Loss of Brakes. Locating the Leak, Fixing a Line & Some Helpful Tips 

Wrenching with Kenny an honest mechanic thank you for your professionalism

Humans make mistakes. It says a lot about your character Kenny. Keep up the good work. God Bless 🙏.

I worked as an entry level tech for 4 years. I made similar mistakes… the 25 year master techs made mistakes too. I appreciate the humility and insight I receive on your videos. Thank you for taking the time to video these repairs.

Making a brake line flare is tough enough in such a tight spot, but doing a great job of filming it at the same time deserves a definite thumbs-up!

Thank you so much for showing us all how to fix and trpair so many sutomotive problems. Gives a wannabe DIY like me a bit of understanding and confidence.

Hey Kenny, Here's one for ya: Two young ladies came into the shop and asked for brake problem diagnosis on a Chevrolet van. When I drove it into the shop it had absolutely no brakes at all. So popped the hood and the master was MT. I lifted it up and looked everywhere for evidence of a brake fluid leak. I pulled the wheels and looked at the wheel cyls and calipers; nothing. Everything was bone dry. So I filled the master and began to bleed the whole entire brake system. As I went about it the two ladies came out to watch. In a couple minutes they told me I wouldn't need to bleed the brakes because they had already done that. I told them I was still going to do it and they were going to have to pay for it. They were not very happy about that, so I explained it to them. That was probably 20yrs ago but I remember it like yesterday. ben

I’m glad to find your channel. I’m 65 and in the same business in Norway. The same problems- young people use the parts cannon, I tend to repair 😂❤

the more i watch you tube and see what they go thru in the winter I LOVE ALABAMA

Finally, someone who is just as meticulous in his work, and just as critical of other peoples slop as I am! Thank You!

Don't apologize you just proved you are Human. nobody is perfect and you never claimed that you are perfect.

I'm following SeaLab Experimental Division & I appreciate your work. 1 ALL VEHICLES OVER 10 YEARS OLD AS A MATTER OF PREVENTIVE MAINTENANCE GET A NEW MASTER CYLINDER OR I DONT WORK ON IT. PERIOD! LIVES LOST DO NOT COME CLOSE TO THE PRICE OF A MASTER CYLINDER. I'm not a fan of splicing brake lines old. I always try to replace the entire line especailly on an old rusty crusty vehicle. Replacing entire line also removes any inherent rust issues inside or outside of the line.

You got that one right Kenny. 🤣My son has been driving my truck lately. Fully loaded it is a bit gutless. Therefore, because he is a little impatient, his foot was always to the floor. He started complaining that the throttle was jamming open. It never happens when I'm driving.

Good video kennny. I have one of those old double flair tools I bought in 1970. Cumbersome but it worked. Love that new tool but at 76 I don’t anticipate doing any brake lines. Tough to get down and even tougher to get up. Eve for an old wrench like myself you make very good sense that a lot of younger folks are in too much of a hurry and overlook or are totally ignorant. Again, excellent.

Good job!

Hey Kenny- New to the channel. The algorithm took me from Rainman Ray to your channel. Very cool. I'm in I.T. for many years and can spot a skilled troubleshooter and technician; which you certainly are. Keep it up!

So glad to see you flared the lines and used a coupler instead of a compression fitting. We don't allow compression fittings on brake lines up here in Ontario. I did see a shop vid from Florida recently that proposed using a compression fitting on a brake line repair ... 👌

I know in PA compression are illegal. I think that truck was passed on to you by Watch Wes. Never saw that tool before, really slick, especially in limited space, like in this job.

He should be a teacher. He trouble shoots to the problem, fixes it thoroughly.

Nice flaring tool . I may look into one . The Cal-Van Tools 165 flaring kit is a nice one too .

good job thanks for sharing

I appreciate your humbleness about making mistakes we certainly all do

I had my fun with my 06 Silverado's brakes. Had to replace the rear line. While I was at it, I replaced the rotors, pads, drums, wheel cylinders, and shoes. That was in 2018. Good for 12 years on the originals. Been fine since then. I learned that stainless lines are a bear to work with. Gave that up and switched to the flexible lines. Those were much easier and now I have a spool of it if I ever need it. Bought a nice flaring tool. I could've used this video!

Hey Kenny, Glad to see the right way how to do it. I have to admit, I have used compression fittings, thankfully with no problems. They actually stayed on long enough for the brake line to rot in a different place where I actually cut the length of line with the fitting on it so I could put another one in further down. The right way is always the better way though ......

