Brake Fluid
#1
03-22-2008
Brake Fluid
I just added brake fluid to my ranger today and went over the max line. Is that ok or should I use a syringe too take the excess fluid out?
Also for a couple days I was getting my ABS light on and occasionally when braking hard I would have my brake light, light up for only a few seconds. The ABS and brake lights did not stay on all the time (after turning on and off the truck the ABS light would turn off) until I applied the brake a certain way. I looked at my fluid and it was low, so now that I filled it should this eliminate the lights from triggering?
Thanks,
Greg
Also for a couple days I was getting my ABS light on and occasionally when braking hard I would have my brake light, light up for only a few seconds. The ABS and brake lights did not stay on all the time (after turning on and off the truck the ABS light would turn off) until I applied the brake a certain way. I looked at my fluid and it was low, so now that I filled it should this eliminate the lights from triggering?
Thanks,
Greg
#4
03-23-2008
Unregistered User
Posts: n/a
as the friction wears the fluid level drops, this is normal and you should under normal circumstances never need to add fluid to the brake system.
my guess is that your pads are very thin and you need to have your brake system professionally checked.
now when you replace the pads and push the calipers back the extra fluid you put in is going to be forced back out of the master cylinder reservoir and will make a nice mess on the floor.
#5
03-23-2008
wrong again bob!
as the friction wears the fluid level drops, this is normal and you should under normal circumstances never need to add fluid to the brake system.
my guess is that your pads are very thin and you need to have your brake system professionally checked.
now when you replace the pads and push the calipers back the extra fluid you put in is going to be forced back out of the master cylinder reservoir and will make a nice mess on the floor.
as the friction wears the fluid level drops, this is normal and you should under normal circumstances never need to add fluid to the brake system.
my guess is that your pads are very thin and you need to have your brake system professionally checked.
now when you replace the pads and push the calipers back the extra fluid you put in is going to be forced back out of the master cylinder reservoir and will make a nice mess on the floor.
Matter of fact, the brake fluid should routinely be flushed due to the hygroscopic nature of brake fluid!!
#6
03-23-2008
Mark, your TOTALLY wrong!! You never force used brake fluid back into the brake system when the caliper pistons are pushed back into the calipers! The contaminated brake fluid can ruin the ABS components! You always open the bleeders on the calipers so the old fluid isn't pushed back into the system!!
Matter of fact, the brake fluid should routinely be flushed due to the hygroscopic nature of brake fluid!!
Matter of fact, the brake fluid should routinely be flushed due to the hygroscopic nature of brake fluid!!
#7
03-23-2008
So your saying that every time you do brakes, you need to flush the lines add new fluid and bleed?? I've never done this and I've never had any problems with my brakes or ABS. And I also don't understand how the fluid gets 'contaminated' by being in the brake system?? Am I just having a brain fart here??
#8
03-23-2008
#9
03-23-2008
#11
03-24-2008
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: lima/dublin, ohio
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since im going through schooling right now, there teaching marks method. i asked my teacher and he said he usually teaches both ways BUT they lean towards the method of using the c-clamp and the old pad to push the piston back, he told the class in the real world if its quicker do it. if you can work fast and efficient then ull be making good money.
So bob everytime i replace pads or service rotors im supposed to bleed my brakes? it might be that people that go to wyotech and unoh are being taught the wrong way cause when i worked at Midwestern Auto Group, they didnt do it your way. hmm this isnt just crap cars, im talking voltswagon, audi, lotus, some aston martins and saab.
So bob everytime i replace pads or service rotors im supposed to bleed my brakes? it might be that people that go to wyotech and unoh are being taught the wrong way cause when i worked at Midwestern Auto Group, they didnt do it your way. hmm this isnt just crap cars, im talking voltswagon, audi, lotus, some aston martins and saab.
