No matter how much we want it to be sunny and warm it is just a fact Reading Pennsylvania gets cold in the winter. With the cold comes the dreaded snow. It is pretty at first and you're all excited then you realize you need to drive in it. It is ok because the state plowed the snow and put salt on the road to keep the slush from freezing.

 

This is where the problem comes in. Salt loves to rust through metal and one of its favorites are your car's metal brake lines. A lot of car manufactures for the last 20 years have been using special plastic covered brake lines to keep the lines from rusting out. The plastic coated brake lines last much longer than uncoated steel lines. They still have problems with corrosion and eventually the leak.

 

What can you do to prevent your brake lines from rusting out? One of the most simple things to do is to go to the car wash and have them do an undercarriage wash after a snow. This will help remove the salt from the underside of your car. Let's say you are a do it yourself kinda person. Well have I got the trick for you. One of the other ways to remove salt from the underside of your car is to use an oscillating lawn sprinkler. If you have the room to do this and you will not create an ice hazard using a lawn sprinkler is an awesome way to remove dirt from under your car. All you do is connect it to a water source and move it around under the car as the sprinkler does all the work.

 

What else can you do to prevent the brake lines from rusting out? One way is to protect them with a spray on coating like Fluid Film. Using this undercoat can protect your brake lines from rusting out. What if they rusted out and sprung a leak? We usually suggest replacing all the brake lines on a car that had one rust out. Years ago we would quote replacement for the one that rusted out and a few weeks later another would blow. We now quote replacing all the metal brake lines on the car or truck.

 

To properly quote replacement of the brake lines on your vehicle we do need to see it because it may need other parts like a brake caliper or wheel cylinder. If the air bleed valves are rusted in the caliper or wheel cylinder they will also need to be replaced when replacing the brake lines.

 

Please if you are doing the repair yourself and you want to use a compression fitting to join the lines use the proper one. Brake fluid pressure can be very high and cause a brass fitting to fail. Only use proper repair techniques when making brake line repairs. The picture below shows the proper fitting to use.