TT Oversteer

Just a friendly reminder to flush your brake fluid every two years or so. Brake fluid is hydroscopic and absorbs water which causes corrosion in the brake system. I just did mine and it was a color that looks great in a pint glass but not so good in a brake fluid reservoir. God only knows how long it was in there or if the previous owner ever flushed it. I used a pressure bleeder and learned the hard way where the overflow vent drains from the reservoir (front left wheel well). A clamp on the vent tube at the top of the reservoir near the filler cap will prevent your nice new Ate Gold from covering your garage floor. Calipers and master cylinders are not cheap but few owners seem to take care of this rather mundane preventative maintenance item.

Ed Hughes

Mine gets done every 6 months or each DE, whichever comes first. Motul RBF600 is the stuff I use, higher thresholds than ATE, and not crazy expensive like Castrol SRF.

lfe132

Wow, I have to do mine. I've had the car for 2-1/2 years now and have never done it. No pressure bleeder here so I'll have to do it manually - Yuck. But it will get done. Do you guys recommend standard DOT 3 for regular street use or is there something better?

GothingNC

I did mine last year during my caliper rebuld and brake pad replacement.
Previous owner changed it on an annual basis.

I have the pressurized brake bleeder rband new in the box but opted to use my hand held vacuum pump since I have speed bleeders and the pedal is nice and firm.

I plan on using the motive bleeder during my brake flush on the VW Jetta (same master cylinder cap size), just need to find out if ATE blue is harmful for the clutch hydraulics.

John

Steely

Based on TT Oversteer's reminder, here's a question if someone can help please - I don't mean to hijack.

I just had the rear pads and rotors replaced as part of a state inspection after a new purchase, and the PO records show a flush 2 years ago.

Am I due for a flush, or did the new brake job buy me some interval margin? (IOW, How much fluid replacement is typically involved in a rear brake job, enough to keep me going for a while?)

Thanks for the tip on the reservoir clamp TT.

GothingNC

A brake fluid flush every two years is the standard.

I used about 80% of the ATE gold container to flush mine replacing the blue fluid.

John

genripper

Thanks for the reminder, I have to do mine too. Clamping the vent tube is a good hint as well, I'm sure I would have missed that if I hadn't seen this.

911vet

The $40 for the Motive bleeder is definitely worth it.

BlackPearl

+1. On the other hand, if you're waiting for your bleeder to be delivered, you can use the "gravitiy + hand on the pedal" method:

1) Open brake MC cap, fill with fluid if needed.
2) Attach bleeder line and bottle to right-rear bleeder valve on brake caliper.
3) Open valve. Gravity will start a slow drain of the fluid.
4) Tap the brake pedal with your hand; pushing in about 1" to 2". This little pressure blast will dislodge gunk and air-bubbles in lines (most of the time).
5) Close bleeder valve, check reservoir level, repeat on Left-rear, right-front, left-front calipers.

Although not as fast (or possibly effective) as Power-Bleeders or Vacuum-Bleeders, this method works very well, and is a one-person task. No more "Honey, can you come here please?"

Good luck!!

old man neri

Shannon, your pedal firm up yet? I know you said you were having some issues.

-matt

rnln

How long does it take you on each corner with this method?

madmmac

Many reports of a leaking master cylinder after using the pedal pump to the floor method.

Piston goes beyond its normal range and the seal gets gouged by the accumulated crud/corrosion on it.

911vet

Yes, the pedal is perfect now. Apparently doing the wheels out of order was the problem. Somehow I actually managed to trap old fluid in the lines. When I did the rebleed in the correct order... I got out old fluid! Even though I had flushed over 2L of ATE through during the original flush.

Once I got that out, the thing firmed up. Did fantastic at the track.

So back to the thread: The pressure bleeder made the job easy. I made the "mistake" of doing the manual pedal bleed after flushing. I think if anything I introduced air by doing that. I recommend the pressure bleeder (though I'm admittedly far from an expert).

Also - do the flush in the correct wheel order. And don't forget to flush the clutch slave cylinder. I am assuming it should be done after the two rear wheels but before the front?? Just based on location since you want to move farthest to nearest the master cylinder. Might get some expert's advice on that.

Also, another hint. You need a long hose to attach to the clutch bleeder. I tried using a short one and holding a can up there. What a trainwreck. I took a bath in brake fluid when the thing slipped from my hand. Don't try it. Get a hose long enough to reach to the floor. Trust me

rnln

What do you mean by "flush the clutch slave cylinder", may I ask? Do you mean bleed the clutch? If so, you should bleed the clutch after all brakes are done, because the clutch line is above the brake line in the fluid resevoir.

911vet

Yes, bleed the clutch is what I meant. I considered it "flushing" since I ran all the old ugly fluid out and watched new ATE Blue fluid come out for a while before I closed the valve.

I did my clutch after all the brakes, but wasn't certain that was correct. Thought maybe it should be done prior to the front brakes. Thanks for correcting that.