DIY brake reservoir overflow hose
 

Alright, I searched under "brake/overflow/hose" and found nothing that answers this question:

For someone who inadvertently ruptured his brake fluid reservoir overflow hose while clamping it with a pair of vise-grips during a brake fluid flush, what are recommendations for a DIY replacement? I believe the OEM part is on the pricey side and I really don't care if it's an original piece or not.

Will standard-issue vinyl hose suffice, or will the fluid break it down? I figure finding it in the proper metric diameter may prove to be difficult.

Thanks.

Overflow hose? You mean vent hose? I would expect anything at all to work. Just get an appropriately sized fitting (barbed or just plastic .. 1/8" OD maybe? I haven't measured) at the hardware store, cut the hose at the 'rupture', and splice it back together. I'd be surprised if an SAE sized fitting couldn't be made to work.

Thanks burgermeister, hadn't thought of cutting & splicing it.

Clear hoses for Brake Fluid over flow and Gas Tank vent purchased from Home Depot but I forget the sizes.


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Bob, What kind of hose is that? How long ago was it installed? I'm asking because I care. I've seen way to many of these hoses rupture and leak, making one heck of a mess. Let alone the hazardous possibilities. Some of this style hose lasted a couple of years, while I've seen some last only minutes.

The clear hoses are from Home Depot except for the two bottom hoses connected to the bottom of the reservoir. Those clear ones are stock. The blue hoses were purchased from my mechanic. Not too concerned about the Home Depot hoses because one is essentially a vent tube and the other a brake fluid over flow tube. I doubt the over flow tube will have any fluid pass through it.

On the street maybe, but very well could on the track. I've gotten fluid so hot that the overflow started dripping. And where does it come out? In front of the left front tire. I've removed the factory overflow and installed a small catch can next to the MC to be safe.

BTW- when I flush, I remove the line from the reservoir, and cap the nipple with a rubber brake line cap. Better than pinching a good line by accident.

Fuel line tubing for model airplanes works great. I actually overflow quite regularly when tracking the car and made a secondary catch container using a model airplane fuel tank and fuel line. It's been on there three years with no sign of ageing.

Guys, please be careful with what tubing you use for any brake or clutch line application. Dot 4 and Dot 3 fluid is some really nasty stuff, worse than gas to be honest. Samco makes hoses for all sorts of applications along with one designed specifically for hydraulic fluid/fuel lines. Regular rubber or plastic hoses will be broken down and eaten by brake fluid. Any sort of properly made hydraulic line will work for this application.

As for placing a vent tube on the top of the reservoir fill cap you can look after leakage two ways. Use a rag and zip tie it over the reservoirs or place a 1/8th ID npt bung into the cap and use a 1/8th ID brake line on that into a remote reservoir, never dump the stuff straight onto the street or track.

cheers

well said - and you don't want even 3 drops of brake fluid taking a driblet of paint off the car -- and it will.

Good to know. I'll monitor the brake fluid overflow tube and replace if necessary. Thanks for the heads up.

This gravity BF bleed bottle from HF works perfectly (about $5). The included
hose fits onto the reservoir and the attached magnet allows convenient mounting. I would attach a stronger magnet so it stays more positively. Capacity: a few ounces.

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Sherwood

Where can you buy this one man bleed bottle?

Like the man says, Harbor Freight. I have one of these also. Nothing too cheap for me if it works.