brake flush question

[skatanic28]

so i just got my first paycheck for the summer, and already dumped half of it into ST sway bars, hawk HPS pads, ATE fluid, spl ss lines, and some speed bleeders. so all this stuff is gonna be here sometime next week and just wanted to have everything down. im going to be taking off my calipers as well to get rid of the rust and all that fun stuff. so i was just wondering what the best way to go about flushing the system would be. if i just open up all the bleeders and pump all the fluid out, is it ok for the MC cylinder to be empty? then when im done just fill and bleed like normal, but with speed bleeders this time . just wanna make sure im not going to have to bench bleed the MC, cuz i dont really know what that involves.

thanks for any help guys

[aznpoopy]

flushing the system is a similar process to bleeding but more complete. i don't think you're supposed to empty it all out b4 putting in new fluid. rather you put in new fluid and push the old fluid out. iirc it goes something like this :

1. open up the MC and scoop that old nasty fluid out (as much as u can). then dump some fresh fluid in there to the proper level.

2. then going in the proper order (farther from MC to closest), go to each wheel and bleed the brakes until you see clean fluid coming out. make sure the MC does NOT bottom out while you are doing this; add fresh fluid as the level goes down. otherwise u'll get air in the system.

there are plenty of links on the internet that have DIY brake flush faqs... i'm sure the FSM must have instructions too. anyway, here's one:

http://popularmechanics.com/automoti...sh/index.phtml

[GamblerZ]

I would recommend using Ate Super Blue Racing Fluid. The fluid is actually blue and is easy to see when the new/fresh fluid is bleeding through. Also, it has very high wet and dry boiling points. Very durable.

[skatanic28]

alrite thanks for the help. i just didnt know if i could bottom out the MC at first. this seems like it might be a pain to take of the lines if i cant drain the system first. guess ill just try to plug up the lines while im messing with the calipers.
and i did get the super blue...looks to be pretty decent stuff.

[skatanic28]

just found this link http://www.parts411.com/acb/webpage....&WebPage_ID=37
they seem to do it the way i would have, with no mention of bench bleeding the MC. anyone actually emptied the MC before?

[GamblerZ]

The only time I have had an empty MC was when replacing an old one. Otherwise, I have not. BTW, both those links are good reference material for anyone thrying this for the first time.

[SauN]

go to autozone and buy a one man bleeder kit. I was only like 7$ but you can reuse it.

Since you're filling your brakes with a brand new seperate type of fluid, I would get a turkey baster and suck as much fluid as you can get out of the master cylinder. Fill the ATE fluid up to max and pump each line until you see blue. Once you see blue, then you know that you ran through the whole brake system. Taking the original fluid out of the reservoir just quickens the process since you won't have to run the old fluid through the brake system.

EDIT: nm, I just said the same thing as the other people said.

[skatanic28]

well i got the speed bleeders so i dont think the bleeding is going to be a problem. just wanna make sure that i can drain the MC completely. the rest is pretty simple stuff.

[Salty_X]

I wouldn't let the MC drain completely. It'll just be a major hassle when it comes time for bleeding.
I wouldn't scoop the fluid out either, mainly because while you're swapping brake lines the fluid will be leaking out, and what's the point of leaking out brand new fluid if you don't have to? (if you let the level get down that far) Save the new fluid for the bleeding.
I would recommend having someone help you, mostly for their extra set of hands. If you can get someone to plug up the chasis hardline (where you attach the line) with their finger, you can slow the flow a lot, which should give you plenty of time to hit the calipers with some brake cleaner and reattach the lines. You can scrub the calipers once they're attached..

Just a sidenote, keep your stock bleeder valves around just in case. I bought a set of speed bleeders from SPL and for some reason I couldn't get two of them to work properly, so I had to put the stock bleeders back in and bleed it that way. Maybe it was something I did, maybe it wasn't, I'm not sure, but I'd keep the stock ones around just as a precaution.