Hey there folks.

Just having a spot of bother changing the rear O/S wheel cylinder. It has been leaking for a while now and come to changing it I first had a problem with one of the little bolts that holds it in place being rusted and the allen key just turning in the head. Got that off now but I am now stuck as the bolt for the brake line is seized and won't budge!

Any tips/ideas how to get the Fooooking thing off?!

Two days I've been doing this now and getting frustrated!

Alternatively if somebody is bored and nothing to do feel free to pop over to York and give me a hand before I beat the rear brakes with the hammer and give up!

Phil

Have you put some heat into it?

No havn't got anything to heat it.

I have put it back together for the time being and will either tackle it again with a little help or just book it into the garage as I can't be bothered buggaring about!

Phil

Best thing to do would be make up a new piece of brake pipe. Are you using a proper brake pipe spanner?

Best thing to do would be make up a new piece of brake pipe. Are you using a proper brake pipe spanner?

I didn't realise there was such a thing!

I just worked out it was about 11mm. Whats the difference with a brake pipe spanner?

Would I be able to get a garage to make me up a length of pipe with a new connector then?

Phil

:)It is 11mm. Yeah a garage would make one up, cheap as chips. If you measure the length I'll make one and post it to you if you like. A brake pipe spanner is basically a ring spanner with a cut out to enable it to go on the union/nut.

The only issue you may have is getting the other end of the pipe out of the flexi hose if you use a new pipe. I'd have a go with some heat (blowlamp, carefully) and a proper brake spanner as daverapid suggests first.

Yeah, I'd try and get it off at the cylinder rather than play "chase the buggered bit" up the car.... heat and the right spanner, they'll usually come off, it's not -that- old after all!

ALWAYS be careful when mixing heat and brake fluid, it is the cause of most car fires, NOT petrol.

Actually, oil is the cause of most car fires. Brake fluid gets very hot during normal use.

Actually, oil is the cause of most car fires. Brake fluid gets very hot during normal use.

Even so, it's best to take care with the blowlamp :eek:

ALWAYS be careful when mixing heat and brake fluid, it is the cause of most car fires, NOT petrol.

i couldn't agree more, brake fluid is extremely flammable

i had this exact issue.

complete new brake pipes from dealer were only about £4 each, so cheap as chips. I simply snipped the pipes at the cylinder end and pulled out the cylinder with the littl ebit of pipe still attached. then snipped it at the flexi hose end and the nut had siezed there too. once cut, i could get a full hex socket over it to undo it.

once all ftted, I have tetrosealed the unions and nuts to prevent future corrosion doing the same thing

too me 20 minutes to change both sides!

Most car fires after a crash are caused by the fluid reservoir breaking off and spilling the brake fluid over the exhaust manifold; brake fluid does not need a flame or spark to ignite, it will "flash" as soon as it hits anything hot enough.

A lot of people where I used to work used industrial cable ties to secure the tank too avoid this.

Of course oil will burn, but it needs to get very hot AND a naked flame to do so ( and then it burns quite slowly), with brake fluid EITHER will do and it will literally explode.

Will probably see about getting a new bit of pipe made up then.

I will inspect the joint between the flexi pipe and the metal one and see if I will have any issues there and get back to you Dave.

I don't think getting some heat on it would be a good idea then as there is a lot of brake fluid on and around the area due to the leaky cylinder.

The brake pipe spanner is a bit clever! I as thinking at the time if only there was a way i could get a ring spanner on the blasted thing! Never mind... probably wouldn't have helped anyway.

Then I've just to figure out how to bleed the brakes properly. I have an easybleed kit which should help me along!

Phil

Spray a bit of brake cleaner on the backplate first to clean off any fluid, leave it for a few minutes and you won't have any problem with fire or similar. I've changed countless ones on countless crappy old cars and vans (particularly old twin-wheel transits, which seem to enjoy seizing), never had a problem. Getting the rigid pipe out of the flexi may be easy, but if it's as corroded as the cylinder connection then you have even more of a problem as you'll need to hold the other part securely, not a problem with the cylinder if it's still bolted to the backplate.

Bleeding the brakes is easy, if you're methodical, although I've found that a tube and a jar with fluid in works just as well if you have an assistant. The old pressure-bleed systems where you attached a new lid to the M/cyl and used low air pressure to bleed them were great, though, particularly on cars that were hard to bleed (such as R5 GT Turdo). While you're there, bleed the fronts through, to change the fluid (unchanged fluid is the cause of most failures as it has water in it).

I have accidentally ignited brake fluid. It burns a bit like rum on a christmas pudding so does ignite fairly easily.

If you cut the brake pipe with pliers then you can put a straight socket on the end which should stop it rounding off and the cutting should stop brake fluid leaking till you get around to that bit.

I never got on with the eezibleed. Always had fluid leaking everywhere. It may work better on the felicia as I assume one of the standard euro caps will fit. Apply tyre air pressure first without any fluid in the bottle to check for leaks and don't use too much pressure! If it leaks it should be obvious with a noise. If you have fluid in there and it leaks it won't be fun. If it doesn't work just use a one man tube thing and a jam jar, and put a block of wood under the brake pedal to ensure it doesn't go any further than it would ordinarily - or you may have the fun of changing the master cylinder too like I did, lol.

Halfords have the brake spanners at £3.99 each. Did spot some 11mm ones in a Halfords bargain bin about £1 but guess they won't have them anymore.

the thing to be careful of if you are bleeding the brakes using a one-way valve thing is that you dont bust the seals in the master cylinder. when you pump the pedal it pushes it a little further than it normally does and it sometimes ruins the seal

Alternatively if somebody is bored and nothing to do feel free to pop over to York and give me a hand before I beat the rear brakes with the hammer and give up!

Phil

You saw the "mechanic" on watchdog then

Yeh read the instructions for the Eezibleed and it said to test without fluid in there first so i will do that and says 20psi max. so will just knock a couple of PSI out of the tyre first.

One of the caps does fit yes. A feature listed on the box is that it has a "vag group" cap which is the one that fits.

I will probably bleed the fronts through while I am at it yes as they won't have been done for quite some time and doubt they will have been bled all the way through for even longer!

Will nip into halfrauds and see about a brake pipe spanner if they're that cheap as it ill come in handy anyway.

Thanks

Phil

the skoda brake resovoir cap is a standard 42mm one which is the same as the golfs and polo's etc

the skoda brake resovoir cap is a standard 42mm one which is the same as the golfs and polo's etc

Aye thought as much. The cap and reservoir looked familiar to me from looking under similar aged golf's and polos so guessed they would just be the same.

Should be able to sort this next weekend anyway if I check the pipes and joints tonight and get a new bit of pipe made up. I can then stop having to top the brake fluid up every time the warning light comes on!

P.s. Just spotted my spelling mistake in the thread title

I can spell me!

yeah i'm surprised all the usual suspects from the briskoda spelling police haven't been on to taunt you yet

Hi philje123

Reading with interest your thread as I am part way through doing a cylinder change

I noticed at the beginning you talked about an allen key to get the cylinder off.

Can you tell me what size as I can’t get any of my metric one to fit and borrowed some imperial ones and none of then seem to fit either. What size did you use?

Mine could be rusted too did you get new bolts? To replace the ones taken off?

any info will help

Cheers shadrach

I did it a while ago. Think it was something like 5, 5.5, or 6mm. You may need to bang it in a bit as it may have a bit of crud stuck inside to loosen up. A good bang should help free it up too if it is seized. I gave up on mine as they rounded off like anything and replaced the backplates as a lazy option. I guess the more involved option is to take the backplates off and drill the head of the allen bolt off.