Not the best of times...

[Chris_in_the_UK]

This is what happened a couple of weeks ago......

Old boy in a Freelander turned right across the back of me whilst I was stationary at a pelican crossing.

Car has finally been fixed but the story has some twists in it......

When the car was returned the battery was flat - I mean flat, nothing, nada zilch charge. The brakes had mysteriously started leaking whilst it was in the body shop so was underivable. After a few civil but firm phone calls the bodyshop agreed to replace the battery FOC as it would not accept any charge even after being left on the CTEK overnight. So now it is sporting a brand new Bosch S5 85 ah battery.

When exploring the source of the fluid leak (which looked to be front LH calliper area) I found this........

A broken front spring.

I have been toying with the idea of a suspension refresh, so this has now been brought forward - added issue included me finding the chrome flaking off the shock absorber piston bang in the middle of it's travel which will affect the seal in the not too distant.

So.......new shocks and springs all round then!. Got a great deal on a set of OEM Bilsltein B4's and found a set of new Eibach springs at a cracking price as well.

Whilst I am awaiting the deliveries, I decided to find the source of the brake fluid leak. I tracked it down to the pipe that bridges the two sides of the caliper.

So it's time to refresh some of the brake pipes.

First of a few that I will be making.

 

[streaky bacon]

That brake pipe looks in very poor condition. What is the other piece in your photo that I assume was covering the pipe and the corrosion ? Surprised it wasn't picked up at MOT! How old is your Cayman ? Spring breakage seems common, esp on early 997 now!

 

[Chris_in_the_UK]

Car is 2005.

Corrosion on the brake pipe was underneath a plastic sleeve which I cut off to take the photo. I will be replacing all of them as a precaution!.

 

[Boxstercol]

Crikey! That doesn't make good reading. Did you notice anything wrong with the brakes prior to finding that?

 

[Chris_in_the_UK]

Nothing at all.

Brakes were fine - worrying thing is that this was clearly well established corrosion that went unnoticed at the last MOT - why would it be though? The brake pipe is covered with a plastic sleeve and the corrosion had occurred underneath it and out of sight.