Brake Fluid Resevoir - Drain & Fill Effective ??

[Ken2]

"the nearest Toyota dealer "
The only reason to go to a dealership for repairs is when you have a warranty claim. Or too much money in your wallet. Find a good local shop.


What is a siphon exchange? Just changing the fluid in the reservoir? Better than nothing, but not much.

 

[Nate1979]

Originally Posted By: 901Memphis
Also don't push the pedal all the way to the floor when bleeding, a block of wood behind the brake pedal can help with this. Something like a piece of a 2x4 will do the job.


Can you explain why not to push the brake pedal to the floor?

 

[Smcatub]

Originally Posted By: Nate1979

Can you explain why not to push the brake pedal to the floor?


The explanation I've heard is that the piston will only travel so far in the master cylinder under normal conditions. The area it usually moves the piston over will be smooth. But any muck that gets in will be pushed to the end of the swept area, so you get a ridge of debris there on the cylinder wall.

With air in the system, you can push the pedal down much farther and push the piston into the ridge. This can damage the seals on the piston.

I don't know how much truth there is to that, but I've heard it enough that I didn't risk it when I bled my brakes this weekend

 

[bdcardinal]

Originally Posted By: Smcatub
The explanation I've heard is that the piston will only travel so far in the master cylinder under normal conditions. The area it usually moves the piston over will be smooth. But any muck that gets in will be pushed to the end of the swept area, so you get a ridge of debris there on the cylinder wall.

With air in the system, you can push the pedal down much farther and push the piston into the ridge. This can damage the seals on the piston.

I don't know how much truth there is to that, but I've heard it enough that I didn't risk it when I bled my brakes this weekend

That is exactly the reason. One thing I do, and this is a huge pet peeve of mine, when refilling the reservoir on the master, put it back to the level it was when you started. A lot of people still don't open the bleeder when pressing the pistons at the caliper back in, and the fluid will overflow out the cap.

 

[tig1]

I have been doing the turkey baster method for 20+ years with good results. No air can inter the system this way, and the fluid does move through out the system, but slowly. I TB mine every 10K OCI along with the PS pump.

 

[SumpChump]

Originally Posted By: bdcardinal
Originally Posted By: Smcatub
The explanation I've heard is that the piston will only travel so far in the master cylinder under normal conditions. The area it usually moves the piston over will be smooth. But any muck that gets in will be pushed to the end of the swept area, so you get a ridge of debris there on the cylinder wall.

With air in the system, you can push the pedal down much farther and push the piston into the ridge. This can damage the seals on the piston.

I don't know how much truth there is to that, but I've heard it enough that I didn't risk it when I bled my brakes this weekend

Do you have to close the bleed quick or doesn't it matter since you bleed again later?
That is exactly the reason. One thing I do, and this is a huge pet peeve of mine, when refilling the reservoir on the master, put it back to the level it was when you started. A lot of people still don't open the bleeder when pressing the pistons at the caliper back in, and the fluid will overflow out the cap.

 

[bdcardinal]

On my cars, I don't but I have Speed Bleeders. It is best practice to close them, it usually isn't difficult on most calipers. The fixed multi-piston calipers that have 2 bleeders on each caliper can get interesting. Also on my car, I compress at least the front pistons with the caliper still bolted to the upright thanks to this tool:

I always do a full fluid flush with any brake lining change. It does not take much time at all and the relatively few possible negatives are far outweighed by the positives.

 

[barkingspider]

If the fluid in reservoir is dirty, turkey blaster it. When replacing the pads, purge the lines. You Will be fine. I would use syn brake fluid

 

[JimD1]

The fluid you use should be of the type recommended for your car and new. There is Dot 3 and 4 and 5. 3 and 4 are pretty similar but DOT 5 is quite different and not mixable. So don't buy something that costs more and has more "dots" and think you are doing your car a favor. And don't use that container you've had around for a couple years that is half full. It will have picked up moisture. Get a new container, probably of DOT 4.

The turkey baster thing is a good way to start but you should bleed each wheel. It gets the old fluid out of the line and wheel cylinder or caliper. The cheap old way is to have one person at the wheel, wheel off and car on stands. Another person sits in the drivers seat. Person 1 turns the bleed screw a little to the left and tells person 2 to push on the pedal. When person 2 gets down they hold position while person 1 tightens the bleed screw. When it is tight, person 1 tells person 2 to let the pedal up. When they are up, the cycle is repeated.

I like to use my son's pressure bleeder. It lets me pressurize the master cylinder resovor so I can do it without a second person. But the results are the same.

 

[supton]

I picked up a used Mityvac recently. I tried the Motive unit once, but it didn't work for me, and won't easily work on my Toyotas. I like the unit, and might just start pulling a bit of fluid every rotation plus emptying the master once a year.