AVOID HEL Brake Hoses - New hoses burst!

Spetsnaz GSh · Feb 18th, 2016, 17:41

Howdy all,

Late last year I had the garage for 4 new HEL brake hoses new fluid etc hoping they would be good for years to come .

After just 4 and a bit months - one hose burst chucking out all my brake fluid causing complete total failure of brakes .

Shortly after having them fitted Alex Gatos did say he had a HEL hose which split on him too which wasn't too old and as it was a back one meant it wasn't a total loss of brakes.

Now just months later I am in the same boat.

I am very lucky as I was just poodling around at 13mph near a shop when it happened but at the weekend I covered some 400 miles mostly motorway at 70mph and that could and would have been fatal at those speeds

I got a garage to fit a pagid one today but am out of pocket for what is HEL's inability to create an integral safety oriented part which lasts longer than a few months.

I will be phoning them tomorrow and will also attempt to get reimbursement for the alternate emergency fix

In the meantime - get your HEL hoses CHANGED!!!!!

James

gatos · Feb 18th, 2016, 17:59

Holy crap...... I was supposed to make a post about it with photographs, but somehow forgot about it. I will see if I can find the photo and post it here.

I was actually extremely lucky, as mine burst during the MOT test. If it happened anywhere on the road, it would have been a completely different story. It does not matter if it is front or rear brake lines. Once one goes, then you have TOTAL loss of brakes.

I would actually STRONGLY recommend that anyone who has HEL brake lines, just gets rid of them and go to the old fashioned standard rubber break lines. I am sure your life is worth a lot more than the cool factor of having braided brake lines.

Spetsnaz GSh · Feb 18th, 2016, 18:06

Quote:

Originally Posted by gatos

Holy crap...... I was supposed to make a post about it with photographs, but somehow forgot about it. I will see if I can find the photo and post it here.

I was actually extremely lucky, as mine burst during the MOT test. If it happened anywhere on the road, it would have been a completely different story. It does not matter if it is front or rear brake lines. Once one goes, then you have TOTAL loss of brakes.

I would actually STRONGLY recommend that anyone who has HEL brake lines, just gets rid of them and go to the old fashioned standard rubber break lines. I am sure your life is worth a lot more than the cool factor of having braided brake lines.

Thanks for the information Alex and i'm lucky and you were luckier - All they could source today was a pagid one - are these any good?

how old were your hoses at the time?

gatos · Feb 18th, 2016, 18:10

Quote:

Originally Posted by Spetsnaz GSh

Thanks for the information Alex and i'm lucky and you were luckier - All they could source today was a pagid one - are these any good?

how old were your hoses at the time?

Just over a year old. If I was you, I would replce all 4 of them and get rid of that pile of crap.

Pagid is a million times better than this rubbish, so I guess it will do. I feel bad, as I had genuine volvo front and rear ones and I threw them away after fitting the HEL rubbish.

Mine were just over a year old

windy millar · Feb 18th, 2016, 18:11

Is it worth an investigation by trading standards? They are after all a very important aspect to the safety of a vehicle!
Contact them and see what they think.
I fitted front Pagid flexi hoses to my mums aged BMW 320 over 5 years ago and they have never come up on the MOT as showing any degradation in all that time, the HEL hoses are obviously downright dangerous!

V40DSchariot · Feb 18th, 2016, 18:14

Goo dyour ok after that type of incident.
Hopefully there's a mental note created not to use those.

gatos · Feb 18th, 2016, 18:32

I would have loved to complain to them, but I don't have the receipt for them....

. Might still worth contacting them though, as something is not right.

Anyway, here are the photos. The inner plastic tube is just very very flimsy and I am not surprised that it burst.

Alex121 · Feb 18th, 2016, 18:39

Wow that's shocking. Anything that puts your life at risk is definitely worth complaining about.

Glad you're OK. If I were you I'd be tempted yet again to put genuine Volvo lines on all round.

I don't see the point of braided brake lines, unless you're racing you're unlikely to see any real difference and the Volvo ones do a good do at what they're designed to do

tommy t4 · Feb 18th, 2016, 18:47

These are the ones I used with the mivec calipers and held up pretty well.....http://www.amazon.co.uk/Huey-Stainle...t4+brake+hoses

ITSv40 · Feb 18th, 2016, 18:51

I've never heard of HEL hoses, but by the sound of it they are HELL.

What was the attraction of fitting them in the first place - is it price or are they supposed to be the mutts nuts in the braking world. My default tends to be genuine Volvo.

