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Easiest way to bleed/change your Brake fluid

AlanL
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Re: Easiest way to bleed/change your Brake fluid

Post by AlanL » Sat Dec 15, 2007 3:32 am

Another option which has worked quite nicely for me through the years (and cars) is the Motive Power Bleeder:

http://www.motiveproducts.com/02bleeders.html

This makes a full brake fluid flush into a simple one person job where you don't have to be frantic about making sure you don't get air into the lines. I have been using mine for the last 6 years now and it has made me a very happy camper. FWIW I do a brake bleed job (not necessarily a full fluid flush) after every track event I participate in and that count is over 80 at this point.

I always fully replace the factory fluid with Motul RBF 600 for any car I am going to take out on the track just to make sure I have fluids that are up to the task once the temperatures start climbing and then bleed off the fluid that has been subjected to those temps after the event is done.
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Re: Easiest way to bleed/change your Brake fluid

Post by BlackSapphireZ » Sat Dec 15, 2007 4:52 am

i just use one man bleeder from advance auto parts... works well I don't need anybody to do it! and no need to buy separate valves
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Re: Easiest way to bleed/change your Brake fluid

Post by pungo » Sat Dec 15, 2007 6:49 am

Shipkiller wrote: Hook up the catch container, open the Speedbleeder valve and pump the brake peddle (full peddle throw) until I empty out about 3/4's of the fluid from the master cylinder.
Don't take this the wrong way, as the speedbleeders are a good concept, but full pedal throw can sometimes be bad on older master cylinders. The reason is that the piston in the master moves in and out only a small amount while braking. When you press the pedal to the floor, the piston moves beyond the point it has ever been. If the master cylinder is old there may be a slight ridge warn into the internal bore of the cylinder, which can cause the rubber seal on the piston to tear, causing an external or internal leak. I have observed this more than a few times over my many years wrenching on cars. In some cases the pedal will slowly sink to the floor while sitting still and holding the brake pedal down. Of course the newer the car the less chance of having a ridge built up in the master cylinder. I always use a pressure bleeder, or a suction type bleeder, which I feel is faster anyway since you only need to visit each wheel 1 time instead of 2 times as with the speedbleeder and you never need to get inside the car to pump the brake pedal. Of course it goes without saying "never ever let the master cylinder get low on fluid" sucking in air really sucks :headbang: Don't ask me how I know.

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Re: Easiest way to bleed/change your Brake fluid

Post by Yal » Sun Dec 16, 2007 12:45 am

And after that, you can clean the insides of your wheels and wax the outsides.

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Re: Easiest way to bleed/change your Brake fluid

Post by pungo » Sun Dec 16, 2007 1:27 am

Yal wrote:And after that, you can clean the insides of your wheels and wax the outsides.
and don't forget to put tire shine on the backsides of tires while you're at it :lol:

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Re: Easiest way to bleed/change your Brake fluid

Post by AlanL » Sun Dec 16, 2007 1:49 am

Yal wrote:And after that, you can clean the insides of your wheels and wax the outsides.
Shouldn't you floss them first?
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Re: Easiest way to bleed/change your Brake fluid

Post by ovrkll » Sun Dec 16, 2007 5:56 am

Thanks for the tips/suggestions! Keep 'em coming :thumbsup:
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Re: Easiest way to bleed/change your Brake fluid

Post by ovrkll » Sun Dec 16, 2007 5:58 am

Any suggestions for normal, everyday, brake fluid? Only see the reference to Motul in this thread....
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Yal
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Re: Easiest way to bleed/change your Brake fluid

Post by Yal » Sun Dec 16, 2007 5:55 pm

Shipkiller wrote:
Yal wrote:And after that, you can clean the insides of your wheels and wax the outsides.
How often do you wax your car?
It gets a additional coating of Zaino about every two months, usually Z12 and some clear seal. Full clay and re-application of the layers twice a year. I'm not obsessive. I actually do the wheels inside and out every two months as well, but I alternate the months with the Zaino. My wheels are pretty bad as I'm still undoing years of neglect, but they're getting better.

