advise on Brake oil change..

[tigershark1976]

Thinking to change my brake DIY, undestand that the oil is drain out from the brake caliper at the tyre whereby there is a rubber nipple, and using a spana #8 to turn the screw to open the valve and let the oil come out...

the part im not sure is, 1 person have to pump the brake at the driver seat and hold and the other person have to do something at the caliper side.... can anyone advise in details on what is the procedures? thanks!

 

[mengz]

i doubt u can do a it alone.

basically, person A has to be pumping the brakes. then person B will unlock the screw at the nipple to let the brake fluid bleed. when person B is satisfy that there are no more air-pockets, then person B has to inform person A to hold the brakes down while person B tightens the screw.

 

[tigershark1976]

yap, i know it needs 2 person to do it, seen my machanic doing it but i was in the car pumping the brake so cant see what is he doing.... btw, we should bleed the fuild from the brake rear than follow by the front rite?

 

[CarroTT]

unless ur rear is drum brake, hehehee

 

[tigershark1976]

okie.... got it... thanks bro.

 

[purevenom1]

you should start at the farthest tire and work your way to the closest.

 

[chilskater]

that to let air in ur brake oil to come out..after doing this u should refill back your oil brake ...if not all ur brake oil finish while u pumping it out.

 

[tigershark1976]

learn something new during the weekend...

visit 2 of my machanic and both told me the same thing, for newbie to change brake oil, do not perform 2 man "pump and release" method, this is becos, either 1 party who is inexperience will cos air trapped in the braking system and cos more problem.

The better way is to open the nipple and release the brake from the rearbrake (feurthest from the brake pump), let the brake oil flow by itself, once the brakeoil level fall to min level, top up the brake oil and continue to drain the brake oil until it reach the min level again.... top up the oil and close the drain nut and rubber nipple, repeat the same process on the other rear brake, follow by the front brakes (the 1 further from the brake pump 1st)

During the process, do not touch the brake pedel... this is the safest method, however, it is very time consuming and not many workshop will do it, it takes easily 3hrs to fully change the brake oil!

any comment on such method? Ive tried it and my brake pedel is much more firm and hard now, compare to spongy feeling before the change....

 

[chilskater]

so no need to pump?juz let the oil brake comes out from the rubber nipple until it reaches min level??:hmmmm: anyway if u feel the braking a bit firmer n harder then i shud try coz i bleed the brake that day but after awhile it feel spongy..

 

[tigershark1976]

ur brake feel spongy after bleed bcos air went into the brake system while bleeding, by draining the brakeoil by itself, the brake oil keep flowing and there is no chance that air can go into the brake system unless the main brake reservoir drop below min....

this is the theory given to me by 2 diffirent workshop.... i did mine that way, and my brake is firmer than before....

just want to confirm with the rest of the expert here cos it is the 1st time i came across such method...

 

[chilskater]

err i let myself confused again..u mean i just open the rubber nipple of the farthest one and let the brake oil came out??it will drained by itself izzit but takes time??slow n steady??

 

[tigershark1976]

yes, open the rubber nipple, unscrew the nut and let the oil flow, make sure the brakeoil in the reservoir doesnt go down below the min level cos air will enter the brake pump. it will take a long time if your car is old and never bleed b4 cos there are a lot of impurities inside... if condition is bad, you can even see some rust particles....

 

[mengz]

i bleed my brakes once every 3 months so my brake feel is very consistent.....always firm.

anyways, thanks for sharing ur other method tigershark. but 3 hours? hehehee...too long ler. the most important part with the 2 person method is, the person pumping the brakes cannot let go the brake paddle before the 2nd person tightens the screw.

 

[hamzila]

I have try to do it before. At the first month, the brake is working very good. But now i found that my brake oil is mixed with rust. I really didnt have any idea,where is the rust coming from. Is there any advise?

Please help me.

Thank You.

 

[mengz]

because brake fluids can absorb water. so water will travel down and will takung around ur piston area. it will cause 2 problems. 1, water has a lower boiling point, so brake performance will deteriorate. 2 it will cause rust.

thats why i'd recommend to bleed ur brake fluids once every 3-4 months. and then do a proper brake fluid change once a year.

 

[tigershark1976]

i bleed my brakes once every 3 months so my brake feel is very consistent.....always firm.

anyways, thanks for sharing ur other method tigershark. but 3 hours? hehehee...too long ler. the most important part with the 2 person method is, the person pumping the brakes cannot let go the brake paddle before the 2nd person tightens the screw.

yap... 3 solid hours for my vios, i dunno Y but it seems that the 2 front brake took almost 2 hour where the rear brakes only took 1 hour to do it... anyway.. most likely becos I;m a bit kiasu and change quite a lot of brake oil cos i wanna bleed out all the old DOT 3 oil and change it with my ATE DOT4 oil. Total used up the whole 1 litter of my brakeoil in the process...

2 man operations is confirm faster, should not be more than 1 hour... but as i mentioned, unless u have 2 person to do it, and both person should be experience enof to do it, if there is any air trapped within the braking system... u need to redo everything again...

 

[tigershark1976]

I have try to do it before. At the first month, the brake is working very good. But now i found that my brake oil is mixed with rust. I really didnt have any idea,where is the rust coming from. Is there any advise?

Please help me.

that means something is corroded in your braking system, anyway, you didnt bleed/change the brake for a long period? refer to your owner manual on the brake oil change... the more common pratice will be once a year.... more frequent change will not do any harm except on your wallet...

 

[mengz]

just go spare part shop....get a Lucas Dot5.1 brake fluid which cost u RM18 per 500ml. 3-4 months bleed once....won't do any harm to wallet ler.

 

[tigershark1976]

just go spare part shop....get a Lucas Dot5.1 brake fluid which cost u RM18 per 500ml. 3-4 months bleed once....won't do any harm to wallet ler.

Lucas Dot 5.1 so cheap?? I got my Lucas Dot 4 alrd S$8 in Singapore!! :hmmmm: :hmmmm: :hmmmm: knn... next time go back Mal and buy...