Michael Hinchey

Hello,
I looked for info on brake bleeding and found bits and pieces. Could anyone do a diy
Or maybe point me to where one would be. I'm looking to use a hand pump bleeder kit from amazon harbor freight! If anyone can lead the way I would like to tackle this soon. I understand the wheels need to be removed and the brake master cylinder needs to be emptied. What type of fluid is best( only use Acura/Honda dot 3 right). Ok so here is the questionswhat size is the bleeder valve? 10mm or. 11? What tool is best for that? what pressure to pump the tool up to ? Any info would be great. Thx

Michael Hinchey

BUMP

01tl4tl

hft 25$ vac bleeder. You dont apply vac until bleeder nipple- 10mm- is open 1/4 turn.

Its good to apply some bearing grease on the bleeder nipple threads for better seal during open period under vac.

DOT4 is the right fluid

Special bleed order on TL is driver front = LF then clockwise around the car LF RF RR LR

DO NOT empty the res at any time!!!!!!!!!!
Let the vac pump do the work, when level down to min, slowly add new fluid- it will sit on top of old fluid
Continue bleeding under vac- may take 2-3 refills of res till clean new fluid comes out on each caliper.

see tube vids for more help- its easy but careful- brake fluid eats paint!

01tl4tl

whatever brand dot4 you like is fine, plain or synthetic, name brand or plain brand
Buy 2 qts- will take 1.5 for a good job on the TL, only new sealed containers are ok to use!

Have you looked at the diy section on this forum?

Michael Hinchey

. Great help. I did see most of this on some of the videos I've watched but its good to have some kind of guide I can print out.
It seems easy enough but until I actually get my hands in there to do it , I'll never know.
I received my chocks, my lifts, my bleeder valve kit, and grease from amazon today and bought brake fluid from honda. I think Thursday I will tackle this since the weather is rotten here right now. I was thinking of symphoning out the old fluid in rez before adding new. You wouldn't do this?
Gotta see how far I get with the b pillars and molding first though since I already started that. Thx again for the tips.

Nicks2001tl

The whole purpose of bleeding the brakes especially since yours hasn't been done in forever is to get the crud out of lines and keep the system clean so it can do it's job.

Michael Hinchey

Yes, I understand why they need to be done. Thank you

Nicks2001tl

Your Welcome. Let us know how it turns out.

Michael Hinchey

Ok so we start off pretty good. Until I notice my helper pouring brake fluid in the power steering fluid. He only had two jobs. Watching and filling the reservoir. Ugh
So I sucked out as much as I could until the pump broke. There probably is about 1/3 to 1/4 bottle still in it. I panicked and buttoned everything up and started driving to my mechanic when I decided to pull over and check with them to see if they had availability. They said not today. So Iwalked to acme to get a turkey baster... They were out ... Ugh. I walked to home depot to get some sort of syphon. They are out as well since winter is over. I'm gonna buy a bottle and stick the nozzle in and get whatever fluid is in the resovoir. My question here is... What type of power steering fluid can I replace this with? Not Acura or Honda since I would have to drive there. So I need a temp replacement.

Michael Hinchey

I will try again tomorrow with a new pump and I'll just do it myself. Lol

Michael Hinchey

I still haven't gotten to the brakes, but my steering feels buttery smooth after flushing the system with Acura steering fluid 4 times.

Michael Hinchey

I'm a bit confused. I started to use the pump for the first left front tire and it became so annoyingly long and time consuming. I couldn't get it flowing like the videos. I tried putting grease around the nipple and bolt air and other areas where I could see air escaping and I just couldn't get the flow I expected. So I kept at it for like 30 min more. Fluid was looking pretty new so I moved onto the next wheel. I decided to try the pump again and couldn't get a proper flow here either( little better than the first wheel but not how the videos showed. I decided to bag the pump and plug where the pump would go with a stop valve. I opened the nipple and pushed on the brake and fluid came right out. Success. I did all the other brakes this way. Why was this so much easier and why don't people do it that way instead? Did I do something wrong? Am I missing something? Please tell.me I did it right? The brakes aren't really firm but they aren't soft either. How should they feel? Any info helps. Thx

Nicks2001tl

The whole purpose of brake bleeder kit is not to have to pump the brakes and just use pump to remove the brake fluid.

Did you? Keep open the cap of the master cylinder. Make sure that all the lines had no air leaks.

Your done, be happy, buy yourself a pepsi and call it a day.

Michael Hinchey

The whole purpose of brake bleeder kit is not to have to pump the brakes and just use pump to remove the brake fluid.
yes I understand the purpose but it just seemed quicker to pump the brakes a few times.

Did you? Keep open the cap of the master cylinder.
I tried it both ways. At first, I just sat the cover slightly over it trying to prevent any debris from getting in the lines. Then i watched a video and someone said to close the cylinder to get a vacuum tight seal. But thank you, I didn't realize this needed to be done.

Make sure that all the lines had no air leaks.
[I]I tried my best. I made sure grease was on hand to circumvent this issue. [/]

So how should the brakes feel when done properly? Should I start with the master cylinder again and just make sure to get a steady stream into the cup and work my way back around to make sure air isn't in the system? Or will I know right away there is an issue?

Nicks2001tl

Brake light not on, clear fluid came out, master cylinder filled to proper capacity level, you probably did everything right. As far as the pedal is concerned when you drive it should not be hard or soft.

If there was air in the system you would probably feel it, it would be all of bad.

Also, just double check if the master cylinder cover is tightly closed.

Michael Hinchey

Brake light not on, clear fluid came out, master cylinder filled to proper capacity level, you probably did everything right. As far as the pedal is concerned when you drive it should not be hard or soft.
Great cause the pedal is somewhere in the middle. I am surprised how relatively clean the brake fluid was as it wasn't done in at least the 7 yrs I've owned it.

If there was air in the system you would probably feel it, it would be all of bad.

Also, just double check if the master cylinder cover is tightly closed.[/QUOTE]

Michael Hinchey

Cap is on tight. THx for all your replies. It helped tremendously.