Change your brake fluid!

merc123 · Apr 27, 2010

I didn't think about routine maintenance on things like brake fluid. I finally decided to do it since I had my rear end out anyway. My 2003 with 79k miles on it had nice and BLACK brake fluid when I put it in a bottle. It didn't look that dark in the reservoir, but in the bottle it looks like wattery Coke.

It's really easy to do and costs about $6 (Wal-Mart Prestone DOT 3 brake fluid) so just do it

mr-mike · Apr 28, 2010

I did it also I have 160,000 but did it at like 100K I went for dot 5 mine was dark I read up on how the fluid goes bad I aslo do the rack fluid once a year & the auto tranny about every 2-3 years its so easy ..... she runs like new all fluids go bad after a while .......

Kilgore Trout · Apr 28, 2010

I change mine every summer, speed bleeders make it easy.

89lxsport50 · Apr 28, 2010

Does anyone have a write-up on how to properly do this?

Kilgore Trout · Apr 28, 2010

The Bullitt Archive has a great writeup on this and many other maint activities.

COBRA90GT · Apr 28, 2010

Very good maintenance item; often overlooked by many car owners...

Rickyll7 · Apr 28, 2010

What speed bleeders do you recommend?

cbsdd · Apr 28, 2010

I just got Russell speed bleeders from Summit Racing. They were the only ones that I could find for my 98'. They were cheap too, only 10 bucks a pair. I haven't used them yet though. I will be changing my hubs, rotors and pads this Friday so I'll see how they work then.

D-BOI · Apr 28, 2010

Mine is squeaky clean from when i did my rotors i bled all the old stuff out, but my power steering stuff is way way dirty, have no idea how to bleed that though.

BurningRubber · Apr 28, 2010

I need to get some speed bleeders. I've never changed the fluid from 92k to 144k and I know it's dirty. The brakes get hot quick and start to overheat, and I know it's not the pads.

merc123 · Apr 30, 2010

89lxsport50 said:
Does anyone have a write-up on how to properly do this?

I had someone help me to do this since I don't have speed bleeders.

Remove master cylinder cap and suck out as much old fluid as you can. I couldn't remove the little yellow float so I left it. Fill it almost to the very top (it'll run down).

Start at right, rear brake caliper. I used a small hose to put on the bleeder to drain it into a bottle. Open bleeder, put on hose. Have person pump brakes a few times. I left the bleeder open the whole time. Check master cylinder and add fluid if needed. Key is to keep fluid in the cylinder the whole time. Pump a few more times until you see clear fluid. I had a small poweraide bottle and it was about 3/4 full before the fluid started to clear.

Close bleeder, pump brakes until hard then hold pedal. Open bleeder to ensure no air comes out then close. Go to left rear, right front then left front and you should be done. The other calipers only had about a 1/2" of dark fluid come out of them in the bottle. On the last caliper make sure the brake fluid is filled to the "fill" line. Pump the brakes with the bleeder open to drain some of the fluid out if it's overfilled.

89lxsport50 · Apr 30, 2010

merc123 said:
I had someone help me to do this since I don't have speed bleeders.

Remove master cylinder cap and suck out as much old fluid as you can. I couldn't remove the little yellow float so I left it. Fill it almost to the very top (it'll run down).

Start at right, rear brake caliper. I used a small hose to put on the bleeder to drain it into a bottle. Open bleeder, put on hose. Have person pump brakes a few times. I left the bleeder open the whole time. Check master cylinder and add fluid if needed. Key is to keep fluid in the cylinder the whole time. Pump a few more times until you see clear fluid. I had a small poweraide bottle and it was about 3/4 full before the fluid started to clear.

Close bleeder, pump brakes until hard then hold pedal. Open bleeder to ensure no air comes out then close. Go to left rear, right front then left front and you should be done. The other calipers only had about a 1/2" of dark fluid come out of them in the bottle. On the last caliper make sure the brake fluid is filled to the "fill" line. Pump the brakes with the bleeder open to drain some of the fluid out if it's overfilled.

Thanks, man. I need to do this on both cars soon.

Mustang5L5 · Apr 30, 2010

mr-mike said:
I did it also I have 160,000 but did it at like 100K I went for dot 5

Are you aware of the issues surrounding putting dot 5 brake fluid in a dot 3/4 system? It's not compatible with the ethylene propylene rubber used In the brake hoses and caliper seals. It slowly disintegrates it.

With dot 5, you need ss brake lines and to change the caliper seals to that which are compatible with dot 5 fluid

merc123 · May 5, 2010

I just read some instructions and it said not to use DOT 5 in a new master cylinder I put in my race car. I wondered why.

Mustang5L5 · May 5, 2010

One thing to add.... DOT 5.1 fluid is not the same as DOT 5. DOT 5 you don't want to use....but 5.1 is a different story

Dot 5 isn't even performance fluid. It doesn't eat paint so a lot of antique cars use it to stay safe. It also doesn't absorb water, so the fluid can sit unused for years in the lines. Again, great for antique cars. It's also compressible, which rules out use in abs cars and gives a sloppy feel. There is no reaspn to run 5

Good thread here highlighting what I said

http://forum.miata.net/vb/archive/index.php/t-30817.html

Change your brake fluid!

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