Brake fluid change on a CK2A Lancer - Fluid Changed !

[venum]

I have recently noticed that my brake fluid in the fluid reservoir, in the engine compartment (duh) is a bit dark coloured.

it is sort of light brown in colour, not the golden colour that it used to be.

I know that this is usually a sign that the fluid needs changing.

I have never done anything with the brakes on the car since I got it except change the front disc pads (twice) and clean out the drums ever so often.

I want to change the brake fluid.

I need some advice on this > what should I be aware of in particular

I don't want to go by my mechanic and tell him "change the brake fluid" and leave it at that. While the man good, I want to know what going on too.

what brake fluid should I use? any special recommendations?
(default is the ole school one in the yellow bottle and black cap, name evades me right now)

Also I want to know about any recommendations for better performance brakes (discs & shoes)

the car is a 1999 CK2A Lancer, JDM Spec, 1.5L

currently running Daishin discs

so 2nrs & Mitsu men help me out here:
1. What do I need to know about the brake fluid change, average $$$ that I am looing at

2. brake disc and drum upgrades (just the discs and drums, NOT the whole braking system)

[Rudman]

Aye me again. Honestly, people go say Im stalking you.

Anyways... I recently changed my fluid in the CK2 as well. I try to follow a 2 year change interval. I did my service at Masterserve, on Scott street, Sando (right next to EAT IT). The advisor, Wendel, real cool.

Can't remember what the service charge was but the cost involved was service charge+ cost of fluid. Prices were revised recently, so this might change.

I used 3 1/2 of the small bottles of Lockheed brake fluid. This was a DOT 3 fluid. However refering to the mitsu manual that came with my car, they said our systems can handle either DOT 3 or 4 fluids. I don't know what is the major advantage DOT 4 has over DOT 3 other than higher boiling points (hence more resistant to boiling during extreme braking). You could investigate this further as one of your brake upgrades, changing over from DOT 3 to DOT 4, as U are changing fluid.

my 2 cents

[blazing]

things you need:
8 mm spanner,
wheel spanner ( of course),
hose to fit on bleeder nipple,
fluid catcher,
DOT 4 fluid


and a second person to pump and mash brakes.


Tips:
keep alot of rags close by,

monitor fluid level closely, you do not want air getting back into the system,

do not get on paint,

start at the wheel farthest from the driver,


Let the attendant mash the pedal 3 times and hold down. All you have to do is crack the nipple while the attendant is depressing the pedal and watch the clear tubing until no more air bubbles are escaping. Make sure he does not come off the pedal while the nipple is open.

Do this for each wheel about 5-10 times, keeping your order in check.

[Hook]

I've found it to be a one-man job if u use one of those one-way valveslike what they use on ur vacuum lines (but don't pull one off ur engine, the brake fluid corrodes the valve making it useful for only one bleding session) and a couple feet of clear hose into ur catch pan

the rest of the tools are just as blazing stated above there..just work the clear tube onto the bleeder nipple and put the one-way valve on the end such that fluid only flows out (that way u don't get any air getting back in through ur bleeder)...u're bleeding in this order (furthest from the master cylinder to nearest) which for a RHD car would mean, Rear Left-> Rear Right-> Front Left-> Front Right and then the master cylinder last

with the engine off, pump up the brakes first and top up ur fluid if necessary then crack open the bleeder just a little and pump the pedal about 10 times or so...tighten up the bleeder and move ur apparattus on to the next wheel

NOTE: BE VERY CAREFUL NOT TO GET ANY BRAKE FLUID ON UR PAINT JOB!!!

there's a thread somewhere here where I put up some vital info on brake fluid if I find it I'll post the link

[Hook]

http://forums.trinituner.com/forums/vie ... hp?t=48032

[~Vēġó~]

changing brake fluid on an ABS system is the same technique as directed above????

[venum]

thanx for the response fellas

i will investigate further

any more info is still welcome

[JUS4SHO]

THIS IS HOW U DO IT BLEED THE LEFT BACK WHEEL FIRST , THEN THE RIGHT FRONT, RIGHT BACK,LEFT FRONT, JUST KEP PUMPING UNTIL CLEAN FLUID RUNS THROUGH AT EACH LINE

THE LOCKHEED DOT 3 IS GOOD , I USE THE PYROL DOT 4 WHICH IS A SYNTETIC NO PROBLEM YET WITH IT

[Hook]

^^^ how come? the Lancers different or wha?