The same with wheel nuts, any anti seize can cause the nuts to back off. It looks like i seen some on them

When you live in the rusty, crusty, North where every snow and ice event is followed by a liberal dowsing of salt on the roads you’ll understand why a coating of anti seize is used on the metal surfaces of our vehicles. I have used anti seize on wheel studs for 50 years after twisting them off trying to get the lug nuts off. There are places it shouldn’t be used and common sense must prevail.😊

Been there dozens of times. To save yourself some time you can jam on the brakes from 10 - 15 mph and see if one end skids. Going forward if the rears skid you have no fronts. In reverse if the fronts skid you have no rears. If you've never done this befor you have to "feel" for the brake performance, not just be a bull in a china shop. But once you learn it you'll be amazed and it's so quick to point in the right direction for diagnostics. On my own vehicles I do a bonafide Master Cyl bleed B4 replacing it. Seent many times when just bleeding the lines and cylinders won't get that air bubble out of the master. Kenny, maybe I missed it, but did you ever "see" a brake light from the imbalance? That should be addressed so the driver can be alerted B 4 he finds out about a problem someday again by "accident." Also, I was just wondering: Does anyone make a hammer flare tool for brake line? I have Rigid and Lennox brands for single flare that I picked up at Home Depot & Lowe's but don't know of anyone selling one for double or bubble flares. It'd be faster. One more thing: Antifreeze even at 50/50 is flammable too. I witnessed a hose come off a test engine on a dyno and when the antifreeze (ethylene glycol) hit the red hot exhaust magnifolds, the flames shot clear up to the ceiling. It was such a big flame it set off the CO2 fire extinguishing system. You're welcome. ben/ michigan

well done, detailed video with multiple tips to be helpful. Great job Kenny!

Wow drum brakes I haven’t seen those in a long time

That flare tool is awesome might have to find me one the other ones I have suck

You can tell Kenny is not from the rust belt North East. Kinda the reason why automobiles are mostly made of plastic to reduce rust to make the vehicles last longer plus increase mpg. This rust is very minimal imo

You can say it !! 🤣🤣 LOOKS LIKE A MICHIGAN TRUCK 🤣🤣🤣😂 RUST is definitely our nemesis 🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️😎

Thank s

I literally just did this job on a 2007 Suburban. I used a wire wheel (aka cheek poker according to Derek at VGG) on an angle grinder to get rid of that coating. Flared the ends and then connected everything. To make me feel better living in the rust belt, I sprayed some fluid film (South Main Auto's favorite) to coat the fittings and any area of the brake line that didn't have the coating coving the line. Great Job Kenny!

I swear by that Lisle flaring tool as one of the best ones that you can get. You can easily make great flares with it and it is far less of a headache to use than the convential die block kind of flaring tools.

I suspect the reason for the ant size is that the rust condition of the truck lead to the former fixer struggling to get the hardware of. Hoping the next time around it would be easier. In the words of Eric of South Main Auto. (a youtube channel) "Welcome to New York BABY." Great video. I will definitely look for that flaring tool.

I had a 97 Crown Vic Intercepter. At 10 years old all but 6 inches of the metal lines were rusted. I replaced ALL the lines. Since I was there the hoses were replaced too.

Welcome to the rust belt repairs

Enjoyed the walkthrough!

Kenny - you would be perfect for training mechanical apprentices in the UK. Very knowledgeable, enjoying subject and a good "bedside manner" Naturally some of the automotive terms would need to be changed but the term "rusty criter" is so good mannered , it would get a laugh.

Awesome video Kenny. Longer the better!

That anti-seize is standard practice up here in the north a.k.a. the rust belt.

I just got this tool why we never had before. It wrks amazing

Checked out an '09 Silverado, 255000 on truck, 90000 on a new motor. Fleet truck supposedly used by a salesman. Rebuilt front end but what bothered me more was that the doorlocks, windows, were iffy, sometimes work, sometimes not. Frame was ok, rockers replaced, price was right but alot of things bothered me. Truck should've had the AFM on it, not sure tho but I'd bet the old motor did hence why it was replaced. Didn't bite.

