I'm thinking about flushing out my brake fluid myself. I've had my car for 12 years, and to my knowledge, it has not been flushed ever since. How easy/hard is it to do? Fellow Bricksters, lend me your knowledge....

As RStarkie warns, best not to use pedal to pump fluid out. Use pressure or suction to replace fluid. I use suction but the setup is a bit complicated.

In addition to the other good comments I think you might want to budget one or two rebuild calipers in the list. Your bleed valves will be stick and you will find it very like one or two will snap.

I picked up a couple of extra master cylinder reservoir caps at the pick and pull. Removed the vent in the center of the cap and drilled it so it would accept a Schrader valve.

Remove as much fluid as you can with a turkey baster. It will only reach one of the chambers. I removed the reservoir and cleaned it out but that is not necessary. Top up with fresh fluid and replace the cap. Attach a "frame" type bicycle pump. I used the sequence that is used to bleed the system and went around the car (I had the wheels off and on jack stands) opening the bleeder screw and then just used the pump to force the fluid out the open bleeder. Make sure you don't let the fluid level drop to where you would introduce air into the system. You don't even have to close the bleeder screw to remove the cap and top up the reservoir. Once you get clean fluid out of the bleeder screw you are done with that part of circuit. With it being 12 years old I would guess the old stuff is very dark. Continue around the car until all the old fluid has been discharged from all the lines in the system.

If you haven't done anything to the system for 12 years I would not under any circumstances consider trying to use the pedal to create the pressure to discharge the old fluid. I would bet that once that master cylinder seal was pushed down the bore to new territory its life would be over. There is a good chance there is a lot of crud built up in the bore and if the seals ride over it they will be ruined. Also you may want to use Kroil or PB Blaster on the bleeder screws several days in advance to try to avoid the bad experienc of breaking them off. While in the process of flushing remove the screws completely and give them a coat of antiseize. Good luck. Systems that are flushed every two years usually last the life of the car, but 12 years is a pretty good run in itself.

Randy

Considering that it should have been done about 6 times in this period, let's just say it really should be done this spring... There's a great how-to story here: http://www.cabinnaise.com/vpage/242dl.htm
You may even be motivated to do the struts as well!

Erling.
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