How to change brake fluid

[duvel]

Hello, i read this in a other tread :

Since most of our cars are low daily mileage cars, or even parked for the winter months, that would seem to be a good choice to minimize brake system corrosion. And even at that, the system shouild still be drained, flushed and re-filled with new fluid at least every two years. And not even with old bottles of fluid, since humidity in the air will penetrate the plastic bottles and absorb into the fluid.

But wat is the best way to follow ?

[baz]

get a gunton easy bleed kit and follow the instructions for a 1 person change as it uses the air from a tyre to work the system
or for a 2 person change do it as you would any brake bleeding after work on the brake hydrolics
keep topping the fluid level up and wait for the fluid going into the collecting jar to turn to a fresh clean colour , do this on all 4 wheels till you have clean fluid

btw even a car used every day should have its fluid changed every 2 years

[ronskydivepops]

Any hints on the best sequence to bleed all 4 brakes? I replaced my front brakes completely 3 years ago, and did the same on the rears about six months ago. Now my red warning light for my master cylinder on the dash stays on. And yes I did replace all the fluid and the 3 rubber hoses!!!

[baz]

best hint is to use the search engine as its been covered to death in the past

opel recomend starting with the front caliper farthest away from the MC ,then the one nearest the to the MC ,then do the rear drum with the shortest run of pipe and finnish with the longest

[jlthunder]

This brings up a good point. Does anyone here change their brake fluid on a regular basis? I don't know of anyone who does.

[duvel]

Thanks for the hints.
Opel is doing a fluid change every year with older cars.

[maglinjosvinn]

as part of the rebuild process i'm draining the system and then running a quart of oil through it just to ensure there's no moisture, then putting another quart in to top it off. after that i plan on sealing itup till next year.

as for changing it? makes sense. i've heard too much about it breaking down and causing issues, so i'll gladly pay out 10 bucks to change it once a year to ensure i can stop this work of art. god knows i wanna drive it, not crash it into something.

[2 Fast 4 U]

I change the fluid every 20.000 km [12.500 miles] , that is according to the workshop manual I have, or every year witch comes first. [this is for the A Ascona, but I think will be the same for all Opels]

I have one question how does one clean / flush the break tubing so they're clean inside??

[asdasc]

I must be some sort of villian! In all my years of owning cars, I have NEVER flushed the brake fluid. I may have to try this someday...

[namba209]

Steve, it's one of those things that most folks don't even think about. They just keep going on down the Primrose Path until the accululated moisture in the line corrodes it away and it finally starts to leak or just plain breaks. Been there, done that, with hoses and lines on some of my 7 cars in 50 years of driving. In reality, it's one of those "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" things. The only real problem is, the line/hose could go south right when you really need the brakes.

[baz]

cant be done erick unless you pump the fluid through for a while (fluid that has been passed through the system needs to stand for 24 hours to clear air bubbles before reuse , and never do what my friend used to do all the time and shake the bottle before use to mix it up , as you are adding air bubbles that make it impossible to bleed properly and for this reason always buy your fluid the day before you want to use it )
but not a real problem as there is no ingress of dirt , the discolouring of the old fluid is the water that is absorbed into the old fluid and then gets blackened with age

[2 Fast 4 U]

@ Baz: Years ago you could buy break oil in a few colors , making it visable when the break tube was cleared of old oil, but now it only comes in one color

[jtb]

Instead of flushing every year, you may want to consider using Silicon Brake Fluid. It doesn't attract water like the regular stuff, plus if you spill it, it doesn't harm your paint. It is supposed to be higher performance as well (less subject to fade from heat).

I've used it in a few different cars. Costs a bit more initially, but you don't have to keep changing it.

jmtcw,

jtb

[2 Fast 4 U]

Originally Posted by jtb Instead of flushing every year, you may want to consider using Silicon Brake Fluid. It doesn't attract water like the regular stuff, plus if you spill it, it doesn't harm your paint. It is supposed to be higher performance as well (less subject to fade from heat). I've used it in a few different cars. Costs a bit more initially, but you don't have to keep changing it. jmtcw, jtb

never heard of it, have any brand names??

[baz]

erick do a google search to get local brands

[asdasc]

I actually have 2 quarts of the silicon stuff sitting on a shelf that is about 20 years old. It sounds like I should throw it away and buy some new stuff!

[2 Fast 4 U]

I googled for it and found out that DOT 5 & Dot 6 are silicone based, and availible at off road stores.

[soybean]

A word of caution. If you add the newer Silicon Brake fluid to the old "regular" fluid you will have problems. They are not compatible with each other. Here is the thread to read. http://www.opelgt.com/forums/group-5...ht=Brake+fluid Love that search feature.
When I redid my brakes on my Brown Gt, I replaced everything with the exception of the brake lines themselves. I blew out the old lines with the air hose and started fresh with Silicon fluid. The next one, "Red one" (gotta name em), I'm going to replace the lines as well. Jarrell

[ddoyle]

Maglinjosvinn, did you say you wher running oil thru your brake system? I hope that was a typo, a word of caution DONT! you will be rebuilding it again.

Dan

[kwilford]

Originally Posted by maglinjosvinn as part of the rebuild process i'm draining the system and then running a quart of oil through it just to ensure there's no moisture, then putting another quart in to top it off. after that i plan on sealing itup till next year.

NEVER EVER allow anything resembling oil to touch ANY component of your brake systems! EVER!

The seals and hoses will rapidly deteriorate, and you will NEVER EVER get all the oil out of the lines if you do so. If you want to clean the lines, it is recommended to flush them with Isopropyl Alcohol ("rubbing alcohol"), or just clean brake fluid. NEVER oil!

As for silicon brake fluids, as has been mentioned, this was discussed ad nauseum a few years back. Modern silicon fluids are, by regulation, now "supposedly" compatible with glycol based fluids. But as a practise, they should NOT be intentionally mixed. And while glycol brake fluids (DOT 3 and 4, DOT 4 just has a higher boiling temp) are hygroscopic (absorbs water), which may lead to fluid boiling under extreme braking, silicon fluids have a worse tendency. Any moisture that gets in the system (not if but when) will separate and collect in the low spots. And will cause more serious corrosion than wet glycol based brake fluids. Which is why ALL brake fluids should be replaced at least every three years (two is better, but seldom done).

JM2CW

[ddoyle]

At my workplace (independent) we do a free inspection on every car we see. One of the things we do is test the brake fluid with a test strip. I would guess over 90% of the cars i test have contaminated fluid. Some are so bad the fluid is black and kinda thick, scary.

Dan

[saxybiker]

Erick,

My new break fluid is purple (silicone) ...so there are still some colors (colours ) out there.

Vickie