changing brake fluid

82 f100

the brake fluid on my old truck has never been changed.

two questions;

1-is it necessary to change the brake fluid? 2-if so, what is the procedure for draining & refilling the system?

thanks

Not a bad idea.

A brief description:

David Jones djonesLSidaho.com

` On Fri, Oct 10, 2003, after breakfast at 10:08am........ snipped-for-privacy@charter.net (steve) wondered over to the keyboard and posted this........

82 f100 The brake fluid on my old truck has never been changed.

Two questions;

1) Is it necessary to change the brake fluid?

2) If so, what is the procedure for draining & refilling the system?

I should have noted-it has power brakes. everthing is working ok right now.

thanks, "steve" ========== ========== Steve, answers to your questions....

1) under the right conditions...yes...

2) I'm not going to tell you....

3) (the question you didn't ask)....no....I would not suggest you do it to a 21 year old system that has the original fluid in it.....when the system is causing no problems.

4) (the other question you didn't ask)....because you are liable to stir up all the gunk that has formed in the system and cause yourself more harm than good.

Scrib Abell ~:~has a feeling this thread could turn into a "how and why" seminar~:~

|82 f100 | |the brake fluid on my old truck has never been changed. | |two questions; |1-is it necessary to change the brake fluid?

Absolutely. Most owners manuals specify every 2 years. Do it ASAP.

|2-if so, what is the procedure for draining & refilling the system?

I'm lazy, so here's what I do:

Park the truck level or nose up. Run water under the truck to wet down the concrete under each wheel. Open all the bleed screws in the driveway. Go do something else for an hour or so. Once all bleeders stop bleeding, close them and hose the brake fluid off the driveway. (Spare me the lecture) Fill MC reservoir with clean brake fluid. Cap bottle and MC quickly. Open Right Rear (only) bleeder. Watch it until a clear, uninterrupted stream of new fluid comes out steadily. Close bleeder. Repeat in turn for LR, RF, then LF. Be careful not to let the MC run out of fluid, or you have to start over. Top off and check your pedal. If it's not firm, you may have to chase the air out with convention 2-person bleeding. I've only had to do that on one car. the other alternative is that your MC may be bypassing, in which case bleeding doesn't help.

If all that isn't appealing, check with the local Jiffy Lube clone. They might do it cheap enough to make it not worth the bother :) Good luck.

Rex in Fort Worth

Steve,

1-Yes! 2- (two-persons needed) Procedure: Take a suction gun ($15 @ NAPA) or your wifes turkey baster and suck the old fluid outta the MC reservoir and refill with new clean fluid. Go to the furthest wheel from the Master cylinder. Have person #1 pump the brakes up and hold them. Person #2 places a box-end wrench on the bleeder screw, takes a piece of 1/8" rubber tubing and places one end on the bleeer screw outlet and the other end in a clear pop bottle. He then opens the screw slightly, watching the old fluid flow into the bottle. When the pedal hits the floor, person #1 hollers "floor!" and holds it there until person #2 yells "pump 'em" and then "hold 'em". Person #2 again opens the bleeder until #1 yells "floor!". You'll probably have to do this 10-12 times until the fluid comes out clean and then move to the next furthest wheel (left rear). Gradually move around the truck until all are bled. Person #1 will have to watch the reservior level and refill as needed during the process but if you do it right you'll never lose pressure or get air in the system. The tubing and bottle will keep the mess to a minimum. Plan on at least a quart and a half of new fluid. More if you screw up:-) Good luck!

Randy Bronco Fanatic