Brake Line Cap/Plug

[GaryE30]

I'm doing my wife's brakes on her X5 and want to remove the calipers so that I can rebuild them. I will be taking them apart, cleaning them in a parts washer, painting, and reassembling them.

I want to plug the brake line that feeds from the body to the caliper (rubber line) so that I don't lose brake fluid. Does anyone know if there are any caps that exist that I can put on and if so what size cap I can screw on to the rubber line?

I'd like to not make a huge mess and while I'll be bleeding the calipers anyway, I'd prefer not to drain it all from the line.

Thanks,
Gary

[Farbin Kaiber]

http://www.amazon.com/Lisle-22850-Hose-Pincher/dp/B0002NYB78

[GaryE30]

I like that. Its cheap, and I can get it in 2 days :) Might have to order that for the future, but I may end up making a cap at my machine shop that I can also use with stainless lines.

I went to Lowes and bought some vinyl tubing and am going to put that on the end of the line with a bolt pressed into the other end of the tubing to rig up some sort of block/cap.

Should work, but isn't as eloquent :)

[Farbin Kaiber]

^They sell that brand of stuff in almost every autoparts store. You might just find them in your local place, I bought a pair here in BFI for like $9.99

[jlevie]

The clamps above are, well, just wrong for this purpose. Cover the ends of the lines with a couple of layers of plastic from a plastic bag and zip tie that into place. It may drip a little, but not much. The definitive solution is to use plugs made from old brake lines (what I use).

After rebuilding the calipers replace all of the soft lines with new OE parts and flush the brake system.

[Farbin Kaiber]

Now that I come back to it, and see the above post, I realize the mistake of my ways, I always get irritated about people leaving brake calipers hanging, and squishing it is essentially the same type of action that may not instantly cause failure, but will create a weak point.

[LJ851]

All you guys need to learn.

If you push the brake pedal down 1/4 of the way and brace it there, the m/c piston will cover the bleed port to the res. and basically no fluid will leak out even when you remove a flex line or caliper.

Same concept as holding your finger on the top of a straw full of liquid.

Works perfectly with no mess.

[jeffnhiscars]

I bought Brake Line Caps at Autozone for $2/pair and they did what you are looking to do

[FLG]

Guys...just buy a box of vac line caps and use them (the come assorded at any auto parts store, i have a draw full and have used them for this purpose numerous times). People making this really complicated for no reason.

[GaryE30]

Yeah I figured there had to be caps for something like this anyway, problem is finding them. My stores don't carry a lot of stuff I hear about.