#12
03-24-2008
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: lima/dublin, ohio
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im at a tech school and its all hands on, but to teach auto tech class you have to being certified, so we have a teacher with master ase and one with ford certified. they both just told me the same thing.
who knows these days
well to answer the original question, just get the code pulled simple as that
who knows these days
well to answer the original question, just get the code pulled simple as that
#13
03-24-2008
wrong again bob!
as the friction wears the fluid level drops, this is normal and you should under normal circumstances never need to add fluid to the brake system.
my guess is that your pads are very thin and you need to have your brake system professionally checked.
now when you replace the pads and push the calipers back the extra fluid you put in is going to be forced back out of the master cylinder reservoir and will make a nice mess on the floor.
as the friction wears the fluid level drops, this is normal and you should under normal circumstances never need to add fluid to the brake system.
my guess is that your pads are very thin and you need to have your brake system professionally checked.
now when you replace the pads and push the calipers back the extra fluid you put in is going to be forced back out of the master cylinder reservoir and will make a nice mess on the floor.
I certainly have enjoyed this lively debate, though we could do without some of the animosity. Mark certainly describes the conventional way brakes usually get done. I use this method myself and have for years. Bob makes valid points about fluid degrading, though I don't subscribe to "routine" opening the caliper bleeder. I have done that if excessive force is required to push the piston back. BUT, that usually means the flex line is bad, acting like a restriction or checkvalve, not allowing fluid to flow back to the MC. You'll usually see that side's pads are much more worn.
The typical wrencher surely doesn't have the tool required to cycle the ABS motor to do a complete system bleed properly. I think opening the caliper bleeders is a window of opportunity to induce air into the system, risking an ABS problem.
If your brake fluid is getting black, there's nothing wrong with sucking most of it out of the MC reservoir and putting in some fresh, coincident with installing new pads/shoes.
Face it, most of us aren't driving autocross, making the calipers glow, boiling the brake fluid......
#14
03-24-2008
#15
03-24-2008
#16
03-24-2008
Ok Einstein, lets see if you can understand page 6 of this link:
http://www.wrenchead.ca/cardone_brak...eed%20help.pdf
http://www.wrenchead.ca/cardone_brak...eed%20help.pdf
#17
03-24-2008
#20
03-24-2008
Maurice, and Mark,
Please check out page 6 of this link.....this will help:
http://www.wrenchead.ca/cardone_brak...eed%20help.pdf
Please check out page 6 of this link.....this will help:
http://www.wrenchead.ca/cardone_brak...eed%20help.pdf
yet again you still can't answer a question that has been asked of you....
#21
03-24-2008
Here is the paragraph on page 6 that you seem to have missed:
"Never push caliper/wheel cylinder pistons
back in their housing without opening the
bleeder valve first. Unless bleeder is opened
contaminated fluid will be forced back
through system and may cause ABS
components to fail."
#22
03-24-2008
#24
03-24-2008
#25
03-24-2008
Unregistered User
Posts: n/a
Maurice, if the brake fluid has been broken down from heat, it is considered contaminated!
Here is the paragraph on page 6 that you seem to have missed:
"Never push caliper/wheel cylinder pistons
back in their housing without opening the
bleeder valve first. Unless bleeder is opened
contaminated fluid will be forced back
through system and may cause ABS
components to fail."
Here is the paragraph on page 6 that you seem to have missed:
"Never push caliper/wheel cylinder pistons
back in their housing without opening the
bleeder valve first. Unless bleeder is opened
contaminated fluid will be forced back
through system and may cause ABS
components to fail."
contaminated fluid means there was a foreign substance introduced into the brake system DUH!!!!!!
your page 6 link is also wrong bob!
if the so called contaminated fluid is at the caliper then you would have no pedal and a loss of brake pressure. plus 99% of the time when a brake system gets contaminated all of the rubber seals swell and are ruined. resulting in total rubber parts replacement.
bob you need to try stating facts from YOU not a link to someone else's BS
