When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
The PPI I had done on the car recommended I replace the old soft lines on my c4. So, thought I would tackle this job this weekend.
I bought new stainless braided lines and made sure I had my flare nut wrenches at the ready and was ready to do it.
Then, since my car lived all of its 27 years in Minnesota, the ugly truth reared its head. I ended up having to replace all the caliper-stainless braided hard lines.
Not a big deal, picked some up locally, bent them and installed them.
The problem came when I was doing the right rear, however. The inner hard line that runs the length of the car has a stripped head which I can't seem to get loose no matter what I do.
I'm planning on pulling the under trays tomorrow and replacing the entire line the whole length of the car.
Is this something I would be able to do with standard lines from the auto parts store?
Should I just do all the lines since all the factory ones could stand to be renewed?
I'm going to bleed everything BUT the locks because I don't have access to a hammer at the moment and wasn't expecting to run into this problem. Will any of this cause issues with that?
The problem came when I was doing the right rear, however. The inner hard line that runs the length of the car has a stripped head which I can't seem to get loose no matter what I do.
Have you tried cutting the soft line with a dremel or hacksaw and then using a regular 6-sided socket to loosen and separate the two?
The hard line in question is still available from Porsche. You could als try Auto Atlanta.
I'm hoping to finish today since I'm flying out of town tomorrow for the week for work. We are then having an open house Saturday and I'd like to not have the car up on jack stands. But if needs must, then I'll just order OEM.
Originally Posted by JasonAndreas
Have you tried cutting the soft line with a dremel or hacksaw and then using a regular 6-sided socket to loosen and separate the two?
My main concern at this point is reassembly. The hard line is so boogered up I won't reuse it even when I do get it all apart.
That hard line doesn't run the length of the car. It is short and runs to a T connector located just after the tunnel in the rear up under the car on the drivers side...easy enough to fit a bent length of pipe from napa...and then later fit maybe an oem hard line if you want to clean it up - but this won't be a tough job either way. If the transaxle tray has been on the car, that t connector won't likely be seized...
I believe that the stock lines are cunifer, whereas what you're likely to get at NAPA are coated steel. Think about this carefully, else you could be looking at these again in a few years.
see below diagram, should be fine with right flare + length + a bender. Hopefully it unscrews at the "T" ok :-) There is only 1 line running to the rear. These cars have a 3 channel ABS, 2 front, 1 rear.
Thanks Spyerx, that's the diagram I looked at this morning on Auto Atlanta. Additionally, I keep reading about "bubble flares", but have found there are single bubble, double bubble, standard flare, etc...
These are what was available locally compared to what I pulled from the car. Any feedback on the type of flare? Any issues I may run into?