I bought a 2000 Tundra w/ the 4.7 engine with 100,000 miles on it about a month ago and am absolutely loving it. I had the truck inspected and one of the things they recommended was to replace the brake fluid. This is the first time I have owned a Tundra and I would like to learn to do as much maintenance on my own as possible. Is it very difficult to replace the brake fluid especially for a novice? How do I do it? Specifically, what do I need to replace the fluid? If anyone has pictures and/or diagrams of where everything is located, they would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for the help.
TRDSport
How do I replace the brake fluid?
You can do it but you'll need someone to help you bleed the brakes.
First thing I'd do is make sure all the bleeder screws will open at the calipers. If so, you can proceed...if not, well.....
Get a turkey baster or some other thing to suck out the old brake fluid from the master cylinder. After doing that, fill with fresh DOT 3 brake fluid.
Have a helper sit in the drivers seat and start at the right rear caliper. Open the bleeder screw slightly and have your helper apply pressure to the brake pedal. Make sure your helper doesn't release the pedal with the bleeder screw open. Have him/her "hold" the pedal down until you've tightened the screw. Otherwise it will draw air into your brake system.
Close the bleeder and tell your helper to release the pedal. (You'll want to collect the old brake fluid in some kind of container.) DON'T LET THE MASTER CYLINDER RUN DRY OF BRAKE FLUID! Occasionally check the brake fluid level and keep bleeding the right rear caliper till it pumps out clean, fresh fluid. Go to the left rear caliper...do the same. Then the right front then the left front.
Again, Don't let the master cylinder run dry of brake fluid.
After you are all done, get some brake cleaner and spray down all the brake fluid that might have gotten on the calipers, pads, wheels, etc.
The key thing(s) is to flush out the old fluid, make sure the master cylinder stays full during the bleeding process, that your helper "holds" the pedal down until you've tightened the bleeder screw.
Do this and you'll be fine.
Good luck! :tu:
First thing I'd do is make sure all the bleeder screws will open at the calipers. If so, you can proceed...if not, well.....
Get a turkey baster or some other thing to suck out the old brake fluid from the master cylinder. After doing that, fill with fresh DOT 3 brake fluid.
Have a helper sit in the drivers seat and start at the right rear caliper. Open the bleeder screw slightly and have your helper apply pressure to the brake pedal. Make sure your helper doesn't release the pedal with the bleeder screw open. Have him/her "hold" the pedal down until you've tightened the screw. Otherwise it will draw air into your brake system.
Close the bleeder and tell your helper to release the pedal. (You'll want to collect the old brake fluid in some kind of container.) DON'T LET THE MASTER CYLINDER RUN DRY OF BRAKE FLUID! Occasionally check the brake fluid level and keep bleeding the right rear caliper till it pumps out clean, fresh fluid. Go to the left rear caliper...do the same. Then the right front then the left front.
Again, Don't let the master cylinder run dry of brake fluid.
After you are all done, get some brake cleaner and spray down all the brake fluid that might have gotten on the calipers, pads, wheels, etc.
The key thing(s) is to flush out the old fluid, make sure the master cylinder stays full during the bleeding process, that your helper "holds" the pedal down until you've tightened the bleeder screw.
Do this and you'll be fine.
Good luck! :tu:
By far the best way is to spend a few bucks on a PowerBleeder. Makes it a one man job and works great. Just be sure you get a good seal so you dont have any leaks. Brake fluid will dissolve most paint so clean up any spills wiki wiki with brake fluid cleaner.
The next thing to do is to get brake fluid that is a differrent color, something like Super Blue. That way you will know when you have flushed out the old fluid. Start at the pass side rear wheel 1st, then the drivers side rear, then the porportioning valve (near the spare tire), then the pass side front, and last is the drivers side front. Open the bleeder valve and wait untill you see the color change, then let if flow for a couple seconds longer. Use a small bucket to catch the waste and bring it in to you local auto parts place for recycling.
Good luck!
The next thing to do is to get brake fluid that is a differrent color, something like Super Blue. That way you will know when you have flushed out the old fluid. Start at the pass side rear wheel 1st, then the drivers side rear, then the porportioning valve (near the spare tire), then the pass side front, and last is the drivers side front. Open the bleeder valve and wait untill you see the color change, then let if flow for a couple seconds longer. Use a small bucket to catch the waste and bring it in to you local auto parts place for recycling.
