Brake fluid Q's?

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MGPD03

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Alright, so I've read and read about the "turkey baster" method of gradually changing out P/S and brake fluid and decided to give it a shot.

I hate to admit it but I've owned several vehicles in the past 10 years and never even thought about the "long term." Fact is that I'd always buy used vehicles and lived "foot loose and fancy free" and seldom owned a vehicle more than 20k miles. I have always used synthetic motor oil, good quality filters, and serviced the transmission and differentials, but never gave brake fluid and P/S fluid much thought.

In 2002 I bought a 2000 Cavalier 2.2L sedan with 50k miles for a commuter car. This car has been well maintained i.e. Mobil 1/K&N hp filters for my first 50k miles then at 100k I switched to AMSOIL/Ea filters with a 15k OCI (good results so far, but still need to do a UOA...just scrapped the K&N air filter).

In 2005 I bought a BRAND NEW truck and have went totally retarded with the maintenence, such as: every drop of fluid in the vehicle was totally changed/flushed at 10k in favor of AMSOIL ASL/Torque Drive/SVG, etc.

Now with that mini-biography out of the way, I turned to the now wife's car (Cavalier) and after perusing BITOG for the past 3 years I realized that I've severly neglected it. So....I bought a turkey baster and some SuperTech (UGH!) P/S fluid and brake fluid and went to town.

First order of business was the brake fluid resevoir. I inserted the baster and drew up the first sample. I almost shat myself! It was obviously dirty, but what disturbed me was the big "chunks" of floating nastiness. I'll try to get some pictures of what it looked like during the next procedure. It actually looked like a big black "loogie" (sp?) floating in the brake fluid.

How worried should I be and should I take more drastic steps? My wife wants a new vehicle anyway, but I already have a $450/mo truck payment and a family of four with all the associated bills on a civil service paycheck. Let me know if I need a second job, or preferably less expensive alternatives.
 
Perform that brake fluid turkey baster flush a few times more. Give it a few days to a week of driving to mix.
One day it will be clean and stay clean.
 
Wives always want new cars! They'd buy a new one every year if they had their way. Welcome to our world.

There's a lot more maintenance you can do to keep your cars running well. It's mostly fluids and filters. For any procedure (flushing brakes, changing transmisison fluid, etc.), spend a couple hours or so researching archived information for maintenance intervals, fluids used, procedures, and tips. You're in good hands on this board.
 
I don't think the turkey baster method will work for the brake system like it would for the power steering. It's not likely that the new fluid will circulate all the way through the lines to the calipers.

You really should fully flush the brake fluid. It's the same process as bleeding, you just keep doing it and filling fresh fluid in the reservoir until all the old stuff is out.
 
Quote:

I don't think the turkey baster method will work for the brake system like it would for the power steering. It's not likely that the new fluid will circulate all the way through the lines to the calipers.

You really should fully flush the brake fluid. It's the same process as bleeding, you just keep doing it and filling fresh fluid in the reservoir until all the old stuff is out.

Click to expand...


Yep. This isn't an open circuit like with PS systems. There's four dead-ends!
 
There is plenty of brake fluid movement. After several siphon/refills, consider a full 4-wheel bleed to remove all the rest of the old brake fluid.

Make a habit of bleeding the brakes every 2 years no matter what. Several siphon/refills will keep everything clean and happy in between those bleeds.

Don't worry about anything. Most people neglect the PSF and BF. Start with the bleed now and keep on driving.

With the PSF, a siphon/refill with quality PSF at every oil change, or at least twice a year, will keep it very clean and long lived. But, I would start with weekly siphon/refills until you eat up 1-2 quarts of PSF to remove a reasonable amount of old PSF. Then, start the simple PSF regimen.

You'll need a 2nd job for gasoline!
 
Start with syphoning the old fluid out and refilling then bleed the system real well. I'd use Dot4 instead of 3 if you can. Better stuff and is compatible. The the syphon refill stage should be shorter.
 
