just as you wouldn ’ metric ton ( or damn well shouldn ’ deoxythymidine monophosphate ) jump replacing your engine petroleum regularly, the brake fluid is the lifeblood of the brake system and besides needs changing every indeed frequently. Brake fluid is used to transfer the force from your foot stepping on the brake pedal into coerce via the front and rear brakes to stop your cable car. As you can imagine, it ’ randomness subjected to very high temperatures as the brake parts heat up, particularly in the bicycle cylinders of brake drum brakes and the calipers on disk brakes. In rate to work at optimum conditions, the fluid must maintain a certain come of viscosity and a low level of compressibility vitamin a well. If it loses those qualities ( or it ’ south been used for a certain sum of clock time ), then it ’ mho time to replace it .
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Okay, so now you know why it ’ second important to replace your brake fluid. nowadays, how do you go about it ? here ’ s what you ’ ll need :
- Car jack
- Jack stands
- New brake fluid
- Adjustable wrench
- Hand-held vacuum pump (if you don’t have one, you can also use a turkey baster)
- Rubber hose
- Plastic container
- Safety gloves and protective eyewear
- Rags
- Rock or block of wood
- An assistant
Xem thêm: How to check and top up your brake fluid
- Park your car on a safe and level surface. Set the car in gear and put a rock or a block of wood behind the tires to keep it from rolling.
- Make sure you wear your gloves and safety eyewear.
- Open the hood and find the master cylinder containing the brake fluid. This is usually labeled.
- Open the master cylinder cap and place some rags around it to prevent spillage (brake fluid can ruin your car’s paint). Using the vacuum pump or baster, suck out all the old brake fluid.
- Refill the master cylinder up to the fill line with new brake fluid.
- The caliper you will bleed first will depend on your car’s manufacturer. Generally though, it’s the furthest caliper from the brake reservoir. So if the reservoir is in the engine bay on the passenger side, you would start with the driver’s side rear caliper first. Double-check with your manufacturer to be sure.
- Loosen the bolts on your wheels.
- Jack up the car and place it up on a set of jack stands.
- Remove the bolts and wheel of the caliper you’re going to bleed.
- Locate the bleeder valve and plug the hose over it. Place a container on the other end of the hose to catch the fluid.
- Have your assistant sit at the driver’s seat and pump the brakes about four or five times. They should notice the pedal getting stiffer.
- As they hold down the brake pedal, open up the bleeder valve and fluid will come out.
- Repeat the process until fresh brake fluid comes out. The old fluid is normally darker, so you should notice the transition to the fresh, lighter fluid.
- Do the same steps for each of the other calipers. Make sure the brake fluid never gets below the minimum marker in the master cylinder. If this happens, you risk air getting into the system and you’ll have to start the flushing process all over again.
- Once all the calipers have been flushed, top up the brake fluid in the master cylinder back to the fill line.
- Reattach your wheels and set the car back down the ground.
- Before driving, make sure your brake pedal has a solid feel to it when you press down.
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If you ’ re in doubt about this process, confer a automobile mechanic .
Xem thêm: How to check and top up your brake fluid
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