grub-2001z28

I've tried numerous searches and cant seem to find anything that tells how much fluid the brake system will hold. I plan on flushing out all the old fluid and replacing it with valvoline synpower fluid. My car has about 40K miles on it, so I figure its about time. Plus, i just upgraded the rotors and pads, so I might as well go the rest of the way and get some fresh fluid in there too.

Will it take 1 Qt, 2, more?

NHRATA01

iTrader: (10)

1 of those bottles of Valvoline synpower was enough for me to bleed the front and rear lines clear and replace the fluid in the master. I think I had a decent amount left over too (which is basically useless since brake fluid goes bad once its been exposed to air).

steve-d

iTrader: (7)

Small Bottle is probably enough.
1) go to KMart and buy a turkey baster. Very expensive: probably $1.22
2) Suck out old fluid and replenish w/new. You dont want to flush crap through the lines any more than necessary. Refill w/new fluid.
3) Bleed as you would furthest to nearest to MC. Don't let it go dry.

BTW, you can keep a larger bottle around for a long time. Here's a photographer's dark room technique for keeping air out of plastic chemical bottles: Just squeeze the bottle until all air is pushed out and the fluid is at the top of the opening. Seal tight. The brake fluid won't absorb moisture from the air in the bottle 'cause there isn't any.

BTW, do you know what they used to do before the advent of plastic bottles to achieve the above end? They used marbles to take up the lost volume and reduce the air in the bottle!

Regards
Steve

mitchntx

iTrader: (14)

To reduce the amount of fluid required, suck out as much from the master cylinder as possible, like Steve suggested. This reduces the amount of "mixed" (old and new fluid) that fills the reservoir.

grub-2001z28

Thanks for the info guys.

the 1 qt jug worked just fine, with a litle left over. I used a little more than I probably had to, since I wanted to make sure I had all the old stuff flushed out. I wasted a little bit, but brake fluid is cheap and I feel better knowing its all new.

mitchntx

iTrader: (14)

Once you expose the fluid to the environment, it begins absorbing moisture. The shelf life is almost non-existant. Use it or pitch it ...

Bigvic

I always hear this about the leftover brake fluid. But I always wondered if that were true wouldn't all brake fluid be bad right off the shelf. Because if you think about it, I seriously doubt that at the brake fluid factory there is a controlled 0% humidity environment during the bottling process.

I agree that the fluid will try to achieve equilibrium moisture content with the atmosphere when exposed, but if you give it minimal atmosphere to react with (i.e. squeezing out the air from the bottle), then the final moisture content of the sitting fluid should be minimal and unnoticeable. Just like steve-d mentioned about purging the bottles. Do that and limit the amount of time that the lid is off the bottle, and you should be okay keeping used bottles of brake fluid.

mitchntx

iTrader: (14)

You know, I bet you are correct. It's urban legend ... a conspiracy perpetrated by brake fluid manufacturers to get us to buy more $.99 cans of brake fluid.

Bigvic

I'm glad you see it my way.