Well, tonight I did another regimen (after my wife drove her routine weekend 240 miles at 65 mph) and I must say that the brake fluid already looks better. The chunks must have been floating on top of the fluid in the resevoir. I still plan of doing a bleeding routine a couple of times as you guys have advised.

The P/S fluid is still pretty rank. How long (if possible) do you think until I see any lightening of the fluid?
 
The power steering fluid is easy to renew.
Step 1: Remove the old fluid and add new.
Step 2: Drive around the block (or start the engine and turn the wheel lock to lock to lock, etc.).
Repeat step 1
Repeat step 2
Repeat step 1 until you've used a quart of fluid. If the system takes ATF, consider synthetic ATF. It'll stand up to high heat better longer.

Also consider installing an inline ATF filter in the return line to the reservoir. It's about $25 once in the life of the car.


Ken
 
I know how much everyone, myself included, loves pictures with a story....so:

So here's the third installment. Pretty self explanatory, this is the resevoir.
IMG_0190.jpg


This is my ingenious technique to keep drips to a minimum...
IMG_0191.jpg


I still can't figure out how to accurately read this thing....
IMG_0192.jpg


Left fluid is new (DUH! I know) right is old...looking a little bit better. Yes, I know that there's more new fluid going in...despite all my precautions I still managed to dump a partial baster on the block.
IMG_0193.jpg


Similar setup with the brake fluid.
IMG_0195.jpg


New on the left again...
IMG_0196.jpg
 
Sure - a bleed is best, but keeping the reservoir clean and letting it circulate is OK because there is a lot of physical movement, and heat differential.
For vehicles with stuck bleeders, or if you want to stay nice and clean, or are lazy, a turkey baster flush is beneficial. It has 'fixed' brake problems with several vehicles connected with me.
 
I'm still not convinced that the fluid in the brake reservoir will circulate down the lines to the calipers. I'm interested to see how this experiment turns out. Can you please post pics of what comes out when you finally bleed the system?
 
This should be a rather easy test. All one has to do is replace the regular fluid in the master cylinder with one of the blue brake fluids. Wait two years, then bleed the brakes with clear plastic tubing and report back what color comes out.

I don't follow this practise so count me out.
 
Keep separate 'basters' for each reservoir. You don't want PSF/ATF dripping into the BF.
Basters, IMO, make horrible tools and are best left in the kitchen. They also biodegrade after coming in contact with automotive fluids. Buy a siphon pump and a extra hose.

I do agree that brake fluid needs to be bled every year(or lazy every 2 years). But, the siphon/refill of the brake fluid reservoir seems to keep everything cleaner longer. I've been doing it for years and brake bleeding is quicker. And, old fluid is much cleaner compared to just ignoring the reservoir for 2 years. I find that hydraulic failures are eliminated, bleeder screws don't rust-weld shut, and ABS pumps last forever. I also agree that there is plenty of brake fluid movement. Its tiny but occurs hundreds of times a week, every time you touch that brake pedal.

The brake fluid reservoir refreshing is just too simple not to ignore.
 
On the issue of cross contamination and degredation of the baster itself...I bought several basters. Not only did my wife give me the "look," you should've seen the look on the 18-year-old Wal-Mart cashier's face when a uniformed cop buys six turkey basters.
 
Quote:

you should've seen the look on the 18-year-old Wal-Mart cashier's face when a uniformed cop buys six turkey basters.

Click to expand...

laugh.gif


Walmart also carries a plastic "syringe" for mixing 2 cycle oils. This should work fine for extraction/addition of auto fluids as it is designed to deal with oil. It's about $2.50.
 
Seems like much ado about nothing. Why not take a few hours and have all new fluid in there by bleeding the system? Looking at that fluid and knowing you just changed that out recently, that car needs a brake bleed in the worst way! My 5 year old fluid did not even look that dark when bleeding at the wheels.
 
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Quote:

Why not take a few hours and have all new fluid in there by bleeding the system?

Click to expand...
Because if he did that, we wouldn't be able to argue if this method works or not. Why are you trying to spoil the fun?
 
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