Greetings! Last weekend my father in law and I replaced the front brakes on my 2006 Honda Accord, we had a glass jar with brake fluid and a tad of PS fluid (my inlaw said it would be ok. He claims that the system didnt suck any of the dirty fluid back in... Prior to using a turkey baster to remove fluid from the master cylinder, I scooped out some green mung. Then the fluid looked as if contained white streamers. We bled all of the brakes and they felt much better. Last night I checked the brake fluid and it was dirtier than it was last weekend and had a ton of white streamers in it. Is this normal? Should I just bleed them again and run a quart of fluid through the system? We used Valvoline Dot3/4 synthetic fluid. Any help is appreciated!
Brake system bleed now fluid is really dirty
- Thread starter plrprecision
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YES: Do a complete fluid change. Streamers suggest something is in the BF and not mixing-bad sign IMO. Ed
I would just use the baster and empty the master cylinder again,refill then open each bleeder screw one at a time with a hose on it in a bottle.
Let the master cylinder go down almost empty (do not let it empty totally or you need to bleed the air) refill and close the bleeder.Move on to the next one and repeat.
you may have to refill the master a couple of times for each one until the fluid is clear.
Do not push on the brake or open and close the bleeder screw,just let it drip,no air will enter the system.
You want the fluid coming out looking the same as it is going in,nice and clear.
Let the master cylinder go down almost empty (do not let it empty totally or you need to bleed the air) refill and close the bleeder.Move on to the next one and repeat.
you may have to refill the master a couple of times for each one until the fluid is clear.
Do not push on the brake or open and close the bleeder screw,just let it drip,no air will enter the system.
You want the fluid coming out looking the same as it is going in,nice and clear.
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I doubt that any of the power steering fluid made it up the hose and into the bleeder screw, and it definitely did not make it into the master cylinder reservoir this fast. I don't know what a white streamer is, but you could certainly drain the master cylinder again, and you could even go around and rebleed all the wheels. I guess it depends on what these things are, and how "dirty" the fluid really is.
I have the old fluid in a glass jar and it looks almost black. The white streamers kind of look like clouds in the fluid.
It is possible the old fluid took on some moisture and that is what the streamers are. Either way I would flush as Trav suggested, and get all clean fluid into the system.
Check to be sure the new fluid you used was not silicone based since it has a DOT 4 rating. The silicone fluid will not mix with DOT 3 regular fluid. I don't know if that is the cause of your "Streamers" but it would seem suspect.
Regardless, I'd get it out of there! Do a full flush, you may get only one chance if something goes wrong... Good Luck!
Regardless, I'd get it out of there! Do a full flush, you may get only one chance if something goes wrong... Good Luck!
DOT 3,4 and 5.1 are all glycol based and are interchangeable. Only DOT 5 is silicone based.
DOT 5.1 is glycol based and recommended for systems using mechanical cycling proportioning valves ABS systems.It can be used in place of DOT 3 and 4 with no issues and is superior to both.
DOT 5.1 is glycol based and recommended for systems using mechanical cycling proportioning valves ABS systems.It can be used in place of DOT 3 and 4 with no issues and is superior to both.
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I will flush it out tonight. Another thought I had was that maybe the old fluid and associated 'junk' or moisture was in the ABS system and is not circulating with the new fluid??
Also, I sucked out the dirty fluid last night, so hopefully that will minimize the amount of crud that will circulate until tonight...
Also, I sucked out the dirty fluid last night, so hopefully that will minimize the amount of crud that will circulate until tonight...
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You are smart to turkey baster and fill the reservoir first.
But you are not done, as you can see.
Keep bleeding!
But you are not done, as you can see.
Keep bleeding!
Wow Trav made me look like an idiot! The last time I needed to know which fluid was silicone was about 20 years back...Needed castrol GT LMA for the MG and silicone was making to the parts houses...Middle age memory problem? What problem? What was I talking about?
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