Flushing brake system, how much fluid?

[gripdriver]

I am wanting to flush my entire brake system. How much fluid should i get to cover the job?

I am planning to use Castrol SRF Dot 4 fluid which comes in 1 liter bottles. I have read that some use a little over 1 liter, while others use just under 2 liters, while others use a little more than 2 liters.

I know it all depends on efficency and trying not to waste to much fluid.

But id rather not purchase 4 liters at $65 a liter to find out i only need to buy 2 and have plenty left.

Also, is there a good way to flush out the fluid in the ABS system during the lines and calipers flush?

Thanks.

 

[TMSBOSS]

Since you will likely be flushing by color, monitoring the color of fluid coming from bleeders, I would go with two liters.

Are you flushing like for like?? Is SRF in the system now??

 

[Grant 302]

I think you should be fine if you buy 2 liters. And plan to use just 1.

I use a turkey baster to empty the reservoir first. If you don't want to do that, you could flush first with a cheaper DOT4 fluid for the first pass so you aren't 'wasting' the SRF to do that.

 

[gripdriver]

Its oem dot 3 fluid in the system now. The clutch is seperate from the brakes.

I will be replacing all 4 brake lines as well. So i should be fine with 2 liters of SRF correct?

 

[TMSBOSS]

Yes, two should work out. You will be pushing out lots of air with the line change. Remove all the old dot 3 from the reservoir first, as suggested above. Take your time and watch for fluid color to clear up at each wheel.

Do you have a brake fluid catch bottle? This will catch most fluid and allows you to see the color of the fluid as it flows from the bleeder. Assume the old will be a little darker than the new. When the fluid "Lightens up" the new is at the wheel. Ensure air is gone and you are done.

Good luck.

 

[Grant 302]

The line changes make it a little more of a crap shoot and you will go into the 2nd bottle just to get all the air out. I would use a pint or two of other DOT4 first and try to keep from going to the 2nd SRF bottle.

In other words, I would change the lines and get all the air out of all corners using $5/pt. DOT4. Turkey baster the reservoir, then flush the whole thing using 1 liter of SRF.

 

[gripdriver]

I ordered 2 liters of SRF, ill pickup 2 cheap bottles of Dot 4 at autozone to flush it as suggested.

What about flushing the old dot 3 out of the ABS? Should i flush the system with the cheap Dot 4, then go drive the car and engage the ABS a few times, then go back in the garage and flush it all with the SRF? the cheap new dot 4 will be in the ABS, But im ok with that.

Is that how you guys deal with the ABS hydrolics?

 

[Grant 302]

That's essentially what I did, but the ABS valves should be cycled with an 'IDS' tool to bleed them properly.

 

[gripdriver]

Welp, installed my ss lines, and flushed the fluid out today. Pedal feels soft for some reason. The master went below half full once as i kept it topped off so i highly doubt i have air in the system.

Im wondering if the bleeder screws were sucking in air past the threads?

Tomorrow morning im going to pack grease around the base of the bleeder screws to mitigate any air being sucked in.

 

[Grant 302]

Could be, if you back out the screw too far in the process. I usually leave the box end on and make a very short turn to open/close. I don't think you need the grease.

 

[gripdriver]

Could be, if you back out the screw too far in the process. I usually leave the box end on and make a very short turn to open/close. I don't think you need the grease.

Yeah, in the morning im going to redo all corners again with a slightly different technique.

Also when i bled the brembo 4 POT calipers i bled the outside half first, then the inside half.

I have read conflicting info about which half to bleed first, and surprisingly that conflicting info seems to be split 50/50 after reading porsche, sti, and evo forums about brembo 4 POT bleeding procedure.

 

[JAJ]

Yeah, in the morning im going to redo all corners again with a slightly different technique.

Also when i bled the brembo 4 POT calipers i bled the outside half first, then the inside half.

I have read conflicting info about which half to bleed first, and surprisingly that conflicting info seems to be split 50/50 after reading porsche, sti, and evo forums about brembo 4 POT bleeding procedure.

Bleed the outside, the inside and then the outside again. Works every time.

 

[RES_22]

Bleed the outside, the inside and then the outside again. Works every time.

Absolutely true...and tap lightly on the caliper with a 14 or 15mm box end....somewhere close to the crossover pipe (or internal channel). This will help dislodge small air bubbles. It works. Well.

 

[gripdriver]

So this morning i rebled all the calipers one time each, on the fronts i bled the insides, then the outsides. I also bled both fittings on the master cylinder. The brakes feel better than they did with the rubber lines, but they still dont feel solid.

I took it for a test drive and engaged ABS a few times on pavement. Everything seems to be fine. Next week ill re-bleed the front calipers in this order just for good measure. Outside, inside, outside and ill tap on the caliper crossover section to hopefully help in any way possible.

I also ordered a Blowfish master cylinder brace because as my wife pumped the brakes with her weak legs i witnessed a ton of firewall flex behind the master cylinder. Hopefully the brace helps.

 

[gripdriver]

I just read in another thread about brakes that someone sugfested cycling the handbrake during rear caliper bleeding.

I did not do this, my handbrake was on the entire time.

Also with the car off tje brake pedal is solid, turn the car on and its mushy until about 1/2 way through the pedal travel.

 

[VoodooBoss]

Did you drain the reservoir? If so you're not supposed to do that. If you did you'll need to take it to your local dealer and have them bleed the brakes using their process. I forget the exact details on that but maybe @Grant 302 has the details.

 

[gripdriver]

Resivior was slightly below half full once, never drained and it never sucked in air.

 

[JAJ]

I just read in another thread about brakes that someone sugfested cycling the handbrake during rear caliper bleeding.

I did not do this, my handbrake was on the entire time.

Also with the car off the brake pedal is solid, turn the car on and its mushy until about 1/2 way through the pedal travel.

If you changed the rear lines with the handbrake engaged and didn't follow Ford's bleeding instructions, then there might be air in there.

Bleed the rears with the handbrake engaged, cycle the handbrake from on to off 5 times and bleed again. Keep doing this until there's no air coming out.

 

[gripdriver]

Will do, thanks.

 

[gripdriver]

If you changed the rear lines with the handbrake engaged and didn't follow Ford's bleeding instructions, then there might be air in there.

Bleed the rears with the handbrake engaged, cycle the handbrake from on to off 5 times and bleed again. Keep doing this until there's no air coming out.

So after a week of daily driving, today i rebled the rear calipers cycling the handbrake 5 times and bleeding. I did get a little air out of the rear calipers, so thats good.

I am installing new G-Loc R6 pads front and rear for street/daily use.

The issue i have that i cannot seem to solve is the mushy brake pedal when the car is on and the engine is running. It feels like crap. My 01 jeep with stainless lines feels way better than this mustang.

If i pump the brakes at a stop, i can get the pedal to hit the floor.

What can i do to get a solid pedal feel that my jeep, or hondas have with stainless lines? Why is this a pain in the butt?