My guess is its not good enough to change just the fluid in the reservoir... Do I have to bleed the brakes.. (I think I know the answer I just never have good luck bleeding brakes. open valve, pump brake, close valve, repeat, repeat, repeat...........)
Steve
Yes.
Remove all of the fluid from the master cylinder reservoir. A turkey baster works all right. When you get down near the bottom part of the reservoir, a syringe works pretty good. Don't use a paper towel or anything to wipe out the reservoir. Just leave it alone. Refill the reservoir with clean fluid and bleed the brakes.
That might be your problem. The sequence is to hold the brake pedal down, then open the bleeder valve. When you open the valve, the brake pedal should go all the way down. Close the valve and then have your assistant reapply pressure to the brake pedal. Repeat the process until you have clean fluid coming out of all 4 cylinders. Check your manual for the proper sequence to bleed each of the wheel cylinders. Note that I like to use a section of clear Tygon style tubing to attach to the bleeder valves to direct the fluid into a waste container. Using clear tubing also facilitates knowing when the fluid is coming out clean and all the air is gone. You should also use a closed ended wrench on the bleeder valves. Using an open ended wrench may strip the bleeder valves as they can get stuck over the years and become difficult to loosen.
Eric
You may have a point there! I'm also concerned about the master cylinder traveling to an area that doesn't usually get used and getting scored then leaking. I think I ran into this problem once?...
"comcastss news groups" wrote in news:9dednQ0SyYAgf-jYnZ2dnUVZ snipped-for-privacy@conversent.net:
On a '98 I wouldn't worry too much about that.
And it is correct to apply pressure and hold, THEN open the bleed nipple. The pedal will go to the floor very fast and you'll hear the thump. Close nipple, THEN have helper raise pedal. Repeat. Every eight or so pedal- presses, top up the MC.
Bleed right rear, left front; left rear, right front. I find bleed sequence isn't really that important anyway, so you could do rear (any order) then front (any order) if you want.
And if you have ABS, you'll need to bleed twice, once before exercising the ABS, and once after.
popular misconception - perhaps from the days of cast iron cylinders and crappy detroit seals. honda [nissin] use alloy cylinders and very high quality seals. they last a very long time and are not generally subject to that kind of problem.
i just rebuilt my master cylinder and posted pics of the reason for the leak on 11/18 - the car's 17 years old and i doubt the brake fluid had ever been changed before i bought the car 2.5 years ago. the inside of the cylinder was perfectly clean and completely un-scored. cylinders /do/ leak, and this generally coincides with flushing the fluid in the system, but it's more commonly due to slight changes in the seal when suddenly subject to fresh fluid chemistry - it shrinks slightly.
bleed the system per the book - pedal to the floor. it is essential that the cylinder withstand this action - which might be required in emergency braking. if for some reason it /does/ fail after using full cylinder travel, the cylinder needs to be replaced or reconditioned, and it's best you figure that out now rather than "test" it in the wrong circumstances.
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