Readers’ Tips— Solving

A Brake Fluid Leak

I recently had to rebuild the front disc brakes on my 1987 Ford F-150 and, as typically, this included new brake hoses.

The hoses are attached to the calipers by a hollow bolt that passes through a “block” that’s pressed onto the hose end.

To ensure good high-pressure sealing, copper washers are used on both sides of this block.

The original washers had ring-like grooves, formed in a concentric pattern on both sides, but the replacement washers didn’t have any grooves.

Upon filling the system with fresh fluid and bleeding out any air, I had serious leaks between the hose blocks and the calipers. This occurred even though I had torqued the hollow bolts up to the max.

So,I figured I had to find a way to “seat” the new washers in by increasing the compression but without over-torquing the hollow bolts.

My method for accomplishing this was as follows:

1. I started by placing a deep socket wrench that was large enough to pass over the hollow bolt head and onto the hose block.

2. I then hammered down on the socket wrench, using a 2 lb. ball-peen hammer. After each moderate blow, I could tighten down on the hollow bolt. I continued this process until there was no further rotation of the bolt.

Since then, I’ve not experienced any brake fluid leaks.

Frederick Holser Dayton, Nevada