Plastic Brake Line Mounts

[Machinist]

Hi All,
New member here with a 2003 Lesabre. It needs brake lines replaced. How do I open the plastic brake line mounts? There are 2 between the master cylinder and modulator.
Thanks!

 

[2007LucerneCXL]

Not sure on what is plastic that you are referring to. Metal lines and nuts fittings using a Flare Nut wrench to avoid stripping/rounding the head.

 

[BuickGirlFromMars]

i believe he is referring to 46 in your diagram

I dont kbnow what they look like in real life, but most of the plastic guides and clips for things like brake lines should be at rest in a closed/kinda holding the line position, but usually a little force on the area in the right direction is how you get out of them. in the case of the large clip look, it prob is meant to pry open the clip with the fingersand pull straigt up out of the retainer at the same time, moderate pressure you dont want to break the plastic but dont think world is over if you were to break it lol

 

[Machinist]

Item 46 in the schematic. Maybe similar to item 25 also. I haven't been under the car yet. I have prying and pulling with screwdrivers and pliers. I have attached a picture. Most prying and pulling occurred after the picture was taken.

 

[BuickGirlFromMars]

oh this is an easy one i got chu

 

[BuickGirlFromMars]

as you can see the original design is actualy appearing to make it worse. like. wouldnt be rusty if not in that clip.

I would switch to something like those, which are present elsewhere on the car for this job i think on the subframe. maybe in your cars case. i would just clean it well for now if you are just doing those, if you are doing all brake lines, id look at auto store see what they have or if you could find a junkyard. they would hold a little less than the other design. id also put it somewhere less likely to be missed cleaning, not necessarily less likely to get dirty because if you ignore anything long enough that would just be the same situation., if you clean at all ever, then it would stay ok

 

[Machinist]

Success! I cut the lines off with a hacksaw. The fittings were rounding with a flare nut wrench. I pulled the plastic mounts off the car to get better view of how to open them. I will reinstall them. The lines lasted about 20 years. The new lines will be coated or NiCop. Will probably out last the rest of the car. I need to find or make something better than screwdrivers to open others on the car.