Hi guys, my 348 failed the MOT this morning at my local garage due to a corroded front brake pipe. :-( To save the hassle and expense of ordering a genuine pipe and getting it fixed miles away at my authorised dealer we agreed that the garage would "make up" this new short piece of brake pipe and fit it for £40 tomorrow morning. I'm not distrusting the garage but they don't usually work on anything like a Ferrari. I checked the owners manual for details of bleeding the brakes and topping up the reservoir but the manual is sketchy. Please could someone be kind enough to answer a couple of questions for me? 1) Where is the reservoir? In the manual it looks like it is under the front bonnet (hood) on the same side as the steering wheel, is this correct? 2) The manual says "brake and clutch fluid reservoir" does this mean that the same reservoir is used for the clutch and the brake fluid? I wouldn't have imagined the car would be designed in this way and would have separate reservoirs? 3) If it is a shared reservoir then do they have to bleed the clutch as well as the brakes? 4) From the manual, the car seems to have 3 brake circuits, one for each front wheel and a shared one for the rear. Will all three need to be bled or just the one they are working on? 5) Anything I should look out for or advise the garage to do that is vastly different from a "regular" car? Thanks ever so much for any advice you knowledgable guys can offer me! Kind regards, Justyn. 1994 348 Spider, Rosso Corsa, Crema Hide.
1) yes 2) same reservoir--makes you bleed the clutch as often as you bleed the brakes. 3) Yes--or at least you should. 4) Bleed them all. 5) brakes are brakes, Brembos just put up with heat better.
Hi brakepipes should never fail an mot if garages service them correctly, spray the metal pipes (coated or not)with new oil stops them corroding, when they change the pipes make sure they dont drip old fluid everywhere,it will strip of all kinds of coatings,nice 348 Justyn, Dale.
Thanks guys for the advice. It's now passed the MOT test and is tucked away in the garage. Regards, Justyn.
Justyn: Did you get the old brake pipe returned to you? I'd be curious to know if it was really corroded enough to present a safety issue, or if it was just discolored on the surface. I can't picture the pipes on a 94 Spider really needing replacement already. And why just one? Can you possibly post a picture? Glad your car is back to you.
Hi Miltonian, I don't have the old pipe and to be honest it wasn't corrosion that was the real problem. During the original MOT the inspector invited me under the car on the ramps. He said that they were going to "advise me" that the pipe looked a little corroded and I should consider replacing it. However, on closer inspection the pipe was bent right next to the nut where it screwed into the calipers and this could present a danger should the joint split and that they had to fail it. Perhaps something had hit the pipe somehow and bent it (hopefully not the MOT inspector though LOL!). The main thing is the car is OK and I'm waiting for some sunny days to make use of it Justyn.
Justyn: I suppose I can now picture why they had to fail it and make a correction, if the pipe was really bent from an outside influence, to the point that it could possibly fail. Have you looked to make sure they actually did replace the pipe, and not just rebend it back into shape? It's easy to make pipes like this with tubing and a flaring tool. Glad it wasn't corrosion, that would be kind of scary for all of us with 348's! It might be a good idea to check the fluid level in the brake/clutch reservoir, and make sure it's at the proper level after bleeding.