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Re: Easiest way to bleed/change your Brake fluid

Post by Aebous » Thu Mar 05, 2009 10:04 am

AlanL wrote:Another option which has worked quite nicely for me through the years (and cars) is the Motive Power Bleeder:

http://www.motiveproducts.com/02bleeders.html

This makes a full brake fluid flush into a simple one person job where you don't have to be frantic about making sure you don't get air into the lines. I have been using mine for the last 6 years now and it has made me a very happy camper. FWIW I do a brake bleed job (not necessarily a full fluid flush) after every track event I participate in and that count is over 80 at this point.

I always fully replace the factory fluid with Motul RBF 600 for any car I am going to take out on the track just to make sure I have fluids that are up to the task once the temperatures start climbing and then bleed off the fluid that has been subjected to those temps after the event is done.
Hey a bump!
Is this the item that you were referring to way back when? If so, how does it work? Do you attach, build up pressure then go open the lines at the calipers?
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Re: Easiest way to bleed/change your Brake fluid

Post by AlanL » Thu Mar 05, 2009 3:32 pm

Yup - is the device and that is exactly how you use it. Since you have brake fluid in the pressure chamber you don't have to worry about getting air into the brake lines while you are flushing out the old stuff at each wheel.
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Re: Easiest way to bleed/change your Brake fluid

Post by Aebous » Thu Mar 05, 2009 11:11 pm

Neat, How would you recommend doing a complete flush/change of the system?
Whats the diff between the Power Bleeder kit & the regular bleeder?
Is it just one's a kit and one isn't?
'03 Z4 3.0i manual transmission w/ sports package, interior xenons, wind deflector, Michelin Sport PS3's, cheap big brake upgrade, headlights with black internals and clear lenses, Alutech braces inc horizontal strut bar.
ZEEEE 4

AlanL
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Re: Easiest way to bleed/change your Brake fluid

Post by AlanL » Fri Mar 06, 2009 3:45 am

Aebous wrote:Neat, How would you recommend doing a complete flush/change of the system?
Whats the diff between the Power Bleeder kit & the regular bleeder?
Is it just one's a kit and one isn't?
Hmm - just looked through the Motive online store and I am not sure what which two models you are describing. When I bought my Motive Bleeder (8 years ago) they had one model called the power bleeder. When I later on needed a new adapter for the screw top of the brake fluid reservoir of a Honda S2000 they sold me an adapter to make it work on a non German car. Now there are a zillion variants on their web site just to do the same thing on lots of different cars.

In general there are 3 variants of how to bleed brakes - devices that connect to the nipple at the wheel and try to mechanically suck the fluid out and ones that pressurize the reservoir to push the fluid out while you open the valve at the wheel. There is always the olde standy of having someone pump the brake pedal while you open the valve at the wheel and hope you don't get air sucked back into the brake line in the process.

The Motive set up is neat because you dump a couple of bottles of brake fluid into the container, screw it down tight on the brake fluid reservoir, and then pump up the pressure. As fluid is flushed out of the brake lines at each wheel it is also replaced in the reservoir so you never get air in the lines. You will find that it almost replaces the fluid in the reservoir faster than you are getting it out at the wheels so you do have to occasionally adjust by laying he Motive bottle on its side in the engine compartment to get a little more air in the top of the reservoir but his is much easier than getting air out of the brake lines once its in there.

Basic directions - do as mentioned above to get a pressurized environment with reserve brake fluid ready and then starting at the rear right wheel drain out lots of fluid. Move next to the left rear and then the front right. Your goal is to end up with about 2 bottles worth of old brake fluid in your drain container by the time you make it to the front driver's wheel.

That's all there is to it......
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Re: Easiest way to bleed/change your Brake fluid

Post by Aebous » Thu Apr 02, 2009 2:43 pm

What PSI do I pressurize too?
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Re: Easiest way to bleed/change your Brake fluid

Post by Aebous » Fri Apr 03, 2009 3:01 pm

Also, just how much fluid do I need in the pressure chamber? seems to take a lot, I got annoyed with a lack of results and opted to go 2 man method :rofl:
'03 Z4 3.0i manual transmission w/ sports package, interior xenons, wind deflector, Michelin Sport PS3's, cheap big brake upgrade, headlights with black internals and clear lenses, Alutech braces inc horizontal strut bar.
ZEEEE 4

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