Hi all, Felcia 1.9D 1997 here.

Last year it received an MOT advisory for corroded N/S/F brake pipes and both main brake pipes.

Also I know for a fact that the rear brake cylinders are leaking - not enough to run down the reservoir it seems as I have been keeping an eye on it - but they looked pretty bad to my untrained eye when I cleaned up the drums and shoes last year to get it through the MOT.

Anyway it's due for MOT again soon and I'm wondering what the score is going to be if those brake pipe advisories turn into failures. The garage charges £50+VAT / hour and I have a feeling some tough decisions will need to be made.

How long should it take a competent mechanic to replace each of N/S/F and/or the main brake pipes?

Ditto for the rear brake cylinders?

Am I right in thinking that the "main" brake pipes referred to are both entirely inside the engine bay? I've had a look and can obviously see the brake pipes in there but not clear which ones are the problem and where I need to check for corrosion.

I doubt very much that it's a job I would attempt myself, but having said that, I might consider if the only alternative was to scrap it. Looking at recent threads on this board it seems that special tools may be required and I would be battling with corroded joints probably.

Edited 1 May, 201214 yr by charliebrown

If it was leaking a year ago, I'm amazed they're still working. The parts aren't massively expensive, but replacing a full-length brake pipe (which is still available from Skoda, I think TeflonTom said) is a reasonably big job in terms of being a PITA and taking much more time than you'd think. There aren't any special tools really, just a spanner or two. If you are replacing the cylinders and the solid pipes, it seems to me to be false economy to try to save £10 or so by not replacing the flexi hoses as well. With everything new it'll all be clean, easy to fit, no worries about breaking anything removing it (making sure you don't damage any body-mounted brackets of course in the removal process) and a piece of cake to bleed out as you'll be doing the whole lot. It's not rocket science, if you're methodical and follow instructions properly it'll be fine and you can do the lot yourself in a short day on a driveway.