Great video.👍

Thank you Kenny

Glad i subscription.. Outstanding, Tutorial. Best part torque.. part All should learn.. kudos

I finally figured out, that you are in North Carolina. You don't usually see this massive rust we see in PA

I could not wait to watch the r4est of the video, because you took the time to explain why you were going to replace the master cylinder I had already planned to comment with my two cents, but at 10:30 you covered what I was going to share re: what I have seen,. So, hell, I am going to say it anyway. When a master cylinder pedal begins to travel further down its bore more than usual, for whatever reason (external fluid leak, out of fluid, or internal fluid leak within the master cylinder itself, the rubber seal cups have their smooth surface that begin to get pushed into the bore in an area where fr a king time the seals never touched. ?In that part of the bore we get surface corrosion if there was any moisture that get into the brake system (leaking fluid line that exposes the fluid to moisture in the air). As the rubber cup seals get pushed over the corrosion the smooth part of the seals get damaged by the corrosion that slices the smooth surface up. It does not take too much of that kind of damage to begin to allow an internal leak where the pedal begins to go to the floor. Back in the 70s and 80s I would often rebuild the master cylinders, provided there was not so much corrosion in the bore that I could not hone it smooth again. If I ended up with pits in the bore due to corrosion I would replace the master cylinder with a new (not rebuilt) unit. I also took not you were going to replace both rear wheel cylinders when only one waqs leaking. Good call. When it comes to brakes, tires, and syspension I never compromise. Too many things can go wrong if anything goes wrong with any of those systems. So I replace things in pairs, on both sides of a car. Part of that is not just being cautious, but because if one component had worn to a point where a repair is needed it is highly likely both sides are worn about the same. Anyway, I really enjoy see you ply your craft. I really like it when you tell folks that you like to do the right thing. My kind of fellow professional technician (me, retired, but I still work on my own cars).

Hydraulic flairing kit is where it's at!

I had a friend who put anti seize on everything till he had the bolts backoff of a caliper an it came off and busted the wheel on a car I tired to tell him not to but he had to learn the hard way

Good thing there isn't a safety inspection where you are Kenny, or he would be sending that thing to the salvage yard. I would not want to drive that truck, it's an accident waiting for a place to happen.

I had two coated lines rot out just at a turn in the lines. No heat source near them.

Everything up here looks like that! This is why we know how to get rust seized bolts out... We do it all the time... It's "normal".

Here in the u/k I have never heard of compression fittings used on brake lines, in domestic plumbing yes, but on something that needs brakes to stop it NO never, been doing it the way you just did with a flaring tool for years, only safe way to do it.

Rust like that is from the northern states and Canada where we use lots and lots of salt on the roads in winter .... I'm from Canada and I see this on most cars up this way and from South Main Auto .. another RU-vid channel ...

That stud you talk about sticking down that must be on all GM frames because I’ve got a 2 Wheel Dr. sitting here in Michigan and it has the same stud hanging down and my neighbors truck has the same stud never had a plow on it

Copper tubing is not acceptable brake line. Copper- nickel is. Copper will turn brake fluid corrosive at 200 ppm. Plus its illegal in most states. Good video.

I like your videos Kenny, just found them. Would have liked to see you change out the master cylinder.

I would say the noise is more the shoes squeaking on the backing plates. Three tabs on each shoe touch the backing plate and keep in contact from hold down springs .

compression fitting? oh hell no. thank you for mentioning that.

Hi Kenny. I know this video is a year plus old but just watched it again and I noticed right at the beginning of the video how clear the brake fluid was. I know because recently I changed out all of my fluid because it was black and I was doing a brake job on it, my 2004 suburban. So I just say this because it looked like someone had worked on it before you. Did Moe go to work at the new shop you are working at now? Keep Wrenching Kenny!!

Oh Lordy , thinking of the gmc Savana 2500 my brother just sold . He said “ I want to change EVERY brake line on this van “ . I cringed . Well , we did . Thankfully , it used 1/4” lines like the job you did , rather than the 3/16 I’ve done forever on everything else . 3/16 “ are just like thin spaghetti compared to spaghetti . You can bend 1/4” by hand when needed and less risk of kinking than 3/16” . I’ll never let my brother flare brake line again . He knows better and he still fumbled a double inverted flare . He knows how but his negative , save money and time attitude bit him . Too bad I could not take the truck home with me , where all my tools are , so I would not have to listen to his mouth that I’m taking too long . Getting the rear drums off was another adventure . It had a swapped in 3/4 tone Dana 60 or 70 series axle . Big mamma jamma drums . I heard the rear axle blew up after sold it 😮 . All that slamming a BFH to get the drums off wouldn’t cause that , right ? 😮 nah . But the hear set blew , not wheel bearings . They were semi floating , not full floating . I’m not rebuilding it , thankfully . I’m reluctant to admit , but sometimes I get crazy with anti seize too , and I know better . I use anti seize where I should not , but I’m literally sick of rust and corrosion from living in the northeast . Things that should just unscrew , don’t . Parts that should go back together after disassembly , get replaced because of deterioration , or have just fallen off . Brake lines ? I just pray they survive . I try not to damage the plastic or epoxy coating when installing a new or replacement brake line . It helps it last longer 🤔

