I am still finding and repairing things on this '01 S40 with 172K miles on it. Warning to others, check out your hoses!

My newly licensed daughter went on her 1st trip ALONE. Just driving around town, but she put on the brakes and heard a POP and lost the pedal. Scared her good.


Turns out that the front hose has 3 fittings and takes a very indirect path from the metal tube to the caliper. the first fitting attaches to the metal tube, the 2nd is a factory fitting that looks to only be there as an anchor point to the strut. and the last fitting is a banjo fitting for the caliper.


the middle fitting on the spring side had worn right at the spring and the fitting. There is a spring that the hose travels thru, probably there so the hose does not kink on it's winding path. Both front hoses showed the same wear, only one POPPED. they are $12 at Autozone. I'll have to look in the manual to see if there is a service cycle for this item.


Bad thing is the wear is on the underside, on a tight inner curve of the hose, so it is not easy to see without taking the hose out of the strut.


Installed new a hose on both sides and gave the brakes a good bleeding and she is up and running again. That was a close one!

 

Yeah, $12 if you don't hit anything before you get stopped. I think about inspecting for checking of the rubber, but I don't generally think about wear.

Point well taken. Volvo does say to check brake hoses every 7500 miles after the first 60,000.

 

Photos of the failure and soon to be a failure...

not a hole yet.....
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THis one failed.

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My daughters 2001 has busted both front hoses also. She was super lucky each time as the car was parked when she pressed on the brake before engaging the gear lever. Glad to hear your daughter got it stopped in time.

 

Yep, bought this for my daughter's first car the front brake line failed when I came to a stop sign. The lines when properly installed are extremely crimped at the point of failure on every one I have seen. Replace them now.

 

Exactly where mine failed pretty much exactly at the same mileage. Luckily in my case I caught the issue the year BEFORE my daughter started driving. I agree, where the crack appears is almost impossible to see unless you are fiddling with the struts.


Bottom line, just replace them at 150K miles and be done with it.


On a related note, Also be aware that the solid lines (the rear ones) will look pristine everywhere...except right behind the plastic access panel for the fuel filter. At that location, if you live in the rust belt, you will have a heart attack when you take a look at about 180k miles. It's not pretty. Of course, you won't notice it (and nor will your mechanic) unless they take the time to pop the access panel off....

 

Ok, you guys have me concerned for my son's '02 S40. I'm going to check them as soon as it get opportunity.
Thanks for the heads-up.

 

It should be a common knowledge that the rubber brake hoses needs to be replaced every 4 years.