Damn those brakes!

[Hutton]

Had a crappy weekend when my brake warning light came on to show that bad things were afoot. On investigation I found brake fluid dripping out of a split brake line with great rapidity. The line was well corroded. Anyway, I was about an hour away from home so no chances were taken and Green Flag were called to recover me home and the Cruiser to my local garage who have replaced a few of the brake lines as others were also showing bad signs of corrosion. Should a Cruiser that has only done 76,000 miles have such badly corroded brake lines?

 

[TonyP]

I would suggest no. Do you know if your LC has been used to launch boats or anything like that?

 

[Crispin]

Bummer.

Where was the split? Near the caliper or under the body?

You folk have a shed load of salt on the roads up there don't you?

 

[Graham]

Hi,

But I notice all the brake lines are clear plastic coated.
How has the corrossion got through the plastic protection?

G.

 

[Hutton]

Thanks for the replies everybody. I spoke to the previous owner when I purchased the Cruiser and he didn't mention launching boats although that would be a very plausible explanation. You're probably right Crispin as there are shedloads of salt put down on the roads up here. I didn't know about the plastic coating. I wonder if salt can eat its way through that as well?

 

[Hutton]

Just got my Cruiser back from the garage. It's now fitted with a set of copper brake pipes which should last a while. Interestingly, the mechanic told me that although Toyota cover the pipes in plastic they don't cover the ends of the pipes which is where the corrosion occurred. He said he has replaced a good number of brake pipes on Cruisers which have corroded at the uncoated ends. So get under these Cruisers and check your pipes!

 

[Crispin]

glad it's sorted.

Will be taking my calipers off this weekend for some PM so will check then.