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3rd Gen: How to Connect Brake Lines to Actuator?

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Care, Maintenance & Troubleshooting' started by FullsOfHope, Sep 23, 2024.

  1. FullsOfHope

    FullsOfHope New Member

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    2010 Prius
    Model:
    III
    Hello all!

    Brand new poster & Prius owner here. Bought a 2010 Prius and the dreaded accumulator/actuator failure happened while I was sitting in a Sonic drive through. The pump had been making an intermittent hissing noise every 15-30 seconds though since I bought the car, so I knew it was coming. Got it in my head to try to replace both parts myself with the help of instructions found here on this forum.

    After much struggle (I am NOT mechanically inclined at all lol), I finally got the accumulator pump switched out. However, now I'm having trouble getting the 5 brake lines screwed into the actuator/brake booster. I've already stripped the very bottom brake line opening of the "new" actuator that I bought (I purchased both pieces off eBay that had been pulled from a 2011 Prius) & don't really want to repeat the experience on my backup actuator (aka the original 2010 one that was already in my car at the time of the pump failure). I tried calling around to local mechanics to see if they would just screw the brake lines in for me if I paid them, but after the 3rd one staunchly refused (they all had a "I don't touch others' work" policy basically), I'm stuck either doing it myself or having the local Toyota dealership charge me thousands to essentially redo the entire accumulator-actuator replacement that I've already done.

    Any tips or tricks to get the lines in there without stripping/threading anything? I know some people say to gently get the lines started with your hand, but I can't even do that-they pop right out of the brake line opening when I let go. I did manage to get 1 line in by hand once, but when I went to tighten it with the 10 mm brake line wrench it went crooked & that's how I ended up stripping the 1st actuator. What am I doing wrong? How do I get the brake line screws in the openings without popping out? And how do I keep them straight enough to tighten? Any guidance would be much appreciated. I included a picture of how my brake lines currently look, so you can see what I'm working with.

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  2. Tombukt2

    Tombukt2 Senior Member

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    You're basically there buddy usually I use a pair whatever I can get in there to just lightly bend those lines until when I sit the line in front of the hole it stays like it's supposed to it's lined up You see what you got there not lined up You literally bend the line incrementally You have to have a feel for this kind of work if you can't get it you can't get it You can't bend the line at the same time while trying to shove the ferrule. That will most definitely not work sometimes a smart person might leave the assembly that you're bolting to there you're connecting the line to let it float more however you make that happen bolts really lose etc The generation 3 is not my car so I'm just saying how I would do it in general model I have the line lineup is very similar but it's much better access yours well not as much. But you're on the right track You just got to get those things to sit there right in front of the hole like it's supposed to go whatever it takes to grab that ferrule while it's all the way down on the flare at the end of it's travel and then you smartly bend it upwards and in whatever it needs and when you let it go when you get it right in front of the hole then you can gently offer up the line and the beast that spins with the threads on it and gently twist it and it'll start right in when it's cockeyed and off-centered and all it will never start and if it does it will start cross-threaded. This is why generally people with some kind of experience in this sort of work generally take on these jobs when you don't have any idea about this stuff or you fly a desk at Microsoft or whatever it is you do well this isn't generally the job you want to start on.
     
  3. Mr. F

    Mr. F Active Member

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    Location:
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    Vehicle:
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    Model:
    IV
    Here's Tom's reply lightly edited for clarity:
    Use a small open-end wrench, large enough to slide over the brake line but smaller than the 10-mm ferrule, to push the ferrule in axially while you get it started with a 10-mm wrench. Make sure to torque them down correctly using crowfoot wrenches and extensions as necessary, or you end up with brake fluid squirting out during the bleeding process.

    I don't have a great answer for this. You can visually ensure that the brake line is normal to the opening. If you feel the ferrule getting unusually difficult to turn, back it out because it's probably getting cross-threaded. Inspect the threads with a small mirror and repair with a tap set if necessary. Align the line visually, push the ferrule in with a small wrench, and start over.
     
  4. Tombukt2

    Tombukt2 Senior Member

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    You can buy a thread chasing tool that will chase the threads of the hole you're working on You just got to be careful because it has to be really small and work around the portion that sticks up that the flare seats against that's why you want to be careful with these things I'm sure somebody makes a seat repair tool which would be thread chasing cutting and repair sized grooves in the tool and the dimple in it so that it allows it to go deep enough around the part that the flare goes into in the hole in the aluminum block on your whatever part you replacing actuator secondary part whatever you'd probably have to go looking for that repair tool if you really screwed the things up that bad I don't think you'll get a blind hole tap to go in far enough to do the repair to chase the threads whatever you want to call it now on the ferule itself You may be able to use a dye on that to straighten out any damage you've done to that usually you're damaging the hole as it's aluminum and the peace you're screwing in is steel.