I would guess that brake lines are not as much a problem as brake cylinders.
Don't assume it the lines, that just does not sound right that it would need
those unless they were damaged in some way. It may just need a master
cylinder.
Rascal
-----Original Message-----
From: owner-dakota-truck@bent.twistedbits.net
[mailto:owner-dakota-truck@bent.twistedbits.net] On Behalf Of
jon@dakota-truck.net
Sent: Monday, October 24, 2005 10:03 AM
To: dakota-truck-moderator@bent.twistedbits.net
Subject: Re: DML: OT: Breeze / Stratus / Cirrus
"Jason Bleazard" <dml@bleazard.net> wrote:
: Just wondering if anyone on the list has any experience with any of these
: cars. One of our friends has a '98 Plymouth Breeze sitting in his
driveway
: not currently in driveable condition. He's moving in a week, so he's in
"get
: it outta my driveway" mode and willing to let me have it for next to
nothing.
: I'm going to take him up on it and use it as a daily commuter to save the
: miles and fuel expense on my '95 Dakota.
Sounds good! :-)
: He says the biggest thing it needs is brake lines. He said the pads are
new
: this year, but the lines have gone bad and it doesn't have any pressure at
all
: in the pedal. How big a job is this? Is it something I can do in my
: driveway, or should I try to get some time on Jon's lift? Of course, I'll
: have to trailer it down there, so I'd rather fix it at home if it's fairly
: easy.
: Any other common issues with these cars that I should check out before I
start
: driving it? He said it's the four banger, and I'm guessing that it would
be
: an automatic. Other than the brakes, it sounds like it'll need a new
driver's
: seat farily soon, plus a few other pretty minor things. I'm not sure how
long
: it's been sitting, but I know he was still driving it as of July this
year.
I don't know anything about those particular cars, but in general, what
I would probably do is to change all the fluids and filters, unless I had
records on them which show it has been done recently.
As far as the brake lines go, it sure won't be a fun job, laying on
your back in the cold driveway, but it is probably doable. The first step
would be to get under the car and see if you can determine what the problem
is. Chances are a brake line has split somewhere, so you won't need to
replace all of them, just repair the damaged section, then bleed the
brakes. If you're just looking to get the car driveable to be able to
move it back to your place, or down here or whatever, a relatively common
technique is to just pinch the brake line off. That means you don't have
the use of one or two brakes, but if you're careful it can get you to
where you need to go. I don't know if preformed brake lines are available
or not, if they are it is probably a dealer only item; you might want to
check on that. If they aren't or if you want to go cheaper, you can make
your own with a relatively inexpensive bender, plus you will also need
a double flare tool (which can be had relatively inexpensively, but the
cheap ones tend to really suck). What I have been able to get away with
so far is buying a preassembled line at an auto parts store. With some
careful measuring, you just get the closest length you can (too long is
better than too short obviously) and bend it to a routing that will
work. Of course, you also need to get one with the correct fittings
on the end, or use adapters, if available. You can practice on a coat
hanger or something similar to get the proper bends and routing before
bending the actual tube. (If you need to "un-bend" a steel brake line,
chances are pretty good that it will break, so you want to get it right
the first time if possible.) :-) For bending the tubing, you will want
to use a tubing bender, as opposed to trying to bend it by hand.
Fortunately
they are pretty cheap, and I expect can be found in any decent auto parts
store. I have one like this:
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/Displayitem.taf?itemnumber=3755
Anyhoo, you are of course welcome to bring it down to work on it if
you want to go that route. With a front wheel drive car like that, a
U-haul dolly could be used which should be fairly readlily available and
relatively low-hassle as compared to using a trailer.
Good luck! :-)
--
-Jon-
.-- Jon Steiger ---- jon@dakota-truck.net or jon@jonsteiger.com --.
| 67 Coronet, 70 Cuda, 90 Dakota 'vert, 92 Ram 4x4, 96 Dakota |
| 96 Intruder 1400, 96 Kolb FireFly, 99 Cherokee, 01 Ram 3500 CTD |
`------------------------------------ http://www.jonsteiger.com --'
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