hey guys
i have just picked up a set of 380 brakes and will hopefully be fitting them tomorrow
fitting the brakes and discs is the easy part but i sorta know how to bleed the brakes but just wanna make sure its right
i know you need a clear hose that fits tightly over the nipple and you need to open it while the brake pedal is being pressed down slowly, then tighten back up before the brake pedal is released
i have also picked up some new brake fluid, ended up getting some pbr dot 4 brake fluid
also got me a 10mm brake line spanner

also would i need to remove the brake fluid in the master cylinder?
pretty sure it got topped up at the last service and im not sure what they used :confused:

any info would be great :)
cheers rob

just add in the new fluid and pump it through. Or if you have access to a suction bottle you can use that

i have a tool that is used for putting fluid into a tranny
that would do the job yeah?
i brought this tool and have never used it lol

not really unless it has suction. The brake fluid reservoirs on our cars are pretty big anyway so you shouldn't have issues keeping the level topped up.

dunno if its suction or not, hmmm
if i was to bleed the brakes with the old fluid then just top it up with the new one is that ok?
or is it better to flush and start again?

also whats the best thing to use the clean the face of the brake disc?
has afew grime marks on it

This is the type of suction bottle I have at work.
http://www.panteraplace.com/Tech%20Info/Brake%202.jpg

Just start to bleed the fluid out of the reservoir and begin topping up the level with the new fluid, when the fluid turns "clear" or becomes "clean" it'll be right. You may need two bottles of brake fluid if you're doing it this way. So yeah, flush it out and do it again.

As far as the grime on the brake discs goes, just buy brake cleaner in a can. Just whatever you can get at supercheap or autobarn.

This should give you a good idea of how to flush the brake fluid aswell, except in our cars we should flush in the order of Left hand rear, right hand rear, left hand front then right hand front.
http://www.panteraplace.com/page96.htm

Pump the pedal to bring up pressure, release nipple, fluid should pour out. once it stops coming out, tighten the nipple back up, and pump pedal again, and repeat
Safer way of doing it

so i'll have to bleed the brakes on all four?
or can i just remove the old fliud in the reservoir and refill it with the new stuff then just bleed the front brakes?
or is it bad mixing brake fluid?
thanks for your help so far :)

so i'll have to bleed the brakes on all four?
or can i just remove the old fliud in the reservoir and refill it with the new stuff then just bleed the front brakes?
or is it bad mixing brake fluid?
thanks for your help so far :)
I'm far from a mechanic, so if my response isn't technically correct please let me know.
But, I would play it safe and bleed all four brakes.
Mixing fluid...you can do it....or else how do you top up fluid?

Just keep an eye on the fluid level and slowly but surely bleed each line. I usually call a mate over to sit in the car and pump the pedal while I bleed each line out. Ensures you have fresh high temp brake fluid available!

thats what im thinking, bleeding all 4 lines as im not sure what fluid mitsubishi use
got my brother coming over hopefully today so we can get it done
but yeah my plans to drain the fluid in the reservoir and top it up, then bleed all 4 brakes and then top up the reservoir
hopefully so be all good then :)
does anyone know what brake fluid mitisbishi use? if its dot 4 then i'll just use that

thats what im thinking, bleeding all 4 lines as im not sure what fluid mitsubishi use
got my brother coming over hopefully today so we can get it done
but yeah my plans to drain the fluid in the reservoir and top it up, then bleed all 4 brakes and then top up the reservoir
hopefully so be all good then :)
does anyone know what brake fluid mitisbishi use? if its dot 4 then i'll just use that

dont need to drain it mate, thats what bleeding it will do, push out all the old crap.
I used some stuff from repco, think its PBR gold, has a boiling point of 650deg and its only $10 a bottle, get 2 bottles.

So yeah no need to drain the reservoir, just start bleeding one line at a time until you start to see fresh fluid come out of the clear PVC hose in the end.
DOT 4 is fine

so i dont need to empty it even tho its full?
i've got a bottle of pbr dot 4 brake fluid (red bottle), used this stuff before in my old car and it was pretty good
got it for 7 bucks i think
might go and grab another one tho

Usually you suck as much fluid out of the master cylinder resorvoir as possible without having it go under the level of the lines so you dont introduce air into the system,then top up the resorvoir with the new fluid and keep bleeding the calipers on each corner till you get the new fluid out of all the nipple,thats how i do it,and it helps if the fluid is a different colour so you can easily tell when its flushed

That way you dont spend time bleeding the nipples when you can just suck it out,quicker aswell

Steve

just a quick question, how do you bleed the rears?
same as the fronts?

surely do mate

If your car has ABS,have your engine idiling as you do the bleed,LR-RF-RR-LF thats the sequence.

