The Nissan Path

As a new PF owner with 93K miles, I have numerous questions.

The next one concerns brake fluid. I am a firm believer in changing the fluids at the appropriate intervals.

I have no idea about the history of the car I bought and am trying to methodically go through and change all the fluids.


The question: can I open the brake drain at each wheel, in sequence, and let gravity drain the fluid? Keeping the master cylinder full during the whole time.

In this fashion I would change the fluid out.

Any comments or is there a better way?

R

I really wouldn't trust that bubbles wouldn't come in the opened bleeder nipple. The service manual has the proper method, plus the order of which caliper you should do in turn.

Get a 2 foot hose, use the long one from the tranny by-pass, get a container and put a little fluid in it. Find the nipple on the brake, mine had a rubber cap. Put the hose over the brake nipple and loosen it a complete revolution. Drain is very slow, takes about 15 minutes for the reservoir to drop from MAX to MIN, so do some other maintenance while you wait. Took me over 2 hours to drain 16 oz. You probably won't have to take the tires off either. I have 125,000 miles and mine fluid was dark and dirty. I drained the rear passenger side then the front passenger. I might do the drivers side just to see how clean it is now. I posted a picture of the hose connected to the brake, draining into a milk jug. Have some rags ready also.

thanks, I needed someone who had done it to confirm

R

I am about to do a fluid flush and bought another master cylinder cap as I have a pressure bleeder, however the cap does not hold pressure and fluid leaks out. I made a small top and bottom sandwich plate to stop the leak, but have not reconnected yet. However, I am looking at the sequence which is different to how I normally do it. It says start right rear - I am taking that to mean rear passenger side, am i correct in this assumption.
I will disconnect the battery as recommended but wonder why they don't show a dealer pressure bleeder system.
I am a little concerned about ABS issues after all it is a Nissan and they have some weird requirements - look at the throttle body cleaning two step.
Anyone confirm the sequence start please and has anyone else done a pressure flush either from master or by vacuum at the wheels. Is the ABS an issue or does it just reset once the battery is reconnected.

I use a vacuum bleeder. First, I suck most of the fluid out of the master cylinder and refill with new brake fluid. Then I follow the manufacturer's recommended sequence for bleeding. I've been using a vacuum bleeder for over a decade; they work great!

I took a cheater route. I used a turkey baster to suck all of the dirty fluid out of the reservoir, and refilled with new brake fluid. I know its not nearly as good as a flush but better than doing nothing and requires you to only open the hood and spend about 5 minutes. I did that twice about a week apart.

cgray wrote:I took a cheater route. I used a turkey baster to suck all of the dirty fluid out of the reservoir, and refilled with new brake fluid. I know its not nearly as good as a flush but better than doing nothing and requires you to only open the hood and spend about 5 minutes. I did that twice about a week apart.

LOL I'm curious to know how effective this method is. If it works fine, I might start doing this hehe