Good luck!
The best way to replace the brake fluid is to remove the fluid in the reserviour and then bleeding the brakes which removes the fluid in the brakes lines. I have done this process many many times but over the years have realized I get the same results of bleeding by just replacing the contents of the reserviour.
Since DOT3 readily mixes with old fluid, I think if you don't know how to bleed the brakes, just replacing the contents of the reserviour would definetly result in firmer/confident braking. Good luck.
Since DOT3 readily mixes with old fluid, I think if you don't know how to bleed the brakes, just replacing the contents of the reserviour would definetly result in firmer/confident braking. Good luck.
As I mentioned before, I am a novice. How do I bleed the brakes? I may be wrong, but is it possible to change the fluid completely by simply removing the fluid from the reserviour, replace with new fluid and then repeat the process over a few days until the fluid is clean? Thanks for the help.
First step is to pick up a Haynes or similiar service manual. This will give you great instructions on most DIY maintenance including brakes. The power bleeder is awesome as recommended (I will never manually bleed brakes again). Brakes might not be the best place to start as a beginner project. Most shops will do a power bleed for less than $100.
Correctly said, this is not a DIY for a novice. If you learnt by watching someone do it before, you can venture into brakes becoz you don't want to kill yourself and others when it fails.
Now, there are some guidlines to remember when working on trannies and brake systems. ALWAYS keep the process clean -- your hands have glowes, very clean lint free cloths for cleanup and wiping, never have brake fluid touch paint trim as it will eat it up.
Get Valvoline Syn brake fluild (1Q bottle), siphon off nearly all of the old fluid from the master cylinder (don't suck out every drop out of the master) with a CLEAN syringe and pour fresh fluid into it. This is what I would do first, you will definetly see a difference in braking, trust me on that. DOT3 systems have been around for ages and the fluid mixes readily, thereby not having to do bleeds.
Air, moisture and contaminants can get trapped by the calipers. Doing as described will definitely be better than nothing but basically along the same lines as a tranny drain/fill vs. flush or removing 4 qts of oil leaving the other 3 in and refilling. Better than nothing but not as good as getting all the crap out.
Thanks for all the advice but it's sounding like this is not a good first DIY project for me. I think I'm going to take it a local shop and have them doing it along with the tranny fluid. I'm new to the site and it has been great to see how helpful everyone is. Thanks again.
That is wise. Just make sure you go to a good place with people you know. I HAD a friend that used to do those 60,000 miles services on saab's which was about 700 bucks and included all fluids, belt etc. WELL!!!, he thought it would be easier to just use a turkey baster for the brake fluid, power steering etc. It was a 6 hour job he finished in 1 hour, and he still got paid for 6 hours (flat rate). That's dirty....and wrong.
Moral of the story, somebody got the shaft, and he kept his job
Just got back from having the brake fluid replaced and I hadn't realized how soft the pedal was until I drove the Tundra with the new fluid. It is much firmer now and more confidence inspiring. Next project - power steering fluid. Thanks again for all the great advice.
No,this will not flush out ALL the old fluid. There will always remain a mix of old and new if. This a hydraulic brake fundamental.
Yu must completely expel/flush in one process. The above recommendations were good.
The one One man Bleeder is the only way for you. Especially as a novice as yu admit rather humbly. If this is your first time,no problem, however using a helper, will complicate matters. Blind leading the blind, if yu will.
Yu will go through wasted amounts of Dot 3 in an effort to air return into the lines.
A simple one man bleeder only costs $4-$8 dollars. Your brakes will be mint.It is essentialy a clear plastic tubing and a bottle with a cap that fits the tubing and this tube sits on the bottom of the this clear bottle.The other end of tubing goes on the bleeder fitting. when the fluid fills the bottle, air will not return into the system. I highly suggest yu get a basic brake service manual, as this procedure works for all vehicles and is good learning.
I flush my brakes every two years at the very minimum. And always after a complete brake job. Air/Moisture contaminated fluid will wreak havoc, especially on ABS equipped vehicles.The ABS system works erratically etc. And most mechanics don't focus on this.
