Rusting Brake Pipe?

[adjohan]

Do those brake pipe rust after about 11 year and expose to salt in the northeast?
My 2000 Corolla is leaking break fluid. When I checked it, it's leaking from the line going to the rear right wheel. It's leaking right where it's held to the chassis, about center rear to the spare wheel well. What those pipe are made from? Should I consider in replacing all those brake pipe? Any advice is appreciated! Thanks!

[fishexpo101]

Brake pipe? Do you mean the brake lines? Yes, those are made from steel and will, given the right conditions, rust completely through. The body attachment clips are a popular spot for those lines to rust out from. Road debris and salt can get trapped up there, and slowly get ground into the tubing - also very hard to wash out with most typical automated car wash stations. Usually good to wash out the wheel wells by hand every once and awhile to help minimize the chance of this happening.

They do sell pre-bent brake lines to replace damaged sections at some autoparts retailers and at most dealerships. A simple remove and replace procedure. Those can be quite expensive, least expensive set that I've run across was in the hundreds of dollars.

You can buy straight sections of brake line and bend it yourself, but can be quite labor intensive, and easy to damage the line if you are not familiar in how to bend tubing. You will likely have to get a flaring tool to flare the line to fit the car's fittings. Decent tube flaring jigs can be quite costly as well.

In either case, you also will be looking to flush out the brake lines to purge out the old fluid and any air that gets introduced into the lines.

Definitely something that you need to take care of ASAP, as if it is leaking, only a very short time before the line will burst and you will lose a portion of your braking power.

[adjohan]

I thought they were made from copper nickel alloy which don't rust. I guess I'm wrong.

[Bitter]

No, they are mild steel with a thin copper coat on the inside to prevent internal rusting. Usually they are atleast galvanized against corrosion, some are even dipped in plastic.

[EdW]

Depending on the extent of the rust and the location, you may be able to cut out the bad section and install a new one using a flaring tool. You can usually get the flare nuts, unions, and line at the local auto parts store, as well as the flaring tool.