Tonight, I was driving to the local supermarket to pick up a few things. As I turned into the parking lot, suddenly my brakes stopped working! I was only going 5 mph, so my natural reaction was to use the e-brake which worked. I pulled into a spot and turned off the music to see what was going on. First the engine was idling very irratically and I could hear my exhaust sound like it was about to stall (as if my tank of gas was empty). I check under the car to see anything leaking; nothing. Then i hear a hissing sound coming from the engine bay. I pop the hood and low-and-behold its coming from one of the lines from my engine fluid resevoir/brake line. It wasn't blown, but it had disconnected. I pushed it back on as tight as I could, then turned the engine back on. I drove back to my apartment and everything was working again. Problem solved...

or is it? I'm wondering if anyone else has had something like this happen to them? What causes these lines to disconnect? Is there any seal or clip thats suppose to hold the line in place that could have broken off? The last thing I want is to be driving on the highways and this to happen

 

Engine, mechanical




Also, to answer your question it means your engine mounts are bad.

When they go bad your engine torques over and rips the brake vac line out. Been there............

 

That would have scared the shenanigans outta me. Hope you get everything going good again.

 

that would be the vacuum line for the brake booster, no fluid in the line. easy fix, and it probably wasnt on tight. just secure it and you should be fine. no reason to worry, as it's more a install error than an actual mechanical error.

and yes, there is supposed to be a clip that holds it in place, but just get a worm ring clamp at autozone for a dollar, and you should be good to go.

 

thanks for the advise. yeah i was getting worried I would need to see a mechanic. Without my SC400, I'd be completely without a means of transportation. My Trek bicycle's gear system recently gave out on me too, even though it was only 2 years old. Treks suck! they're overpriced and poorly built. It seems like I got the worst luck with mechanics. If this vacuum line popped on the highway, I'd be in big trouble . I'm buying a new bicycle, but until then, I'll be driving much more in the city.

 

When the brake booster doesn't have vacuum it doesn't stop working, you just have fully manual brakes and have to push on them with a lot of force. When you lose the power assist, you should go into a panic mode and slam onto the brake pedal as hard as you can, and they will work. If you wanted to see how they feel with no power assist, you can turn the car off while coasting and you can feel it.

I believe Lexus uses one of the crap spring style clamps on that hose, you could defiantly upgrade to one of the worm style clamps for that guy.

 

You're going to get him killed convincing him he can fix a bad engine mount with a hose clamp.

Replace the drivers side mount at LEAST, you need to do them both.

You can put a clamp on the size of Texas and it isn't going to do a thing for your engine torquing over and ripping the hose out.

 

A correctly sized spring style clamp is actually better than a worm gear clamp... They are stronger and account for compression as the hose compresses... They are harder to work with, but the main reasons they use them on every vehicle from the factory is that they are very reliable and easy to "train" a machine to install

 

where did he say the problem was a bad engine mount?

he should use a more flexible hose, and a good clamp, and he should be fine.

if the engine was turning enough to unhook lines, he'd have much bigger problems than a simple vacuum line leak.

 

i don't know it can be that the bad motor mount pulled it out when he mashed the pedal ....most people don't know they are bad till it starts to thunk around but a vaccumm line normally doesn't really pop off on its own... usually something causes it to happen but since it happened that one time i severely doubt its the motor mount

 

just to clarify, I was driving to the supermarket across my neighborhood in Boston, not drag racing on the highways. when this happened, i wasnt driving or accerlating fast at all. like i said, this happened while i was turning into the parking lot at like 10 mph at most. there's lots a families that shop around Southbay Plaza.

Anyways, so far I havent done anything just yet since I pushed the hose back in tight. it seems to be holding well. ive driven twice since, dropping my sister off at a train station and going to work. nothing has happened so far. if it happens again, ill definately check the engine mounts, but i dont think its the culprit.

 

I SAID it was a bad engine mount, and I am right. I don't know why people come on here wanting help, but write off the correct answers. If that engine mount is not separated when you lift the engine to inspect it I'll syphon the oil out of the engine and make a milkshake out of it.

Infact never mind, wait until it happens again while he is in traffic and let's see what the pics of the wreck look like.

It's a VAC LINE, it sucks itself onto the hose mount. You have to PULL it off. It's not a pressurized line, it doesn't fall off. It's natural tendency is to stay ON by vacuum.

You know why I only answer questions in the engine forum once every few months? I only answer them when I am 100% dead correct. I don't guess unless someone asks for me to.

The fix is to replace the driver side engine mount, but if one is bad they both are.

I'm right, take the answer or don't, but I'm right.

 

As a bonus, when you lift the engine this is what it will look like, separated at the very top. You can use a jack to do this.

 

Does the 1UZ torque the other way or something? Because the way my 1jz turns is clockwise, towards the driver's side, which would push the vacuum line into the brake booster.

Or am I missing something?

 

Yes you're missing something, Physics. It's called rebound. Just as a side bonus to this wonderful action, when you hit the brakes (or even let off the gas) the engine torques the other way as the driveline pushes on it slowing down.