No need for that mate.

And you bleed the brakes in order of the greatest distance away from the booster. But as long as no air is in the system, it shouldn't really matter too much.

Be careful if you decide to suck it out of the reservoir. It is so easy to slip and end up with fluid going everywhere. Brake fluid is quite a good paint stripper and you never seem to be able to clean it out of the nooks and crannies in an engine bay. Its only when the paint bubbles that you realise you missed some. (been there)
If it was me I would be just bleeding to change the fluid. It doesn't take long nor use a lot of fluid.
It sounds like you haven't had a lot of experience with brakes yet. Good on you for asking questions, this is how you learn.
You have to have a think about what you are doing and why. Brake fluid is hydroscopic, which means it absorbs moisture (in this case from the air that goes in and out of the reservoir as the brakes are used) This does two things.
1) it lowers the boiling point of the fluid. (under normal driving this is not usually a problem, its only when the brakes are working hard, generating a lot of heat, ie coming down a mountain, towing, or a trackday, that it can get you. Once the water in the fluid boils it becomes steam. steam is a gas and is compressable. which means all of a sudden the peddle goes to the floor.)( this is when you are really glad yo got the brown trim model LOL)
2) it also allows the internal components to start rusting.

This is why it is recommended to change the fluid every 12 months or so.
When you bleed, it is essential that you get all the air out of the system so make sure you don't let the fluid level drop too low in the reservoir.

Sorry if this sounds like a lesson, but I'm an old fart with 2 sons (17 & 18) and, I work in the TAFE system where I see lots of young blokes. I have seen and heard of, some really dangerous things done to cars, purely because the person doing it didn't understand fully what they were doing. Your life depends on your brake system, you can't afford to stuff up because you were not aware of something. Don't ever be afraid to ask questions, no matter how "dumb" you might think it is. It might save you life one day.

regards
bollie7

There is usually a lot of rubber debris in the brake fluid - it is what turns the brake fluid dark. I had a front calliper shatter its housing because the rubber debris locked the piston in the bore (my interpretation anyway). Whenever I buy a "new" car I find the time to drain all the fluid, dismantle all the callipers to clean out the bores, check for scoring and replace any rubber bits. Good time to check the discs and replace pads if needed. Wash out the master cylinder with clean brakefluid and a syringe, or remove it and strip it right down. Regrease the sliding pins of the callipers and reassemble. Fill up the master cylinder and open the furthest bleed nipple and let gravity do its thing. Bleeding by pumping, open/close the bleeder valve. Work your way to the next longest brake line. Road test, and rebleed if needed.

A fluid change without a full cleanout and inspection of all brake parts leaves a lot of rubber in the system and the fluid turns dark very quickly. I'm paranoid about brakes and like to know everything is torqued to the right setting, and the callipers are clean and being fed clean fluid.

:confused: is there any special way when it comes to pumping the pedal?
the way i've been shown is to open the nipple then get someone to press down slowly on the brake pedal till it comes to a stop, then tighten nipple and realese the brake pedal, then repeat until air is removed
but i have read that doing this is bad for the master cyclinder because the washer/pin in there can go down further then normal and stuff the master cyclinder or something :confused:
dunno if its true or not

oh and after running out of time last weekend this will hopefully be done tomorrow
if not i'll ask a mate to come round during the week

:confused: is there any special way when it comes to pumping the pedal?
the way i've been shown is to open the nipple then get someone to press down slowly on the brake pedal till it comes to a stop, then tighten nipple and realese the brake pedal, then repeat until air is removed
but i have read that doing this is bad for the master cyclinder because the washer/pin in there can go down further then normal and stuff the master cyclinder or something :confused:
dunno if its true or not

oh and after running out of time last weekend this will hopefully be done tomorrow
if not i'll ask a mate to come round during the week

that is basically what i did. because mine were brembos though i had to do a pattern, dont know if this applies to 380 brakes. this was so that all air has been released.

Yeah mate your right, just don't be afraid to give it a good flush, grab a bottle or 2 of brake fluid, a good flush never hurt no one :)