Rusted brake lines

[DSGrebel]

I was driving down I-285 at about 70 MPH when traffic came to a halt. I had to hit the brakes pretty hard. I could tell I was losing brake pressure after that because the pedal would travel *dang* near to the floor
I pulled over off of the interstate and limped it back to my buddies house for a tow. ( closer than driving it home.) The vehicle is sitting at my mechanic's repair shop. I want to know, is it worth replacing all of the brake lines? This car has given me nothing but trouble since I bought it from someone on craigslist. ( I did a poor job of inspection). The odometer just hit 90k but i had to replace the engine at 80k when I bought it the odometer was at 79k. I had a brake line bust before and we just patched it. I dont want to go that route again for fear of this just happening again.
Suggestions?

[MKMike]

Glad you didn't get in an accident.
The problem, in this instance, isn't the car---it's the road salts that eat away the steel brake lines and fuel lines, etc.
Your mechanic should have looked over all the brake lines and warned you about the possible consequences at the time of the first brake line repair.
It's really a judgement call to make with the aid of your mechanic and budget.
Is the rest of the car in good shape or are there a number of other repairs that will soon be required or is the undercarriage rusting badly?
If you can't stand putting money into an older car, the best solution is to get a newer car.
If that isn't an option, you might try to get one from a state that doesn't salt their roads or doesn't salt them often.
Why drive a car that makes you unhappy?

[ddalder]

It sounds like you've already put quite a bit into the car. If it was mine, I'd have a technician perform a complete inspection to try and get a more realistic about any other possible surprises waiting around the corner. If you otherwise like the car, and if the brake line is really your only big issue, I'd probably keep it. I have friends in Pennsylvania that have the same problem. One shop I visited while I was there uses a different type of brake line (can't recall what it is) because it's much more resilient to corrosion. I'm not a fan of "patching" brake lines. Simply spend the money (if you decide to keep the car) and have them replaced. There are a few items on my cars I will never (for lack of a better term) cheap out on. Tires, suspension or steering components and brake parts. Well actually, I never cheap out on anything but because I'm such and anal-retentive bastard but those are absolute items I'd never skimp on.

[harofreak00]

Brake lines are nothing to get rid of a car for....unless you want to sell it to me! I bought a car a few months back that only needed brake lines, both rears were rusted through. I bought the car for $300 and did about 2 hours work getting it back on the road. It literally cost me about $20 to repair, and I sold the car for $1800 a few weeks later.

[96 SSEi]

If you can learn how to do stuff, , you could get it done for about 50 - 100 in parts to replace all the hard lines.
you patch one part of the line and it increases the pressure limit so another weak spot will blow - replace them all and be done with it - lines are no big deal if you have patience and time and you will save big!! - you already put major stuff for engine so do the brakes yourself.

[DSGrebel]

Glad you didn't get in an accident.
The problem, in this instance, isn't the car---it's the road salts that eat away the steel brake lines and fuel lines, etc.
Your mechanic should have looked over all the brake lines and warned you about the possible consequences at the time of the first brake line repair.
It's really a judgement call to make with the aid of your mechanic and budget.
Is the rest of the car in good shape or are there a number of other repairs that will soon be required or is the undercarriage rusting badly?
If you can't stand putting money into an older car, the best solution is to get a newer car.
If that isn't an option, you might try to get one from a state that doesn't salt their roads or doesn't salt them often.
Why drive a car that makes you unhappy?

I'm not sure what qualifies the undercarriage as badly
rusted. But it certainly has rust all over . Don't get me wrong I love Bonneville's, just not all the problems this one has given me. At the time of the first patching my mechanic warned me that another brake line busting was imminent. And if I planned on keeping the car I would need them all replaced. So the vehicle should be ready this A.m. I am paying $475 parts and labor to have All the lines replaced.

[DSGrebel]

I also need to work on my suspension. My shocks and struts are toast. What's a good brand? I want this thing running proper!

[96 SSEi]

I also need to work on my suspension. My shocks and struts are toast. What's a good brand? I want this thing running proper!

if you want to keep it original like, I would go monroe loaded strut in front and max - air for rear

[agrazela]

Agreed on Monroes all around, did that myself recently. They may still be on rebate thru end of May, check Rockauto.com for best pricing.

Take a good look at the front lower control arms, too. Front bushings on those are a known weak spot. Do you get any weird clunk noises from the front when taking speed bumps or when braking? (Well, when you used to be able to brake!)

[MKMike]

KYB struts and shocks are good, too.
Your mechanic should be able to tell you if it's badly rusted underneath or about average.
Even those of us who do repairs ourselves sometimes end up with unexpected surprises.
Bummer that your car has been a source of many problems.
At least your mechanic had given you a warning.
FWIW, your mechanic's charges seem reasonable for replacing all of the brake lines.
Most of the money goes to the time spent on the job.
As far as unpleasant surprises goes, the engine has intake manifold gaskets which need to be replaced before they fail.
I would guess that this is what ruined the original engine and hope that your mechanic installed new gaskets when he installed a replacement engine--unless it was a rebuilt or new engine.
There are some known issues, as with any car. Not every car will develop these problems.
Details are in this thread http://www.pontiacbonnevilleclub.com/fo ... 25362.html

[Luxrain]

theres a post in the tech help for rust spots on the 2000+ bonnevilles. take a look there and see how bad it is. if you have most if not all those spots sell it