Brake bleeding.

[Wilky1974]

Hi folks,

 I was planning to change the brake fluid on my 2004 FL in preparation for a track day. I thought this would be a pretty straightforward thing to do until I searched the forum to see if there was anything that I needed to look out for.   s:shock: :shock: s:shock:  So, realistically is this a job I can do myself at home or should I just pay a garage? If I do go for the garage option do they need to be a Toyota specialist or could any garage do the job?

Any tips or advice would be really appreciated,

Thanks Paul.

[shnazzle]

Easily done at home and can do it by yourself without special equipment. Just a jar and plastic tube to go from the bleed nipple to the jar.
Need instructions?

[Anonymous]

A garage have pressure bleeding equipment and will do a complete car in around 30 mins so it doesn't cost a lot.

You can do it your self at home with some basic equipment as shnazzle says, and you'd feel quite satisfied after doing it yourself.

However if you haven't ever done anything like that before it would be good to have someone on hand who has, because if you get air in the system you'll have a spongey pedal - plus I very much helps to have 2 people  s:) s:)

[shnazzle]

What Mark said  s:) s:)  
If you get some good instructions and help from here I'm sure you can do this. Once you do it once, you'll do it easily the next time within 20-30 mins.

[JoeCool]

Yeah, easy to do at home provided you have:

2 people
The right spanners for the bleed nipple (8mm I think)
A length of clear hose to connect to the bleed nipple.

You also need to be able.to jack the car. Speed.it up by doing it on level ground and doing the rears in one lift and the fronts in the second lift.

There's no magic.to it. The big pitfalls are seized or rounded bleed nipples. They're always made out of cheese for some reason.

Beware the gunsons easy bleed kits don't fit the Roadster. The supplied caps won't seal to the master reservoir.

[shnazzle]

And don't forget to DISABLE the handbrake when doing the rears.

Put wheel chocks to prevent car from rolling.

[Jay67]

Speedbleeders, they're the future I tell you, easy one man brake bleeding with these bad boys fitted  s:) s:)   m http://www.speedbleeder.com/ m

[lamcote]

When you say "disable" the handbrake do you mean release it, or do you do something more drastic than that?

[shnazzle]

No I do mean release hahaha.. Was just being special

[Anonymous]

When you say "disable" the handbrake do you mean release it, or do you do something more drastic than that?

I think you are supposed to remove all tension, I actually disconnected the cables from mine

[Anonymous]

Speedbleeders, they're the future I tell you, easy one man brake bleeding with these bad boys fitted  s:) s:)   m http://www.speedbleeder.com/ m

Agree, I had these on mine - made bleeding very easy

[Joesson]

Speedbleeders, they're the future I tell you, easy one man brake bleeding with these bad boys fitted  s:) s:)   m http://www.speedbleeder.com/ m

Agree, I had these on mine - made bleeding very easy

The future and some past!
I had these or very similar in the late 60' s.
They worked then and I can see no reason why they won' t work just as well now.
If there are two of you though a clear glass jar and a piece of clear flexible tube will do as well.
My tip would be to check that all the bleeding nipples can be undone before you start.
They are called that for a reason!  s:wink: :wink: s:wink:

[Wilky1974]

........... AWESOME! Thanks guys. I have bled brakes before on previous cars using an Eezibleed. But was just a little concerned when I read about needing specialist kit to bleed them. Just wanted to be sure that I wasn't going to create a problem. All of the nipples are free and I can rope my dad in to help. Thanks again, I know what I am doing this weekend!!!!!!!   s:lol: :lol: s:lol:

[Craikeybaby]

I couldn't get on with the speed bleeders on my old MX-5, I ended up going back to the old nipples and an assistant. I will see how I get on with the MR2.

[shnazzle]

I just used the ol' tube in a jar method haha. Can do it by yourself. More suitable for bleeds though, not changes

[Joesson]

As mentioned above the " special" nipples have, like me, been around for some time.
Also, back then, I used a " special" rubber  tube.
This had a metal seal/ bung in the end and a lateral slit around 12 mm long.
This also provided for one person brake bleeding, the slit provided a one way " valve".
It was less costly than the nipples and could be used on other vehicles and not sold on with the car.
A very simple and effective device and low cost which is probably why it' s probably not available today!

[Jandaw]

As mentioned above the " special" nipples have, like me, been around for some time.
Also, back then, I used a " special" rubber  tube.
This had a metal seal/ bung in the end and a lateral slit around 12 mm long.
This also provided for one person brake bleeding, the slit provided a one way " valve".
It was less costly than the nipples and could be used on other vehicles and not sold on with the car.
A very simple and effective device and low cost which is probably why it' s probably not available today!

Still readily available.

[Joesson]

Thanks for that Jandaw.
Just found them (Brake bleed tube) on eBay from £1.99 for the standard length and a 24" for £3.99 and that included P&P!!!!!
I'm not sure what happened to my old one so I will have to make an investment  s:wink: :wink: s:wink:

[Jandaw]

No need for jamjar either came complete with catchment bottle. Such is progress.

[Joesson]

To misquote the Good Book:
My jam jar runneth over!