Its time for me to flush the brake fluid, and have started a few google searches looking for advice on this. Most of the online guides recommend the use of a nice pressure bleeder from motive and racing fluid by ATE.

I am thinking I will need to bite the bullet and buy the $60 bleeder, but I am open to suggestions on a less expensive solution. I will only be doing this every 2 years afterall.

Can I go cheaper on the fluid? My local Autozone has Prezone Dot4 stuff that is like half the price. Is it a totally bad idea to go cheap on the fluid?

thanks!

 

Do you track the car? If not then any DOT4 fluid will do.

 

Nope, just a normal driver. Hardly ever break 70 with the damn traffic

 

I would just use the 1-man brake bleeder that you can get for under $10. It's not as good as the Motive but for daily driving it will do the job.

 

That sounds perfect! Any suggestions on which one? saw this one at harbor freight: http://www.harborfreight.com/one-man...kit-37201.html

It seems to work in the oposite way, sucking fluid through the system instead of pushing it. Are there any guides on how to do this the right way? most of the guides I saw suggested the "push" method...

thanks!

 

Saving money where you can is wise, but brake fluid on a MINI is not one of those areas.

Here is some great background info for you on the topic:

http://new.minimania.com/Search_Resu...ke%20fluid/All

Plus, instructions for maintenance and the fluid you need:

http://new.minimania.com/part/NMB105...Type-200-Amber




Please let us know if you have any questions!

Drive Hard. Drive Safe. Keep Grinning.

 

Suggestion....
Don't do it alone....if you run the resivior empty and get with into the abs pump, you will be in a world of hurt....have someone WATCH the resivior so they can tell you to stop...or do that yourself, standing there with the one person kit....and ask a wife/girlfriend/kid to push down on the pedal as needed as you go from wheel to wheel...
Imo most any fresh fluid is better than old damp fluid....if you compare the boil temps, it does vary a bit...but a non-tracked car, I would not stress buying the fluid locally.

 

If you are flushing your brakes regularly, get this! Spend the money and do it right. It only takes one flush to pay for itself.

https://www.ecstuning.com/Search/Sit...der/ES2765516/

 

That's the one that I have. It comes with instructions, very hard to get it wrong. Start with the farthest wheel, right rear and work forward to the left front.

Used it on the MINI, Honda van and my pickup, works great. As Zippy said it is very convenient to have a helper, and do not run the reservoir dry.

 

That is a great kit but I think the OP would like to keep it closer to the $20 range.

 

Reality is....you can do it with a used 1liter bottle and a length of vinyl tubing....old school...not hard.
It actually works better than the cheaper one man kits if you have a helper.
Tools save "$" vs having a shop do it in some cases, but reality is, to do a flush/bleed every 2 years, money is better spent building or buying a good set of rampsand a couple of GOOD tubing wrenches....it takes only a couple $ with of equipment to do a bleed/flush if care is used.
Sure....you can get a Cadillac or even the "Hyundai" a pressure bleeders, but as one trick pony, these best belong in a pro shop imo....more bragging material than useful unless you are a track person flushing your brakes multiple times a season....

 

Thanks for all the replies!

Unfortunately, I do not have a helper. So I am thinking about getting the motive bleeder to make it easy on me. Found one on sale for $40. Hard to pass up since it should make the job much easier.

When I use this, do I really need a fancy catch bottle? Or will a hose to any container work? Since the fluid will be under pressure I am guessing that I dont need to worry about bubbles going back into the brake line from the catch bottle. Or am I wrong?

 

Pressure bleeders force fluid UP.... YOU NEED TO DRAIN EXCESS fluid from the brake fluid resivior.
One tip...just a suggestion...depress the brake pedal while cracked open the bleed line to both flush the valve and get rid of the worst BLACK fluid first so it doesn't get pushed up into the abs pump....
And for a help....a 6pack of beer or a pizza should get a friend over for the 15 minutes you need...it goes FAST.... YOU CAN DO IT WITH THE TIRES ON if you have ramp's.
DON'T LET THE PRESSURE bleeder run low....it will fill the system with air.then you will 100% need a shop.
The one negative with using such a system is a large volume of fluid is wasted...both both prepping and when done...several liters...then it must be disposed of. Traditional flush is maybe 1 liter.

