I just finished a couple of hard (on the Brakes) track days, I am going to do a brake fluid change with a friends Power Bleeder. I think I know how it works, but I am wondering if anyone has any tips to make the whole thing go smoother. Any tips?

 

Start by bleeding the farthest caliper from the brake reservoir until a fluid color change. Work your way around the car so the closest caliper from the brake reservoir is done last. Most important, make sure your brake reservoir does not run out of fluid during the process or you will have to start again to bleed the brakes.

Good luck!

 

Ken,

Thanks for the tips, I have heard from one guy that it is best to drain the reservoir down (using a turkey baster) and then start the process, is this a recipe for disaster?

Ed

 

Just one tip. Make sure you're extra careful when extracting brake fluid from the reservoir. Don't let it drip on anything, especially a painted surface. I place my Motive Bleeder very carefully (sometimes in a plastic pan) to avoid any mishap.

Here's the link to Motive's instructions; http://www.motiveproducts.com/10instruct.html

 

Ed,

I use the turkey baster routine to pull the dirty fluid from the master cylinder before I start to bleed the brakes (follow Ken's routine) as you will get fresh fluid to the first caliper sooner. Just don't forget to refill the master cylinder with fresh fluid before you start to bleed the brakes.

JimRe

 

I know that brake fluid is nasty stuff for car paint, but I have the RustOleum 2 Part Paint on my floor, is this resistant to the brake fluid?

 

The Turkey Baster works well, remove fluid and add about half of what you took out back using fresh fluid when you start. Then connect the power bleeder to the reservoir and pump, remove each wheel in sequence, attach the bleed line (bleed bottles make this simpler) and open the bleed fittings to let the fluid out and close when done.

When bleeding use the following order:
RR, LR. RF, LF. Note that our calipers have two bleed screws, bleed the outside ones first - not really a big deal as long as you do both.

That the clutch shares the same reservoir, so to do the complete job you need to bleed the clutch as well. (See Renntech for how to do this).

Then the order is:
RR, Clutch, LR, RF, LF.

Under normal (no track) driving change the fluid every 3 years, for the track change annually (I do it at the season beginning). You may only need to bleed the brakes and not do a full flush if the fluid is only a year or so old, If the brakes got very hot on the track then the brake fluid will have some darkness to it and it is simple to flush it out.

Be careful with the fluid and the power bleeder, keep plenty of rags around. Top off the reservoir at the end if needed. I usually clean of the calipers when doing this since I have the wheels off, sometimes I even clean the insides of the wheels!

Alternate between ATE Gold and ATE Blue each time you flush, theoretically you can get it done with 1 liter but you will need to get 2 liters.

I use a Motive Power Bleeder, about $50 online a nice tool to have, you also need some bleeder bottles (the motive ones are nice) and an 11mm wrench.

 

You might want to do an little test first in a inconspicuous place. I suspect it will etch or lift the garage floor paint or epoxy.

Use a plastic drop cloth or the big black garage bag under each wheel when you're bleeding the brake cylinders.

No matter how careful you are it's not uncommon for a drop or two of brake fluid to drip when your pulling the hose off the nipple. Someone already mentioned to have some dry rags ready to deal w/ this issue.

 

That is a good piece of advice, I will used the plastic drop sheet for this job rather than testing a small amount on my floor. I did the floor about a month ago, a lot of work to get it ready, don't want to screw it up.

FYI, motor oil wiped right up of the floor, even with the anti slip additive in the paint.

 

Thanks for the tips guys, the Power Bleeder made things very easy.

BTW the floor paint is brake fluid resistant.

 

I'm going to bleed my brakes this weekend on my 996TT and got a baster to remove fluid. I removed the initial screen filter easily from the reservoir, but there's a another screen/barrier below that that keeps me from inserting a turkey baster to extract fluid. How do I remove this second barrier?

 

IMO you don't need to remove fluid from the reservoir before bleeding (if using a power bleeder). I use a power bleeder to do my brakes and have never removed fluid before starting and have not had a problem. However if you are not using a power bleeder I would see how removing some fluid would be beneficial.

 

Removing 'old' fluid from the reservior just makes the process quicker. You don't have to 'flush' as much old fluid before the 'new' fluid reaches the wheel cylinder.

 

Ok, thanks. That helps.

 

That's true, I have also found that running the old fluid from the reservoir tends to help remove any "deposits" that may have accumulated in the system.