Replacing rigid plastic Brake Booster Line

[MI-Roger]

I broke this part nearly three weeks ago as collateral damage while doing other car maintenance. Unfortunately it was out of stock in all the usual places so I had to wait two weeks to receive a new part. Luckily I was able to repair my old line using automotive grade RTV and a tie-wrap to prevent excessive motion until the new part arrived.

Total time to do this job rivals that of an oil change or spark plug replacement on the L4 engine.

1. Remove the battery from the car, remembering to disconnect the negative cable first and reattach the negative cable last.
2. Remove the hood switch for the anti-theft system by lifting it straight up.
3. Remove the small rear fuse box by sliding it vertically to disconnect it from the much larger main fuse and relay box. You may need to remove the cover of the small box to see how to slide it up and free. Set this aside on the windshield cowl.
4. Remove the large fuse and relay box by removing three 10mm nuts. Two are on the left side strut tower and the third is on the side of the box beneath the brake master cylinder. It is only because of the location of this third nut that you have to remove the battery. Lift the fuse and relay box to clear the threaded studs on the strut tower, then swing it aside toward the coolant bottle.
5. You now have nearly unfettered access to the push in connection of the rigid brake booster line to the steel brake booster assembly. Use a fast drying spray cleaner, such as brake cleaner, and paper toweling/rags to thoroughly clean this connection point.
6. The brake booster line (PN #5331095 for automatics) presses into a rubber grommet (PN #4836680) which is pressed into the steel brake booster body. I used a thin blade putty knife to separate the booster line from the grommet, then an interior trim removal tool to gently pry the barbed end of the line free from the grommet. I reused the original grommet only because I forgot to order a new one.
7. The other two legs of this three leg rigid hose assembly are secured by quick release fittings. Gently pull the rigid line, then press the red collar back toward the manifold or booster pump while continuing to pull the rigid line. The lines will slide out with shocking ease.
8. Extract the old line form the engine bay, rotate the new line into position (keeping all ends clean) then push all three ends into their respective connectors.
9. Reverse Steps 4 through 1 above, reprogram your SID with correct time, date, month and year.
10. Job done!

Removing the fragile brake booster line from the manifold and booster pump is so easy that it may be a smart step to include disconnecting these line ends in any engine bay work to be performed in the vicinity of the lines. Work such as Throttle Body work, Coolant By-Pass Valve work, or radiator/heater hose work. At nearly $50 list for a new line and grommet, this is not a part to treat roughly.

[toxicavenger]

I want to add is if this line is leaking and not sealing correctly your brake pedal will be super hard like you are driving a car without power brakes. So if you have that symptom then check out this line.

Great write up Roger. I was lucky all I need was the red fitting's instead of the whole line.

[MitchMeister03]

Just reading through this and have some questions. My 1 way valve was broke when I bought the car, and was worried after reading this that it was going to be difficult. Is this for your 2008 as well? I was able to replace this line on mine without removing anything in 2 min or so. The hardest part is removing the line from the grommet into the brake booster itself, but there was plenty of room to remove this without issues. Then just press in the red tabs on the two other ends and remove. Installation is the reverse. The grommet again was the hardest part. But I did this in the parking lot of the dealership I bought the part from in less than 5 min.

[MI-Roger]

Good eyes!

This write-up was for my 2000 9-5. The 2008 has the fuse blocks in a different location and the battery removal/fuse block removal may not be necessary.