Hey guys,

I have been reading this forum for a long time but this is my first time to see a problem i couldn't find in the forums by searching...

A little background before my problem... I have an 04 cavalier with the 5 speed manual. My first problem with the car was about a year and a half ago when the clutch master cylinder died. I had it fixed at a dealership, and it has run great until the air conditioning died last fall. I took it to another dealership two days ago and they evacuated the system and recharged it. Today, the hydraulic line between the master cylinder and the slave cylinder sprung a leak. From what I could see, it looks like a very clean cut, as though it was cut with a razor blade. I noticed a bit of a smell yesterday, but i attributed that to refrigerant, as I suspected a leak in the system. They couldn't find a leak in the a/c system, so they put a uv dye in it and told me to come back if it starts blowing warm in a few days so they can find the leak under a black light.

My questions...

1) How hard is it to replace the hydraulic line? (I am an engineer and pretty good with car work, as long as i know what to do...) If I do it myself, it will be on the side of the road so I would like to be prepared. Does anyone know what size hose it is? What size line wrench will I need to change both sides of it? Is it worth changing myself or will it be expensive to have it done somewhere?
2) Does this situation sound as bad as it does to me? I feel it would be a pretty big coincidence that the car was in the shop the other day and now this is bad. The cut looks pretty razor sharp, although it is dark out and the engine was still hot so I didn't see it too closely tonight... I'll investigate closer tomorrow. I know that these hydraulic lines are designed to take a lot of pressure, but it looked like a razor cut from the top when i first looked at it, and the big leak was from the bottom.

Sorry for the long rambling post, but I would really appreciate any help I can get...