Blew a brake line

[abakker]

Drove a big loop of easy stuff out of Boulder today. Came back and inspected. Seems I have lost a little brake fluid and shredded the brake line above the rear drive shaft. Obviously lost some fluid from
The reservoir, but showed no loss of performance.

It’s hard to see, but the jacket around the black lines at the top is shredded. Looks like a literal pressure rupture.

I’ll call my dealer tomorrow, but in the meantime, anyone else have this problem? Anyone want to go check theirs to make sure?

 

[parb]

Hot dang! I'm going to check my line next weekend when I'm under the vehicle anyway for my skid plate installation

 

[abakker]

Well, I love being the first to have a novel problem!

I thought it was brake fluid, but there was no loss of function or lights. After speaking with Chris, the service manager at Red Noland in CO springs, I found the issue. And it’s bad.

Neither of the batteries in the car are sealed, and the breather tube from the extra battery leaves the body right above these lines.

Anyway, at some point, the battery burped acid…directly on the f***ing brake lines. Only an engineer would put that tube there.

I got some baking soda water and the. A hose and peeled away all the nasty rubber and tape from the lines. The acid ate the rubber bumpers and the tape. Worst of all, it ate the paint off the brake lines, and if I hadn’t caught it, the fabric tape eventually would have held enough acid to eat the brake lines through.

IMO, this is a recall. The solution is that the breather tube needs to be somewhere else.

In my case, I think I’ll just swap the batteries with an AGM starter and an LFP secondary.

You should all check this. It’s bad and dumb.

 

[anand]

I feel like I remember someone else posting that they had a leaky battery, but it leaked inside the vehicle.

Either way, glad you have a resolution path!

 

[abakker]

As long as everyone checks, and I’m the only one, that’s great.

 

[parb]

Where does the first battery breather tube exit?

 

[trobex]

Well, I love being the first to have a novel problem!

I thought it was brake fluid, but there was no loss of function or lights. After speaking with Chris, the service manager at Red Noland in CO springs, I found the issue. And it’s bad.

Neither of the batteries in the car are sealed, and the breather tube from the extra battery leaves the body right above these lines.

Anyway, at some point, the battery burped acid…directly on the f***ing brake lines. Only an engineer would put that tube there.

I got some baking soda water and the. A hose and peeled away all the nasty rubber and tape from the lines. The acid ate the rubber bumpers and the tape. Worst of all, it ate the paint off the brake lines, and if I hadn’t caught it, the fabric tape eventually would have held enough acid to eat the brake lines through.

IMO, this is a recall. The solution is that the breather tube needs to be somewhere else.

In my case, I think I’ll just swap the batteries with an AGM starter and an LFP secondary.

You should all check this. It’s bad and dumb.

Interesting and eye raising as the same time. Engineers do silly things... like the RHD Version massive footwell intrusion. I would rather a leaking battery than a 2L milk carton under my left heel the entire time I am driving!!!

 

[Clark Kent]

Well, I love being the first to have a novel problem!

I thought it was brake fluid, but there was no loss of function or lights. After speaking with Chris, the service manager at Red Noland in CO springs, I found the issue. And it’s bad.

Neither of the batteries in the car are sealed, and the breather tube from the extra battery leaves the body right above these lines.

Anyway, at some point, the battery burped acid…directly on the f***ing brake lines. Only an engineer would put that tube there.

I got some baking soda water and the. A hose and peeled away all the nasty rubber and tape from the lines. The acid ate the rubber bumpers and the tape. Worst of all, it ate the paint off the brake lines, and if I hadn’t caught it, the fabric tape eventually would have held enough acid to eat the brake lines through.

IMO, this is a recall. The solution is that the breather tube needs to be somewhere else.

In my case, I think I’ll just swap the batteries with an AGM starter and an LFP secondary.

You should all check this. It’s bad and dumb.

This gave me cause to check the vent hoses on my vehicle. The main battery was ok. The aux/2nd battery hose was not connected to the elbow that passes through the floor to the underbody drain.
Bit of a fiddly job to get it back on. I had to lift the 5 way block temporarily to get access. If you have meat cleavers instead of hands this is not a job for you.

The vents attach to the battery case at the inside short edge (pic). Easy to see. Once you have located the hoses, follow them down to the floor and check they're attached to the elbow.
This is the aux battery hose elbow. Main is similar.
I reattached the hose to the elbow and wriggled a cable tie over it.
No sign of electrolyte leaks or damage.

Edit: To be fair, I have done work in this area previously (D250SE and a solar input) so I may have dislodged the hose unknowingly.

 

[HereinDaRockies]

So what was the resolution for the OP?