If the brake fluid is four years or older and or it looks like chocolate milk, it is time to consider replacement. Brake fluid will adsorb water – even moisture from the air. That moisture is what causes the color. New brake fluid is clear, not crystal clear, but more like a very, very weak tea.
A typical sign of contaminated fluid that is breaking down, is when you do a panic stop on dry asphalt and you cannot get the anti-skid circuit to activate. When the anti-skid activates, the pedal vibrates rapidly and a noise is generate that sounds like a growl. If you can get on the brakes in a simulated panic stop at 35-45 MPH on dry payment and not activate the anti-skid circuits, it is time to replace that fluid. Of course, this assumes you checked the pads and found them good to go for a few more K miles.
Daughter #1 had problems with REDHOT over the Christmas holidays saying the brakes “sucked.” Yeah, they did. The pedal could not be pressed hard enough to activate anti-skid.
HOTLNC did the same thing to me the other day while I was “cleaning my rotors.”
The second easiest way to replace the fluid is by using a hand vacuum pump and sucking out the old fluid.
The easiest way is to use a compressor powered or an electric vacuum pump and a vacuum chamber to hold the sucked out fluid. You must keep the old fluid out of the electric pump or you may mess up the pump. Since a compressor powered pump is only an air orifice, all you will do is make a mess.
Starting at the most distant wheel from the brake fluid reservoir (passenger rear), remove the wheel (parking brake ON is OK and don’t forget to turn off the air suspension).
Make sure you have a quart of brand new brake fluid. I say brand new because you will want to replace the contaminated fluid with fluid that has no moisture in it. The only way you can be sure that half full bottle of fluid sitting on your shelf has no water in it is to buy a new quart with the inner seal still intact.
Remove the nipple cover and install a 11mm box end on the nipple. Place the clear hose on the nipple. Start the vacuum pump and allow to obtain a good head (minus head?) of vacuum. For you hand guys, pump hard guys. Start sucking the fluid out. Keep adding fluid into the reservoir until clean fluid comes out of the nipple. Don’t be surprised if you use almost half of the fluid you bought for that one rear position. This line must be cleared of all caliper and an entire length of brake line old fluid.
Also don’t forget the fluid level in the reservoir may only go down to the front/rear brake reservoir divider. At that point the fluid level appears to remain the same. That is an illusion. What you are looking at is the fluid inside the front brake section of the reservoir. Keep adding fluid until the rear section’s fluid is completely replaced. When clean fluid shows up at the nipple, you’ve finished that wheel. Tighten the nipple; remove the hose and box wrench.
Do the wheels in most distant to closest order. Right Rear #1. Left Rear; Right Front and Left front. Fluid replacement will go faster on the left rear than it did for the right rear. Once you have clean fluid at the right rear, the left rear doesn’t have to be sucked on quite so long since the clean fluid source is at the rear coupler instead of all the way at the front of the car.
That fixed both or our Marks.
A typical sign of contaminated fluid that is breaking down, is when you do a panic stop on dry asphalt and you cannot get the anti-skid circuit to activate. When the anti-skid activates, the pedal vibrates rapidly and a noise is generate that sounds like a growl. If you can get on the brakes in a simulated panic stop at 35-45 MPH on dry payment and not activate the anti-skid circuits, it is time to replace that fluid. Of course, this assumes you checked the pads and found them good to go for a few more K miles.
Daughter #1 had problems with REDHOT over the Christmas holidays saying the brakes “sucked.” Yeah, they did. The pedal could not be pressed hard enough to activate anti-skid.
HOTLNC did the same thing to me the other day while I was “cleaning my rotors.”
The second easiest way to replace the fluid is by using a hand vacuum pump and sucking out the old fluid.
The easiest way is to use a compressor powered or an electric vacuum pump and a vacuum chamber to hold the sucked out fluid. You must keep the old fluid out of the electric pump or you may mess up the pump. Since a compressor powered pump is only an air orifice, all you will do is make a mess.
Starting at the most distant wheel from the brake fluid reservoir (passenger rear), remove the wheel (parking brake ON is OK and don’t forget to turn off the air suspension).
Make sure you have a quart of brand new brake fluid. I say brand new because you will want to replace the contaminated fluid with fluid that has no moisture in it. The only way you can be sure that half full bottle of fluid sitting on your shelf has no water in it is to buy a new quart with the inner seal still intact.
Remove the nipple cover and install a 11mm box end on the nipple. Place the clear hose on the nipple. Start the vacuum pump and allow to obtain a good head (minus head?) of vacuum. For you hand guys, pump hard guys. Start sucking the fluid out. Keep adding fluid into the reservoir until clean fluid comes out of the nipple. Don’t be surprised if you use almost half of the fluid you bought for that one rear position. This line must be cleared of all caliper and an entire length of brake line old fluid.
Also don’t forget the fluid level in the reservoir may only go down to the front/rear brake reservoir divider. At that point the fluid level appears to remain the same. That is an illusion. What you are looking at is the fluid inside the front brake section of the reservoir. Keep adding fluid until the rear section’s fluid is completely replaced. When clean fluid shows up at the nipple, you’ve finished that wheel. Tighten the nipple; remove the hose and box wrench.
Do the wheels in most distant to closest order. Right Rear #1. Left Rear; Right Front and Left front. Fluid replacement will go faster on the left rear than it did for the right rear. Once you have clean fluid at the right rear, the left rear doesn’t have to be sucked on quite so long since the clean fluid source is at the rear coupler instead of all the way at the front of the car.
That fixed both or our Marks.