I always knew the process to be starting from furthest from the master cylinder to the nearest (RL-RR-FL-FR) then bleeding the master cylinder last

[JUS4SHO]

master cylinder to be done first cause if u allow air to get in you would have wasted your time doing the wheels

the furthest in the lancer is the left back but , the left back and right front share the same line comming fron the cylinder

[~Vēġó~]

changing brake fluid on an ABS system is the same technique as directed above????

well is it??

[InDeForest]

Yeah same thing my ride has, you need to START with the furthest from the master cylinder, then do diagonal opposites, at least, this is the same on my ride, so left back. right front. right back, left front, and of course left hand drives of the same system would be the opposide, and youre topping up the reservoir in between each bleeding.

[blazing]

changing brake fluid on an ABS system is the same technique as directed above????

well is it??

nope

its almost the same, key word being almost.

[solo]

very informative thread here.....

[mitsu_crazy]

^^ what he said...

[venum]

thanx for the response fellas

next week Sat I going to do the change

do you suggest that I change any of the rubbers in the process too?

what about brake pad\shoes upgrade for the Lancer?

open to suggestions

Rudi I know where you can get those EBC brakes that you want, PM meh or e-mail me

[JUS4SHO]

yeah mini city have the ebc green stuff front pads $695 dah the only thing i use in my car that doh fail when they heat up, as for rubbers to replace i dont thing u need to right now

[blazing]

an indication of bad seals will be the discolouration of the fluid, but since you havent changed in a while you will have to wait and see how the fresh fluid holds up.

[JUS4SHO]

^^^ daz right, he did said the fluid is looking light brown, it was dark (kinda black) then that is ah indication of bad master cylinder rubbers

[Hook]

not necessarily eh.....because of the hydroscopic nature of brake fluid, it'll pull moisture str8 out of the atmosphere at times...so over time, even with good MC rubbers it'll get discoloured anyway...
when I bought my car, I changed them and bled the system but no maintenance was done in the 18mths that followed aside from topping up..needless to say, with our humid climate, it turned almost like old engine oil and boiled to rass goin to Maracas one day..SPONGY BRAKES HAD MY LIFE FLASHING BEFORE MY EYES!!!

I link up with junki's mechanic and the dude told me the rubbers were bad, but upon inspection they sealed perfectly...I still changed them, but now I flush my system at the beginning and end of every rainy season (and because I wash my engine regularly)

[Rx]

changing brake fluid on an ABS system is the same technique as directed above????

well is it??

was this question answered????????

[Hook]

nope....some dude said

its almost the same, key word being almost.

[Rx]

weel with ABS.........I prefer to remove the fluid from the brake fluid reservoir using an empty syringe


I normally do this a couple of times over a few weeks............ it works for me !

[blazing]

With ABS you need to cycle the ABS system to remove the fluid there. It will not come out simply by bleeding.

So you have to bleed the brakes like normal then use a tool from the manufacturer which enables you to cycle the ABS, allowing the old fluid to come out and the new fluid to go in.

If you really cannot get the tool, you will have to bleed the brakes like normal, take the car for a drive and mash a hard brakes a few times, triggering the ABS, then return and bleed all the brakes again.

[venum]

planning to do this service tomm

will update on how it goes

changing out all the brakes too

[venum]

I did the brakes fluid change-out today

bleed all the lines and replaced the fluid, just as you guys recommended

used Lockheed DOT4 brake fluid

the fluid has a nice clear golden colour

the brakes a lil spongy now so I'll wait a couple of days before I update on the performance

also changed the brake pads.

[blazing]

the brakes a lil spongy now

if it is not at least as good as it was before or better, youve done something wrong, like gotten air into your braking system.

[~Vēġó~]

With ABS you need to cycle the ABS system to remove the fluid there. It will not come out simply by bleeding.

So you have to bleed the brakes like normal then use a tool from the manufacturer which enables you to cycle the ABS, allowing the old fluid to come out and the new fluid to go in.

If you really cannot get the tool, you will have to bleed the brakes like normal, take the car for a drive and mash a hard brakes a few times, triggering the ABS, then return and bleed all the brakes again.

wonder where this cycling could be done........the last paragraph soundin more like the route I will eventually be led to follow....

[JUS4SHO]

With ABS you need to cycle the ABS system to remove the fluid there. It will not come out simply by bleeding.

So you have to bleed the brakes like normal then use a tool from the manufacturer which enables you to cycle the ABS, allowing the old fluid to come out and the new fluid to go in.

If you really cannot get the tool, you will have to bleed the brakes like normal, take the car for a drive and mash a hard brakes a few times, triggering the ABS, then return and bleed all the brakes again.

do u know of any one with such a tool?

[blazing]

only diamond motors