 

My catch bottle was an old gatorade bottle so no you don't need a specialized catch bottle. Just anything to prevent the old fluid from spilling onto the ground!

What zippy said, don't let the pressure bleeder reservoir run empty, then the pressure bleeder is feeding air into the lines which is bad. I used two bottles of ATE super blue in the bleeder just in case because it was my first time bleeding the lines. I have the motive bleeder and it works fantastic.

 

OMG thats awesome! really? I was all ready to jack the puppy up on stands. Ramps would make this soooo better.

So would I back the car up the ramps to do the back wheels, then take it off the ramps, move it to the front wheels and roll up the front?

 

Fronts are kinda easy....depends a bit on the rims...but you can turn the wheel one way....and get more space....the do the other....you MIGHT need to jack up...but the rims make difference....and the size of your hands...and not 100% sure on the 2nd gens you can....but most cars you can.
Ramps for the backs....I hated to jack up and use jack stands for stuff if I could avoid it.... commercial ramps are sometimes too steep...but some screws, and stacked scrap lumber, and construction adhesive...or a couple scrap 2x6 to shallow ot the approach helps....
But if you do a brake job at the same time, it negates the 2 year schedule unless you are a very low mile driver (then you can do it when you swap rims summer to winter ...
The world isn't going to end if you stretch out the flush a bit ....just for the accordingly.

 

I think you can gravity bleed your brakes. It takes more time because it's a fairly slow process, but works well without concern about introducing air bubbles into the system.

 

The ECS Tuning kit mentioned above is really nice. I have the bleeder and just one catch bottle, you really don't need 2. Also there's no special wrench needed, a basic 11mm wrench is fine unless you're trying to do it with the wheels on.

You can get by without the catch bottle, just a length of tubing and any old bottle but the ECS catch bottle has a nice rubber fitting that goes on the bleed valve and makes the whole process easy and no mess.

I have a Harbor Freight "racing jack" and can do each corner in just a few minutes. Loosen lug bolts, jack up corner, remove wheel, attach catch bottle, open bleeder valve, let a few hundred ml run through, close bleeder, remove catch bottle, replace wheel, lower jack, torque lug bolts, repeat at next corner. A lot easier than running back and forth pouring in new fluid and pumping the brake pedal, plus you can see immediately if there is any air in the system (been there, done that.)

 

I bought the Napa pro power bleeder kit for my tool kit. Best $250 I've spent. I've now flushed my cars once a year and can use it on almost any car. Porsche, Bmw, mini, Chevy any one. And it makes the job a simple task

 

I do my own every 2 years and I just have someone hold the brake down while I open the bleed screw. Just be sure to have the bleed screw closed when the pedal is lifted. I've never had any issues.

 

Just thought I would loop back around and give an update on this. Over the long weekend I was able to get this completed, here are a few notes from my experience:

- the hose from the pressure bleeder to the reservoir had bubbles in it when pressurized with fluid. gave me a panic attack, but this is normal according to motive
- some of the wheel lugs where REALLY tough. Like 180ft pounds. Broke one of my cheap sockets begging one off. Had to switch over to a 11/16 socket to finish the job, but it seemed to fit well.
- ended up using a little bit of clear tubing to a old water bottle as a catch bottle, worked great and free.
- I bled all 4 wheels and watched the fluid turn from a sickly green/yellow to clear. But when I was all done I still had 1/3 of the liter left over. Wondering if I was overly stingy?
- now I need to go back out to the store to get some Denatured Alcohol to clean the bleeder. I flushed it out with water after I was done because I didnt think leaving brake fluid in there was a good idea, now I need to clean out the residual water...

On the cheap, here is what I paid:
- $30 for the motive bleeder (found it on sale at amazon)
- $9 for dot 4 fluid - 1 liter bottle
- $5 for alcohol to clean up.
- $0 random tubing, bottles, and rags
- $0 borrowed torque wrench from autozone