The heat shield probably rusted off that rust bucket.

Kenny you have this guy sending out whats app messages in your name, many channels have this problem. Great stuff. Cheers.

I'd also bet as rusty as the frame is that the frame braces are rotted away from the cab back. I've got an '06 that did that & the frame was cracked over the left rear wheel.

Compression fittings are not legal by federal rules period on brake lines. Double flare fittings only.

In the pre ABS days they had a proportioning valve that would provide some braking with the two wheels that were not on the circuit with the leak. Now with ABS, does the ABS system offer the same kind of dual circuit safety design?

When I am in doubt if the master cylinder is bad or not, I just plug off the ports and then push the pedal. It shouldn’t go down at all if it does, then it could be a master cylinder.

I had a 2012 f250 super duty with under 50k miles , one day the pistons in both front brake calipers shattered idk why but I replaced the calipers rotors and brake pads myself

CHEVROLET!! Like a Rock!!! Longest lasting most dependable. Chevy trucks!!

Hi Kenny, thank you for this video and others. Can this tool be used for metric flares?

Emery cloth your steel pipe to help the brake tool clamp on to the pipe.

the first thing u should have done was line clamp all the rubber hoses that will tell u if u have a master cylinder problem

Damn kenny you're a working man 9 to 5:00 or longer?

Looks like my truck rusty GMC

Do you ever use the anti squeal stuff on the back of disc brake pads?

Leave some anti sneeze 🤧 for us dude 😳, don't go bananas with it 😂🤣

Didn't see if that was a double flair you did. DOT requires double-flare for break lines. Can you elaborate❓️

I had a 66vett and of it sat for 3 months all the fluid would leak out and if I put more fluid back in it would bleed out in 15min in the master cylinder añd I'd have foul break's??

Funny how you have this video now since I'm replacing rear brake line that blew out due to corrosion of course it was right behind the fuel tank on a 93 Chevy 4x4 . I decided to go with the steel lines instead of the softer line because it was 1/4 the price. After a few tries a doing the flare and cutting the crap flares off i finally got a perfect flare only to find out my nut fell off in the process at some point try again finally got it done just putting brakes back together after replacing wheel cylinders same problem broke off the bleeder screws. Sure seems odd you posting this video about the very same thing I'm working on 👀👁👀👀👁📷📸👀👁looking for cameras in my shop i hid my phone in my desk drawer while I'm working so no peeking now ya hear... ROFLMFAO 😂😅😂😅👍👍

Just thought I’d let you know,you can’t replace brake lines in Canada with copper. It’s illegal.

kenny that trck a huge can of worms

Hi! Great vid. I have a question about using copper for brake line. Not legal where i am from in Canada.

NAPA sell steel compression fittings for brake lines which is approved for state inspections!!!!! you can't buy them anywhere else except NAPA

Cooper lines are not allowed in brake lines

What's the part # of the brake line flaring tool ?

The rear brake shoes being too far from the drum can also cause not much pedal.

Hey Kenny what state and town are you located?

Thank you for the tip with the tool but you are supposed to say son of a bitch and have a blessed day today 🙏

Exhaust that salt will do some damage to metal it destroys his metal

I’ve seen worse lol That’s going to be an expensive job to be done properly I don’t piece in brake lines I go from point to point

Damn the titanic is in better shap 😂 jus joking

It’s very interesting that in the real world a seasoned technician is repairing brake with a double flare copper tube, I wonder why ASE says to repair brake lines with double flare steel tubing ??

Lol another quality Chrysler product bwahahahaha

sorry to say but u should have used a single flare and a double but not 2 double flares

Kenny who didnt you run say a 5 ft stick to the near factory fitting like the rear brake hose instead of a short line? that way the customer would have more newer brake line?

Come on mate, sent me your name on messenger, do that I can get you.