Hi All,

Looking at changing my brake fluid. I've had 2l of Racing Brake Fluid 300 Plus sitting about for ages now. Not 100% confident in doing a full drain and bleeding of the brakes.

However, Could I empty reservoir, top it up. And repeat the process a few times over and have the same overall results?

 

If you mean syringing the reservoir then replacing that fluid with new and repeating that then i dont think it will work.

 

I know it wont get me 100% new fluid into the system but 90% new fluid in the system has to be better than old degraded fluid?

 

Your old fluid will still be in the lines it has to be bled through otherwise a pointless exercise. You'll have fresh fluid in the reservoir only.

 

As has been said, UNLIKE Power Steering fluid which CIRCULATES around the system, brake fluid is basically static and will require bleeding to renew the fluid in the lines, ABS unit and calipers.

 

cheers for the info everyone

 

by not changing brake fluid regularly as in two years the bleed nipples are more likely to get stuck and therefore a risk of snapping off , plus as above a full bleed from the callipers is needed , i was always told bleed the calliper the furthest from the servo and work your way in towards the servo the last one bled being the nearest to the servo , the fluid you have unless it’s fully sealed and not been opened then don’t use it

 

Wouldn't do it that way - I read something a while back about how little moisture needs to be in brake fluid to create steam which can really ruin your day or someone elses. I wouldn't take the chance if you can't do it properly yourself, give Johnny Scott (Scotts Garage) a bell in Dundonald, that way you'll know its done and done right.

By the way, its not a difficult job if you read up how to do it, have someone to help and keep topping off the reservoir with fresh fluid.

 

It really is pretty simple if you have someone to help - say press, open the bleed valve, close bleed valve, say release. Repeat on each wheel. To fully bleed a system will be well less than 1 litre. I just rebuilt my brakes (so had to fill the whole system from scratch including getting lots of trapped air out and it was less than 1 litre to do. Don't stress and be patient, but don't let the fluid resorvoir run dry - as a rough approximation I'd say a full fluid flush on each wheel is about 1 resorvoir full. But if you use a clear hose then you should be able to see the colour change if it's been in there a while. Also, get yourself a GOOD QUALITY 10mm flare wrench. If you don't have that then you can use a 10mm 6 point socket to crack them open and then revert to a normal ring spanner for the open/close sequence as you're not swinging on them, just nipping them up.