Front brake question

Iguanaman wrote:

liljoejoe54 wrote:

Well I changed the fluid and then bled them for the hell of it today and went for a ride. The brakes feel much better than before. The old fluid was pretty brown. Thanks alot everyone.

How easy was this to do?

It was actually very easy but I had my brother sit in my car and press the brake pedal to push the fluid out. Then after a few pumps, I would go to the tank, open the cap and make sure I topped it off with the new fluid. I would keep doing it until the new fluid started coming out of the caliper I was working on and then go to the next. I made sure I put the cap back on the tank after I was done topping off each time. It was about a 30 minute job. It would be even easier if I went with a blue fluid so I can tell right away that the new fluid was coming in.

Sounds easy enough. I may do this.

HiPwr wrote:

Sounds easy enough. I may do this.

Me three.

Hell yeah man!! Glad it worked out for ya!! When I replaced all my pads last year, I did the same thing and could TOTALLY tell a difference

Not sure if this true or just dealership scare tactics but if you gravity bleed (open all the bleeders and let the fluid drain then refill) you need a starscan to engage ABS as it is a separate module to make sure those lines are bled and air bubble free) as well.

We can use either DOT 3 or DOT 4 on our cars interchangeably, DOT 5 is a big no-no as it is silicone based (iirc) and won't play nice with our systems. DOT 4 usually has a high dry boiling temp with a lower wet boiling temp when compared to DOT 3 fluid. DOT 3 usually has a lower dry boiling temp and a higher wet boiling temp when compared to DOT 4 fluid.

Brake fluid is very good at absorbing water, in fact it's part of its job/design parameters. Since higher dry boiling point fluids tend to have a much lower wet boiling point vs lower dry boiling point fluids you have a change/flush them a little more frequently to keep brake performance up.

Don't keep opened partially-used bottles of brake fluid around. If you buy a bunch and don't use all of it don't expect it to perform any better than the fluid you are bleeding from your car. Chances are the unsealed fluid on the shelf has absorbed more water than what what is your car, it might look cleaner but that's about it.

Oh and one more thing about the interchangeability of the DOT 3 and 4 fluid... if you do this you will dilute the performance characteristics.

And don't let this stuff touch your paint!!! Unless you want a new paint job.

If you let your tank run dry then you might have to get something done to the ABS at the dealership. That is why I did one at a time and made sure I kept the tank topped off.

Thats some good info about the fluid. I accidentally had a drop of fluid on my fender and i ran to get some cleaning stuff and quickly cleaned my fender.