Over due for brake lines - all of them

Status
Not open for further replies.
Originally Posted By: Nick1994
$200 for wheel cylinders? They're like $10 each and take 15 minutes to replace each. Tell them to leave them alone and do it yourself.


Yeah I noticed the parts are pretty cheap except the oem ac delco parts. And they told me in my quote that it in saving 0.8 labor hours by doing the wheel cylinders at the same time the brake lines.

It's probably too late to back out now they've had the car all day, might already have most of the job done.

I still can't believe they wanted $315 for the front wheel hub assembly, but the price for brake lines are cheaper than any other shops I got quotes from, some wanted over $1000 just for brake lines with no fuel lines.
 
The other shops quoted a high price for a job they didn't want. $500 is a really good price, good enough to put up with the wheel cylinders I guess.

Did you give them the go-ahead on the $315 front wheel hub? Some of these are a PITA due to being pressed-in, or costly in parts if replacing the whole unit instead.
 
Yes I am having them do the wheel bearing/hub assembly while they have it. I've been meaning to do it myself but I work too much and it's been moaning so loud for so long it's driving me crazy. I've seen the job on YouTube it looks easy if I had the time but I also would need some more tools too.

I am hopeful it will fix my abs/traction control too. I really miss having abs.

Looking over the previous owners receipts I think this is the third time the wheel bearing has been replaced and the harness leading to the wheel bearings had to be replaced too previously. I hope this one lasts.
 
Originally Posted By: Ducked
Originally Posted By: Trav
Two of my old cars are both from the south west with no rot but i did the brake and fuel lines in NiCopp with covered, braided SS hoses to the calipers just because

just because......you were making a Youtube video?

Appreciate the niceness of NiCopp, but you can extend the life of (initially fairly un-corroded) [censored] OEM steel pipes hugely by an annual-ish rub down with sunflower oil and aluminium foil.

You'd have to do that an awful lot of times to add up to the trouble and expense of ....just because.

(You'd be flushing your brake fluid with NiCopp too, hopefully)

Thanks for your concern about my time and money and how i use it.
Sometimes i do things on my own car just to get experience with working with something different or new specialty tools.

I wanted to experience how AGS NiCopp worked compared to Cunifer and to try out the new Mastercool Hydraulic Flaring Tool . Is that okay? LOL

BTW Sunflower oil and alu fol in this climate does nothing in the winter. You might as well take a whiz on them. And yes i still change my brake fluid every 2 years.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Originally Posted By: Trav

Thanks for your concern about my time and money and how i use it.


What? You don't appreciate those who know MUCH better than you with respect to spending your time and money?
crackmeup2.gif
 
Originally Posted By: 901Memphis
Yes I am having them do the wheel bearing/hub assembly while they have it. I've been meaning to do it myself but I work too much and it's been moaning so loud for so long it's driving me crazy. I've seen the job on YouTube it looks easy if I had the time but I also would need some more tools too.

I am hopeful it will fix my abs/traction control too. I really miss having abs.

I hear you. I try to do my own work as much as possible, but sometimes you just gotta drop back and punt.
Originally Posted By: 901Memphis
Looking over the previous owners receipts I think this is the third time the wheel bearing has been replaced and the harness leading to the wheel bearings had to be replaced too previously. I hope this one lasts.

Wheel bearing/hub assemblies come in all quality levels.A quick look at RockAuto reveals 11 different front hubs for your car, ranging from $35 to $100. Hopefully your current shop is using one of the better ones.
 
Originally Posted By: supton
When brake lines start leaking, how "fast" do they leak? As in, how bad is it?

Years ago I had a pad fall off my car, and it felt like I had zero brakes. Instantly. Ever since then I have been wholly against owning something where brake lines could go and lose brakes entirely.

Do most lines spring a leak and give indication; or is out of the blue and no brakes?


It's bad and it's at a moment when you need to brake harder than you have the whole previous month.

"They" say the pedal with sink to an inch off the floor and you'll still have two wheels worth of braking. In reality it'll be in the carpet and you'll be slowing down about as well as if you just downshifted to 2nd.

And it freaks you out, so the temptation is to pump (good, in a way) or try high-jinks like throwing the vehicle in park. You're already panicking b/c you're slamming on the brakes for whatever reason.

They're doing your cylinders so they can bleed your lines. It would be unfair to demand that they not do it, so you can at home. They want you to leave in a safe, stopping car.
 
