The fitting where the rear hose meets the metal line is frozen. A previous owner may have tried to replace the hose and given up...after partially stripping things. Even with vise grips holding, the amount of force I've put into these nuts is scary and makes my arms hurt. Reluctantly, I sprayed PB Blaster on and left it alone to come here and ask. (I hope I can clean all that oil before it contaminates the fluid.)

I looked in the archives. Many resort to blow torching them loose but I'd like to hold off on that. Any ideas are welcome.

BTW if anyone remembers, the hose end uses a 16mm and the steel a 12mm wrench? The stripping is not bad enough; I can buy flare wrenches at Sears and try.

Beno

[This message has been edited by Jdlog (edited 03-26-2005).]

bump

I feel your pain, I have had the same problem with other cars in the past. I bought a set of vice grips that have a funny jaw - bottom jaw kind of comes up to a flat point and the top jaw is kind of shaped like an upside down v - they basically grab onto three sides of the nut and you can apply a lot of pressure. I have had good luck with these where even flare nut wrenches have failed, they are not 100% but they have helped a lot. Plus it is a good opportunity to add another tool to your box. If I remember right I got them at Wal-Mart and I think they cost around $10.00.

Good luck,
Jeff

TORCH=BAD IDEA!!!

Brake fluid is VERY flammable, borderline explosive when it is highly heated. You could get very hurt if you tried torching it!

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Thanks Aus!
More info at: https://www.fiero.nl/forum/Forum1/HTML/043357.html

Thanks, Jeff. I bought that vice-grip earlier today. Now I have a good grip but the fitting refuses to turn no matter how hard I try. I just quit for the day after baptising the thing in PB Blaster for the 3rd time.

I'd really hate to have to resort to a blow torch so close to the fuel lines but it is looking like the only option left. I was tempted to buy a heavy duty electric heat blower that I saw at Sears, but at $60 it seemed like a lot of money for an unproven method.

We'll see if one of our Fiero experts has a miracle cure to share this evening. If not...darn, where did I put that hacksaw!

Beno

Edit:
Hey, Bigfieroman, your post must have arrived while I was writing the above. Yes, I agree. I am really trying not to use a torch. I may yet try that Sears heater.

[This message has been edited by Jdlog (edited 03-26-2005).]

Question. Why are you taking it off the steel line? If you're putting on SS lines then you'll have a new fitting to replace the steel one so you can get more aggressive. Second question. Which side, driver or Passenger? If it's passenger (which it sounds like if it's a V6 since you mentioned the fuel lines), that's a VERY short steel line and can be replaced with pre-flared line from the parts store if you can get it off the T fitting that it's screwing into at the other end of the line.

There's a pretty good chance that if it's rusted that hard into the fitting you're going to damage the steel line even if you get it to turn in the threads so it's probably not worth spending a lot of time on. Cut the line and get it out of the tee fitting then take the steel fitting and the stub of the line to the workbench where you have a vice to hold the fitting firmly while you get really nasty with the vice grips or even a small pipe wrench.

John Stricker

Hi, John. It's an 86 4cyl. I am just trying to replace the brake hose that goes to the driver's side rear caliper (not taking the steel line off.) I am doing this in the parking space outside my apartment.

So far, I've managed not to do any more damage to the nut on the steel line side, but your point is well taken. Cutting the steel line very close to the fitting and taking off the bracket to remove the stub in a shop workbench could an alternative. Can I then put a new nut and flare the steel line in place?

Beno

[This message has been edited by Jdlog (edited 03-26-2005).]

If you're going to reflare it just so you know that brake lines take a double flare and not just a single flare like copper tubing and such. You have to have the correct flaring tool to do that. You can certainly cut it off as close to the fitting as possible and then reflare it providing you have the correct flaring tool.

I was hoping that it was the passenger side because it's just about a 6" piece or so. The drivers side is much longer and runs on the rear firewall. It's probably not going to help, but removing the clip and taking the 10 mm bolt off that holds the bracket will allow you to get the bracket out of the way so that you can back up the steel fitting with one hammer and strike it a few times with another. Sometimes this "shocks" things loose. If you still have a decent looking nut on the tubing, I'd try a flare wrench, they're 12 mm. Since you're replacing the hose, you don't really care how bad you bung up the steel on the end of the rubber hose since it will have a new one so just use a small pipe wrench/large water pump pliers to hold that as solid as you can while you try to break it loose.

One other thing, you might try to TIGHTEN the fitting and then loosen it. Sometimes this will break the corrosion loose as well. If you get it to wink at all, work it back and forth, tighten and loosen, as you take it off to help save the threads on the flare nut.

Ain't these old cars fun??

John Stricker

quote Originally posted by jstricker: Ain't these old cars fun?? John Stricker

And then some! Thanks for the tips.

Beno

Ok, folks, time to cut my losses (pun intended). Not even using a Sears heavy duty heat gun worked. (These things push a nominal 1000 degrees at the nozzle yet look like a hair dryer. )

So, I want to cut the steel line close to the bracket and put a new fitting. The issues:

1. What kind of fitting/nut should I be getting? From the archives I get that Fiero lines are metric but I found nothing that tells me what are the specs for the end fittings.

1. Flaring the tube seems to be more elaborate than I thought. Seems like I need to get practice doing "double" flaring. It looked manageable until someone mentioned... a "metric" flaring tool? Sears does not show anything of the sort.

Beno

To be honest, I don't know what size the ferrule is. What you need to do is go to the parts store with your new hose in hand and have them match it up. All you need in the way of parts, if you're going to cut the line, is the flare nut that will go over the line after you've cut it and before you flare it. You MUST use a double flare on brake lines. A single flare will work, but it generally will not last and you do NOT want to find out at a stop sign or during a panic stop that you've split the flare when you hammer on the brakes. Double flaring tool sets aren't cheap but can be had at most parts stores. It also takes a little practice to make a nice double flare so if you've never done it before you should either find someone that has or get some scrap tubing to practice some flares on.

John Stricker

Thanks, John. With your good advice, I went to get some scrap tubing and found some new pieces at a store... which led me to see things in another light...bubble and double flaring. I am starting a new thread because it may be easier to follow.

Beno

[This message has been edited by Jdlog (edited 04-01-2005).]