was trying to get my seized caliper off the other night and the driver's front brake line broke! my question is, is the short connector to the caliper which unscrews the only thing i need to replace? also, when bleeding the rest of the calipers do i need to bother with the proper bleeding procedure, and how does that affect the brake system? and is there anything i'm overlooking, is there something tricky i need to know about?

any help is appricated thanks
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damn ostrich mechanics really make it hard on a 244 owner!

Rigid brake lines consist of tubing with special hollow nuts on each end that bear against flared ends on the tubing. These flared ends, in turn, mate with matching nipples. If the steel tubing broke, you need to replace it all the way back to the next junction point, but not further.

If what broke is flexible rubber tubing, same principle: replace it to the nearest joint.

If it was the steel tubing, while you're in there replacing parts, you might examine the flexible tubing. If it's dry and cracked looking, replacing it at the same time makes sense. It takes so long to bleed the brake system on a Volvo that you want to replace any parts that are worn while you're at it.

As to the bleeding: as you no doubt know, Volvos of the 200 series have a split braking system that operates both front wheels and one rear wheel. When you replace one caliper, you definitely want to follow the prescribed bleeding sequence for that circuit (that side of the "split") which, if I recall correctly, starts at the back wheel.