Civic Type-R Owners Club & Forum

ATTENTION ALL HEL BRAKE LINE USERS!!!!

CHECK YOUR HEL BRAIDED BRAKE LINES NOW!!!!!!!

This was bought to my attention by my customer when he went for a MOT test.
My customer drives an Accord Type R. I fitted a set of HEL braided brake lines to his car less than 11 months/10,000 mile ago.
During the MOT test visual inspection, the MOT tester points out that his brake lines are cracking, then it went onto the brake roller test, when maximum brake pressure as applied, one of the brake lines burst and squirted brake fluid all over the inside of the wheel. Instant failure.
The old brake lines were refitted to get the car through the MOT.
This is when i got the phone call about the situation.

I went to check out the brake lines, and whilst i was there, i thought it would be a good idea to check over 2 other cars that i fitted HEL braided lines to.

heres the pics of the offending items on the ATR.









The 2 other cars were: Accord Type R and Integra Type R.

The ATR had the HEL brake lines fitted less than 9 months ago, with less than 6000 miles on them,
The ITR had the HEL brake lines fitted less than 6 months ago, with less than 6000 miles on them.

BOTH of them showed signs of cracking/splitting.
The ATR had 1 brake line (OSF) which was cracking in the same place as the ATR which failed on the mot.

the ITR had started cracking on both front brake lines where the brake line support bolts to the suspension.

pics of the 2nd ATR brake lines

offside front brake line






pics of the ITR brake lines

offside






nearside



The fault seems to stem from the design. namely the support bracket which bolts to the suspension.
the OEM brake line has a bracket which is at a fixed point on the brake line, whereas the HEL brake line has bracket which slides up and down the length of the brake line.
When the HEL brake line is fitted, and the bracket bolted onto the suspension, the problem occurs when you turn the steering wheel. as you turn into the brake line, the brake line does not slide in the bracket, but as you turn away from the brake line, the brake line is pulled tight as it slides in the bracket to stretch as the caliper moves further away from the chassis.
but as you turn back into the brake line, the tension isn't released, the brake line isn't fed back through the bracket and over time, it seems this is what is causing the cracking/splitting, which leads to it eventually bursting.

I have sent an email to HEL to see what they have to say on the problem.

but in the meantime, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE CHECK YOUR BRAKE LINES!!!!!!!

i'm relieved that the ATR brake line burst on the MOT rollers and not on the road when braking hard with his baby daughter in the back seat.
but quite suprised that HEL lines would fail after such short duration of usage.

that is a pretty serious issue!

Whilst on the subject of brake lines, do the complete brake lines get really hot or is it just at the ends near the calipers is where they get hot?

Very serious..hope it doesn't effect many people!

I must admit i noticed this when i installed a set on my first ep3 so i wrapped insulation tape round the line and wedged it into the bracket.as a temp fix can i suggest putting a small cable the round the line each side of the bracket until more light is shed on this issue.

i have HEL lines on mine, just been out to check them and they appear to be fine/as good as new, i see that you have spotted this problem on an Accord and an Integra...

have you seen this on a CTR yet? and was the ITR a DC5?

i can see exactly how this happens and will be having a look into the possibilities of this occurring on my car as soon as i get chance!

i can see this possibly turning into a very expensive law suit for them if/when someone dies!!

i look forward to hearing HEL's reply.


mat.

This happed tomy friends 52 plate ctr, they didn't even last a month although he has raised the issue with the seller he's still to send them back

Seen many Goodridge hoses crack, think they're all made to the same standard.

Aaron Coady wrote:Seen many Goodridge hoses crack, think they're all made to the same standard.

A sh-t standard then?

Was planning some HEL lines but I'll pass on that until we hear what HEL have to say!

I bought sum of these last year in may 09 and i noticed after about 6 months. The same was happening to mine the sheefing splitting and never fort owt of it. I looked today at work on the ramp to find that they are going the same way as the pics shown so im a likkle nervous now after reading this post lol. So now i have just orderd some Do Luck purple braided hoses from Sumo to be on the safe side. At the end of the day your brakes and tyres are the most important bit on any vehicle.

mine are doing this now...

as soon as i get home i'll take the wheels off and have a better look, but as far as i'm aware, this is not happening on my car...

think some cable ties and a drop of superglue are required for peace of mind though!


mat.
ps. i'm pretty sure HEL lines have a lifetime guarantee, trouble is i suppose, would you want another set after this happened to th first set??

Newannaive wrote:mine are doing this now...

same as mine mate

any idea what to do?

can we get free replacements?

was consiering these, now i wont touch them until it gets resolved.

rico83 wrote:

Was planning some HEL lines but I'll pass on that until we hear what HEL have to say!

+1 phew!

i have fitted these only two weeks ago. i noticed as i fitted them that they slid through the mounting point(plastic piece bolted onto strut) i looked at mine today quickly they seem ok at the mo but applied some spray grease to where it goes through just to help. the only thing i thought was to maybe reposition the bracket(ie bend it) on the strut to allow a smoother line making the brake line move easier and hopefully avoiding the above problem as it seems by the op that the lines are sticking in bracket and not returning to normal position. not sure! will be interesting to here hel reply.

OEM brake lines FTW after seeing the 1st post pictures. Those brake lines are in a serious state

what about FN2's :scratch:

No news from HEL regarding this?

Has nothing to do with what type of car you drive, it's the brakelines that are at fault, maybe a bad batch??
All owners should check their brakelines to be sure they don t have any issues.