[Knight-Diver]

I have an MOT advisory on both rear left and right brake pipes corroded. Had a look underneath and it?s the pipes that go from the inner flexible hoses towards the front over the full tank.

Went to TPS to get a price for the bits and they gave me a printout with all the pipes on, the two pipes go from the inner flexible hoses at the rear just by the suspension mounts and the one from the RH side comes across to meet up with the LH side one just behind the fuel tank, then they run over the tank, in the printout there is then a joint and the pipes carry on forward to the bulkhead.

Not having a pit or lift I have had a crawl around underneath with a torch to see if I could see what is involved in changing them and right up to the point they disappear over the fuel tank seems straightforward, taking the plastic splash guards off and disconnecting them from the flexible hose, but the joint as it goes forward I can not see and seems to be somewhere over the fuel tank so I suspect I need to drop the tank to gain access.

What I?m concerned about is: Is the original pipe just one straight run from the bulkhead to the rear flexible hose and the ones in the printout are a mod and I need to either cut it and flare the front end piece in place or is the original a two piece pipe that I can just disconnect and replace the rear section.

Any help, advice, pictures of the pipes above the tank would be handy, before I end up out in the open (no garage to work in) with a disaster on my hands, as I believe getting the pipes disconnected around the bulkhead isn?t straightforward.

It?s on a 2007 T5 T32 TDi SWB.

 

[Silenhag]

Have you checked here:

http://www.oemepc.com/vw/parts_lst/...007/hg/6/catalog/vw/drive_standart/611/lang/e

 

[T5 TDI]

Usually the part over the tank is ok being out of the water/salt. If so, it can be cut before the tank and a new section be fitted. This will involve new fittings and the pipes flaring. A garage should be able to do this for you and it will be cheaper than dropping the tank. If you want to do the job yourself you will have to replace the whole pipe unless you have a hand held flaring tool and the knowledge to use it safely.

Any spares shop can make you up length of pipe complete with flared ends and fittings but you would still need a flare made on the cut end of the original pipe plus the joining fitting. Sorry I can't help with whether a joint exists above the tank.

 

[curlylee]

Good luck with flairing the Oe brake lines, there is a joint just forwords of the fuel tank,tank needs to be lowered to get to it

 

[T4Bruce]

Just a thought, just because you have some corrosion on the brake pipes it dosen't mean you have to replace them, a wire brush some anti corrosion treatment then a spray with dinitrol might do the trick, it all depends how bad they are.

 

[Perbunan]

I'm not suggesting that you ignore it, but I had the same advisory for six years on my previous van, so just gave them a wire brush in the end and low and behold no more advisories afterwards.

 

[Knight-Diver]

Thank you for all the replies. The link to the exploded diagrams is great, it was the same as the printout TPS gave me but wasn’t sure if the 2 pieces going front to rear were and MOD to replace a single length originally fitted or not but as mentioned the joint seems to be just in front of the tank which makes sense (supposedly different if not fitted with ABS) and as I don’t have a flaring tool will mean I probably don’t need to buy the front sections.
Aim is to get the near side up on ramps and take all the plastic splash guards off and see what can be done to the original pipes with some wire wool and wax oil but if they are pitted then get the rear sections and drop the tank to inspect clean up and change what’s needed then wax oil it all.

Again thanks for the replies.