymm.....but i'll check that out if i can't test any volts with a volt meter on the wires...

 

you can test at the bulb harness yeah, but if there's no light, i doubt there's any voltage. just sayin'. but checking for continuity is what you'd do at the switch itself.

 

If possible - try to write a brief write-up on what you encounter - and any specialty tools you needed to buy, when your done. My brake lines are looking old and have this caked on corrosion - I may have to do the same.

When you say it goes from the front all the way to the rear calipers - you are talking about straight out of the ABS Actuator, then all the way back from there?

 

yup.....or wherever there is a break before that. I'm definately going to try to do a write-up as it seems to be a known problem. However, as far as taking pictures go, it seems that i'm usually pretty good at it till my hands get all dirty..-= \.....how do you guys take pictures while working on the car without having someone else do it?? my guess is that my hands are going to be filthy....i'll see if i can saran-wrap the camera before...

 

You may want to think about spraying the lines with Wire Line Dressing once installed - to slow down the corrosion of the new lines.

http://www.jetlube.com/jetlube/produ...?productId=734

 

thanks....i'll pick up a bottle if i see it at the local store....kinda seem like its a "waterproof boot protector" but for wires..hymm.....maybe i should spray some of that on my 4th gen..

 

soooo......ok.....goods news and bad news....

Brakes lines FINALLY came in...sort of....only two came in...the third one...nissan does NOT make anymore. So i'm buying 3-4 6ft brake lines and using u-joints (guy said that me flaring it myself is worse than me using u joint. So fine....i'll just do that...and bend the last line myself.

I also bought a torch...cheapo one from home depot..just the regular propane one...a customer was really helpful and said that should be enough. I shouldn't need the MAP gas one. Is this correct??

So i'm thinking..how long did it take you guys?? do you really need to drop the control arm?? I'm hoping i can do this in one day..or should i be safe and plan it for two days?? reason being is i wanna go snowboarding tomorrow which only leaves me sunday to do the job...or i can suck it up and just do the job and saturday...and leave me some time for things to go wrong (which i'm sure they will).

Also, you guys think 3-4 bottles of the big brake fluid will be enough for this job??

 

Whats the torch for?
I had 0 issues flaring my own lines. The flare tool is only a few bucks and is cake to use.

 

Headlight contacts cleaning thread---> http://forums.maxima.org/3rd-generat...t-problem.html

If you don't want to mess with cleaning it, i have a good headlight switch f/s..

 

I rented the flaring tool. But i was told if i didn't do it right, it can possible leak and i really don't feel like tackling this anytime soon again. So instead of flaring it myself....it came out to be about the same costs as if i had gotten the already flared lines..and used u-joints on them. actually, it cost a little bit less. I was on e-how.com and the guy recommended on there (and also by some other fellow orgers) how the nut that goes into the valves can potentially by rusted and stuck there so it would be hard to get off without breaking the bolt. So the torch is going to be used in case the nut gets stuck to the point where i need the bolt to expand and break loose any particle that is causing the bolt not to come out.

greeny...you're awesome!!!!! i'll definately try that tonight or tomorrow. also..would you happen to have a right rear sway bar end link?? i'll take a pic of the part i'm missing on sunday. But i was told by the owner that the old one rusted off and i need a new one.



i forgot to buy speed bleeders...so can i use this to bleed my brakes??? i have the clear tubing that fits over the bleeder screws..

Vacuum Pump

also, anyone else know for sure i need to drop the front left control arm in order to get the brake lines in??? (reason being is that the bushing on the control arm might be shot (not sure) but for a 17 yr old car....why not..and if i'm taking it off..i might damage the original bushing even if it was ok to begin with...might as well change it...but can i change one side and not the other???) I just don't wanna run back and forth to a parts store...(and is there ones i should avoid?? gonna get them from autozone most likely

 

Yeah, i got all the rear end parts you might need..

 

cool..if you know what part i need....or talking about....let me know how much you want for it..( i believe its pretty commong for this part to rust out while i was reading matt blehm's website)

 

Your probably already aware, but don't forget some of those fasteners in the chassis should be thrown away and replaced (10.9), when re-assembling (the ones denoted with an X in the FSM). I've been reading that the high stress bolts shouldn't be re-used because the threads could stretch over time, and when you re-torque them with a used fastener, the torque may be false.

I've driven back and forth to the store just over screws - it's very annoying.

 

i'll look into that and make sure i have all the parts..i'm guessing i need to read the fsm in 10.9 carefully now..ahh!!!!....::sigh::....maybe i should just sell this car as is....

 

soooo....i fixed the car today...sorry....no write up...it was literally impossible as i got so dirty...sorry!!!

but....there's good news and bad news..the good news is that the brakes are fixed....however...i was not able to put the lines that i bought from the dealer...(so i'm stuck with $40 brake lines) I winded up just cutting and splicing from where the oem lines are still good. It was literally impossible without a lift to get where i needed to be for hte oem lines....

So i fixed the brakes..bleeded them...replaced the fuel vent hose since the tank was leaking....fixed the headlights by adjusting the contacts of the headlight switch....(spent like 30 minutes adjusting them).

But here's my experience......i jacked up the car.....looked at the original line...looked at the broken lines.....i was goign to put the original line...however...i was hard to get the original lines off even in pieces and bending the crap out of them. At this point, i knew it was impossible to get the original lines . I replaced both of the lines in the middle section. On one of them, i used a 5ft and 3 ft line couples with u-joints. on another lines, i used one 5 ft line. Renting the tube bender and flare tool was a plus. However, when i got the flare tool, i was only able to rent the mm one and not the sae which is the one i need sicne the tubing is 3/16th. But the oem worked by using a 6mm flare, and putting hte line in the 5mm hole. I practiced flaring on a 1 ft line that i had purchased (i winded up using the end screws from that). It took me about 3 tries till i got a good flare. (flaring is not as hard as i thought it would be) I applaud those that have replaced using oem lines. I can't imagine how much of a pita that is. I have a guy looking at the car tomorrow. Kbb says its $1850 for a 1992 se with abs, power locks, windows, sunroof, with 116k, 5 speed, (low miles for a 92 basically). Gonna start by saying i want $1850..but i think i'm willing to go as low as $1500.

I'm just glad that this car is finally fixed and i can sell it.