Feb 18th, 2016, 17:41	#1
Spetsnaz GSh Master Member Last Online: Jun 26th, 2021 22:02 Join Date: Nov 2014 Location: Bury St. Edmunds	AVOID HEL Brake Hoses - New hoses burst! Howdy all, Late last year I had the garage for 4 new HEL brake hoses new fluid etc hoping they would be good for years to come . After just 4 and a bit months - one hose burst chucking out all my brake fluid causing complete total failure of brakes . Shortly after having them fitted Alex Gatos did say he had a HEL hose which split on him too which wasn't too old and as it was a back one meant it wasn't a total loss of brakes. Now just months later I am in the same boat. I am very lucky as I was just poodling around at 13mph near a shop when it happened but at the weekend I covered some 400 miles mostly motorway at 70mph and that could and would have been fatal at those speeds I got a garage to fit a pagid one today but am out of pocket for what is HEL's inability to create an integral safety oriented part which lasts longer than a few months. I will be phoning them tomorrow and will also attempt to get reimbursement for the alternate emergency fix In the meantime - get your HEL hoses CHANGED!!!!! James __________________ 2003 Volvo S40 T4 Sport Anthracite Arcadias - OEM Strut Brace - Full 3" Exhaust System & 200 Cell Cat - Ashok's Custom Remap (1.35bar) - Earl's Performance Turbo Oil Feed - Ph1 Air Deflection Trims - Business Pack - Winter Pack - HID Xenon Headlamps

Feb 18th, 2016, 17:59	#2
gatos Premier Member Last Online: Nov 15th, 2022 21:34 Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: London / Essex	Holy crap...... I was supposed to make a post about it with photographs, but somehow forgot about it. I will see if I can find the photo and post it here. I was actually extremely lucky, as mine burst during the MOT test. If it happened anywhere on the road, it would have been a completely different story. It does not matter if it is front or rear brake lines. Once one goes, then you have TOTAL loss of brakes. I would actually STRONGLY recommend that anyone who has HEL brake lines, just gets rid of them and go to the old fashioned standard rubber break lines. I am sure your life is worth a lot more than the cool factor of having braided brake lines. __________________ Current car: 2002 S40 1.9D, 1992 240SE Nullius in Verba

Feb 18th, 2016, 18:14	#6
V40DSchariot Master Member Last Online: Apr 3rd, 2022 15:09 Join Date: May 2013 Location: Derbys	Goo dyour ok after that type of incident. Hopefully there's a mental note created not to use those. __________________ 2016 V60 SE Lux Nav 2001 V40 T4 S - All The Fun of The Fair The big print giveth and the small print taketh away

Feb 18th, 2016, 18:47	#9
tommy t4 Premier Member Last Online: Jul 10th, 2021 22:47 Join Date: Mar 2011 Location: gravesend kent View Photos By: tommy t4	These are the ones I used with the mivec calipers and held up pretty well.....http://www.amazon.co.uk/Huey-Stainle...t4+brake+hoses __________________ V40 t4 phase 2 2001, custom fmic, B4194T2 65k, t5r clutch and t5 flywheel, 3" turbo back custom ss system... More to come.....

Feb 18th, 2016, 18:11	#5
windy millar Senior Member Last Online: Nov 9th, 2023 22:47 Join Date: Nov 2015 Location: Handsacre	Is it worth an investigation by trading standards? They are after all a very important aspect to the safety of a vehicle! Contact them and see what they think. I fitted front Pagid flexi hoses to my mums aged BMW 320 over 5 years ago and they have never come up on the MOT as showing any degradation in all that time, the HEL hoses are obviously downright dangerous!

Feb 18th, 2016, 18:39	#8
Alex121 Premier Member Last Online: Oct 27th, 2020 10:45 Join Date: Nov 2011 Location: -	Wow that's shocking. Anything that puts your life at risk is definitely worth complaining about. Glad you're OK. If I were you I'd be tempted yet again to put genuine Volvo lines on all round. I don't see the point of braided brake lines, unless you're racing you're unlikely to see any real difference and the Volvo ones do a good do at what they're designed to do

Feb 18th, 2016, 18:51	#10
ITSv40 VOC Member Last Online: Yesterday 21:51 Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Northampton	I've never heard of HEL hoses, but by the sound of it they are HELL. What was the attraction of fitting them in the first place - is it price or are they supposed to be the mutts nuts in the braking world. My default tends to be genuine Volvo.

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