Never put power steering or any other foreign fluid in your brake system. Valuable expensive lesson learned.

kmboren

Recovering XJ owner anonymous
Location
Southern Utah
So I ran the Rubicon trail or a part of it in July. On the way in I tore a rear break line. Ok. Pinch it off and fill the reservoir up. Look and don't have have brake fluid so I top it off with power steering fluid. BAD IDEA. DON'T EVER DO THIS. I recently am getting my jeep ready for Hanging tree trail and I repair the brake line and go to bleed the brakes and I cannot for the life of me get any fluid to the rear brakes. I drop it off at a shop to see if they can have better luck and I start doing research on what power steering fluid does to brake systems. Supposedly it swells all rubber portions of the brake system and will start to disintegrate all the rubber in the system. The solution is to basically replace the entire brake system. From master cylinder to the lines and the calipers.

So do not use anything in your brake system other than brake fluid.
 

moab_cj5

Well-Known Member
Supporting Member
So I ran the Rubicon trail or a part of it in July. On the way in I tore a rear break line. Ok. Pinch it off and fill the reservoir up. Look and don't have have brake fluid so I top it off with power steering fluid. BAD IDEA. DON'T EVER DO THIS. I recently am getting my jeep ready for Hanging tree trail and I repair the brake line and go to bleed the brakes and I cannot for the life of me get any fluid to the rear brakes. I drop it off at a shop to see if they can have better luck and I start doing research on what power steering fluid does to brake systems. Supposedly it swells all rubber portions of the brake system and will start to disintegrate all the rubber in the system. The solution is to basically replace the entire brake system. From master cylinder to the lines and the calipers.

So do not use anything in your brake system other than brake fluid.
Bummer!
 

4x4_Welder

Well-Known Member
Location
Twin Falls, ID
If it's Teflon, a good alcohol flush should be ok, but keep an eye on them for a while. Any funny brake wear, any seeping through the stainless, and they should get replaced.
 

Caleb

Well-Known Member
Location
Riverton
Stainless lines can be teflon, kevlar, or rubber. Depends on the line. I'd lookup what you have on it (if you were the one that bought them and remember). Otherwise, you could try not replacing, do a good flush, if that seems fine, then you're probably ok.
 

ID Bronco

Registered User
Location
Idaho Falls, ID
Back in 2004-5 I had a very similar issue on Hells Revenge, Yes, brakes are pretty important there, I was going to do the same thing and a guy in our group warned me about this very thing......thankfully! Low gearing was a blessing that day but my brake system was alright. Sorry it happened to you.
 

kmboren

Recovering XJ owner anonymous
Location
Southern Utah
Back in 2004-5 I had a very similar issue on Hells Revenge, Yes, brakes are pretty important there, I was going to do the same thing and a guy in our group warned me about this very thing......thankfully! Low gearing was a blessing that day but my brake system was alright. Sorry it happened to you.
Yea. I had no idea. Now I know and hopefully this thread saves one person from doing it themselves.
 

YROC FAB.

BUGGY TIME
Vendor
Location
Richfield, UT.
Water will boil in your calipers, turning to steam = no brakes.

Brake fluid is designed to absorb water so you lines dont rust on the inside. Its not good to buy brake fluid in large containers and or leave the lids off them unless your using it as it will absorb water from the air thats why you skin feels like its falling off when you get it on your hands.
 

kmboren

Recovering XJ owner anonymous
Location
Southern Utah
So finished up replacing everything yesterday. Used Durango master cylinder, Summit racing adjustable proportion valve, new front calipers with new pads. New rear calipers with my old pads which where new in the last year. Flushed all the brake lines with brake cleaner until clear and then blew them all out with my air hose then bled the system I need to go test it and adjust it the valve appropriately. In the process I completely removed the ABS system which wasn't being used anyways.
 
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