changing brake fluid
 

I was wondering if any of you change your brake fluid by using a "turkey baster method" of sucking out as much of the old fluid & replacing with new fluid instead of going through the whole lengthy process of bleeding the brake system. Any suggestions?

You could probably get away with the turkey baster method with power steering fluid and clutch fluid, doing it a couple of times over a week or two, but I wouldn't do that with the brakes.

When were the pads last replaced if ever?

My mechanic just replaced them recently. Damn, I wish I had told him to change the brake fluid while he was at it. :(

How many pads were replaced? He would have bled the fronts if the fronts were changed and the rears if the rears were changed. The question is if he bled all 4. Why don't you ask him?

Well I actually need to get my mom's car inspected today by him, so I will ask him then. BTW he replaced all 4 pads. Just in case he didn't bleed the brake system for some stupid reason, how much is a reasonable cost to have him bleed them?

i always pondered that idea.
i would think if u started a siphon in the brake resoirvor and kept on pumping and adding never letting the car suck in air u may get away with it???

but ya i had to bled my 15 year old car and yes, the color is GREEN/BROWN versus clear white tan. and u do see bubbles in it.

from what i understand brake fluid doesnt really cycle throughout the system, so no the turkey baster wont work

You wont get the bad stuff out with a Turkey Baster. You have to bleed the system, rust gets pushed back up the plumbing if they are not blead. So just bleed the brakes. It's fairly simple to do.

A mechanic might charge you 1/2 or 1 hour for this service.

Ok, I now understand why the turkey baster method would be no good for replacing brake fluid. I will try to change to fluid myself. One quick (and probably stupid) question - is it ok (safe) to suspend the maxima completely off the ground on 4 jackstands? I ask because the craftsman manual that came with the jackstands said to use only 2 jackstands on only 1 end of a car at a time. Thanks.

Brakes are hydraulic. Don't get air in the brake lines. You will also need someone to help you press the brake pedal down when you are bleeding the brakes. If you don't know what you are doing, I would recommend you get someone who does help do it, or get it done professionally.

u can suspend it, but imo, u should just do 1 wheel at time. unless u are capable of suspending it up and takign wheels off with ease..

I agree, trying to lift the whole car in one shot w/o the proper equipment, all you risk is your life. Use a good floor jack, and jack stands, take the wheel off, and enjoy the process. I love spending the afternoon in the sun wrenching on the car, what's left of a six pack in the cooler............................................ ........ :chuckle: ya good days. Enjoy the maintance and the rest is just fun.

I just bought a Torin 3-ton floorjack that was on sale at pepboys. This thing is massive. I also bought 2 pairs of Craftsman 2 1/4-ton jackstands from Sears a month ago. I've lifted the front end of the max 2 weeks ago to replace the rubber fsb & endlink bushings with ES bushings so i am not a COMPLETE newbie. I actually bled the brakes myself (with the help of Mr. Haynes & mom's foot) on monday, but by alternatively lifting each end of the car for each wheel (4 times total!) which was VERY time & labor consuming. So that is why i am wondering if it is COMPLETELY improper & unsafe to lift both ends of the car at the same time, or if it is ok if i were to do it slowly & carefully.

BTW, the old brake fluid that i bled out looked very dark brown and had just a few air bubbles in it. Although it's not anything dramatic, i do feel a slight improvement in pedal firmness & decrease in fade and the end of a stop. :thumbsup:

When I did my brake conversion to TT brakes and ss lines, I had all four wheels off and the car on jackstands. As clear and obvious as it would seem, one has to remember to BE CAREFUL regardless. Just because its on four stands does not mean it cant fall. The car is still up in the air. I put my car up on jack stands and then take a rubber mallet and hit the stands to make sure they dont slip or slide. I also dont "tug" on any stuck bolt with car on 4 jackstands.

Get a mity vac vaccuum bleeder. Its 30 bucks at Auto Zone. It will save you TONS of time. I completely evacuated my system (starting with the shortest connection left front to drain the MC resevoir) and then worked backwards to the longest section to remove all the fluid. Then I poured fresh ATE Super Blue in and started bleeding from the longest section back up to the shorted.

Really, in all, its not hard at all. takes about 1 hour to set up and do the whole job including clean up.

Also, make sure to buy a brand new bottle of fluid. Dont use a currently opened bottle.

I definitely don't plan on getting under my car if either 1 end or the entire car is on jackstands. I just want to be able to lift the entire car only for 2 occasions: 1) when rotating all 4 tires, and 2) when bleeding all 4 brakes. Otherwise i don't think i would ever need the entire car up on 4 jackstands.