I called them today to see if it was ready and they said they have everything done except for one brake line that is supposedly more of a pain the the others, hopefully it's ready tommorow as I've already arranged a ride to pick it up shortly before work.
 
Got the car back and took it for a test drive. Man it feels good to have fully functioning brakes for a change! I am finally able to see how good my Wearever Platinum ceramics bite, and they bite very good lots of power. There must have been air in the system before, the brakes engage with a much less amount of pedal travel and are very firm after getting about halfway through the travel.

Also I forgot how smooth and quiet the ride was without a moaning wheel bearing in the background.

Unfortunately though the wheel bearing didn't clear the abs/trac off code so I will have to dig deeper if it doesn't go away on its own but for now I'm very happy.

Also the shop ended up charging me less than quoted out the door was $922 thought it was going to be $1015+tax from quote. A good sign for me that they didn't charge me as much as they could have.
 
Can an ABS light go off without a fancy scan tool? My airbag light was on last month and I had to take it to a mechanic shop with the scan tool and it just had to be cleared, I don't know anything about ABS lights.

Those Centurys do ride nice, my brother had a '99.
 
I do believe that it needs to be reset with a scan too. I assumed the shop would clear that code since they were replacing that part. I am going to stop back in when I have more time since I was in a rush to get to work.

The brakes work so good I believe I can feel the hardness of the pads through the brake pedal. I might replace them with Akebono depending on how they treat new rotors. I had these pads and rotors installed about a month ago.
 
I Googled the part number on my invoice and it matches this Timken bearing, so looks like they using quality parts.

http://www.amazon.com/Timken-513179-Axle-Bearing-Assembly/dp/compatibility-chart/B000BZ53DI

And the wheel cylinder is WC129240 which is a Wagner part number.


They charged $180 for the bearing $110 labor on the bearing and $34 in parts for the wheel cylinders and $85 labor for the cylinders.

Considering that they use decent parts and nicopp plus the cost savings I think I will go back there for other work I don't want to do.
 
Originally Posted By: CT8
It is hard to buy a new car.


Not sure if that's a question or a comment but for me it's hard to buy a car because of my credit and income.
 
I had an olds silhouette that shares a lot of front end stuff with your W-body century and it snagged an ABS wire as it came out of the hub. Tripped light. Fixed bearing, light was satisfied. No scan tool. I used my eyes to do a visual on the wiring and lucked out. It snagged on the ball joint stud, despite a clip designed to avoid it, and pulled out of the actual bearing part.
 
Originally Posted By: Trav
Originally Posted By: Ducked
Originally Posted By: Trav


Two of my old cars are both from the south west with no rot but i did the brake and fuel lines in NiCopp with covered, braided SS hoses to the calipers just because



just because......you were making a Youtube video?

Appreciate the niceness of NiCopp, but you can extend the life of (initially fairly un-corroded) [censored] OEM steel pipes hugely by an annual-ish rub down with sunflower oil and aluminium foil.

You'd have to do that an awful lot of times to add up to the trouble and expense of ....just because.

(You'd be flushing your brake fluid with NiCopp too, hopefully)



Thanks for your concern about my time and money and how i use it.
Sometimes i do things on my own car just to get experience with working with something different or new specialty tools.

I wanted to experience how AGS NiCopp worked compared to Cunifer and to try out the new Mastercool Hydraulic Flaring Tool . Is that okay? LOL

BTW Sunflower oil and alu fol in this climate does nothing in the winter. You might as well take a whiz on them. And yes i still change my brake fluid every 2 years.


Like you say, its your time and money.

Re-wee-paritee, havn't done a comparative test of my suggested treatment against your urine in your climate, so I'll have to take your word for it.

It works pretty well in Scotland.
 
Last edited:
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

A
Are nicopp brake lines all the same?
Replies
3
Views
898
atikovi
69GTX
2001 Lincoln Continental - $5000 repair estimate in front suspension & steering - reasonable?
2 3 4
Replies
76
Views
7K
JHZR2
M
Employee Ripped Off By Chain Shop - Helping Her Out
2 3 4
Replies
78
Views
11K
chrlsful
M
2016 Fusion rear brake job
2
Replies
38
Views
3K
bdcardinal
C
can u get a reliable used car for under $3k anymore?
4 5 6
Replies
103
Views
8K
Cheetah-kins
Back
Top