Good luck
LT
usmc-
everybody around here was a novice at some point. with good attention to detail there's no reason you and a buddy couldn't take care of it in half an hour or less...i actually did a partial bleed in the parking lot of a local 4x4 shop when i needed to swap the rear hose. i learned in the first place how to do it from people on this forum, and taking it to a shop is good, but if you wait 'til youre experienced to give it a shot, youll never get it done.
doing it with a buddy is easy, just go over the plan with them and use call/response to communicate--you and only you do the calling.
all you need is a 10mm wrench, better yet a 10mm brake line wrench, the open end has a slot barely large enough to pass a brake line but has more flats than a regular open ended wrench.
if your truck is older, get five new bleed valve caps for when youre finished...the ones on there now may be rotted, or gone entirely.
you dont even need a fancy bleed kit...just a plastic cup, a couple feet of CLEAR flexible hose that fits tight over the bleed valve, and a clip to keep the hose stuck to the cup. the cheap 4-8$ bleed kits are great since they supply the cup, and you can get more tube anywhere if the kit doesnt supply as much as you want.
attach the clear hose to the first valve, put a few loops in the hose to catch air bubbles so they dont return to the system, the other end of the hose goes in the cup. you call to the guy in the cab to pump the pedal, he puts it on the floor five or six times and calls that he's done, then you loosen the valve and youll see some really gunky fluid head down the tube to the cup. repeat like they said above, closing (gently) the valve each time before the next pump cycle, and then closing it snug when you're ready to move to the next valve. you're done with a valve when the fluid is obviously clean and clear and there are no bubbles. it IS possible to tell when new fluid hits the line even without different color dye...probably the water it soaks up over time changes the way light passes thru. it's a very subtle difference but you will see it. this is not the case if youve recently bled the brakes (like in the last few months) and then change a line or something, then go by the bubbles. once you're spitting new fluid down the tube and there are no more bubbles, do a few more pump cycles to be sure and then close the valve snug.
i did not use a turkey baster. with loops in the line (use a zip tie if you want), a longish line, patience, and two people, just do a pump cycle, see how far the level in the reservoir drops, keep going until it's near the bottom--BEFORE you draw air in to the lines, which is why it's important to keep the cylinder level high--then add your new fluid to the top. repeat until youve cycled the entire bottle through the lines and then the last time only top it to the line. you can do it all yourself but it's quicker with two people.
there is nothing wrong with draining the master cylinder. i have had to do it twice before, i do have abs, there is no special procedure on these trucks to bleed the lines with an abs system, and the refill was easy and drama free, if time consuming since i had to refill the entire system and that meant working out a LOT of air bubbles.
if for some reason you do need to swap a line or let the m/c drain, just fill like i mentioned above, let it settle, and get right to the pump/drain cycle. all that will come out at first will be bubbles...keep going until all you get every time is fluid. it's time consuming, nothing more...every single bubble needs to be gone. when you start the truck, check the pedal...pump it a few times to see if it firms up quickly like it should, check for leaks, go for a VERY short, VERY slow test drive and check again...if it feels soft at all, there's probably air left in the lines, so do it again.
hope this helps, its not difficult, just takes good attention to detail. its actually harder to do the power steering fluid.
-sean
*edit* btw when i mentioned pumping the brake at the end i dont mean that it's supposed to be soft til you pump it up...it should feel firm the first push, and almost impossible to move subsequent pushes. if it isn't fairly firm the first time, there's probably still air in the lines.
everybody around here was a novice at some point. with good attention to detail there's no reason you and a buddy couldn't take care of it in half an hour or less...i actually did a partial bleed in the parking lot of a local 4x4 shop when i needed to swap the rear hose. i learned in the first place how to do it from people on this forum, and taking it to a shop is good, but if you wait 'til youre experienced to give it a shot, youll never get it done.
doing it with a buddy is easy, just go over the plan with them and use call/response to communicate--you and only you do the calling.
all you need is a 10mm wrench, better yet a 10mm brake line wrench, the open end has a slot barely large enough to pass a brake line but has more flats than a regular open ended wrench.
if your truck is older, get five new bleed valve caps for when youre finished...the ones on there now may be rotted, or gone entirely.
you dont even need a fancy bleed kit...just a plastic cup, a couple feet of CLEAR flexible hose that fits tight over the bleed valve, and a clip to keep the hose stuck to the cup. the cheap 4-8$ bleed kits are great since they supply the cup, and you can get more tube anywhere if the kit doesnt supply as much as you want.
attach the clear hose to the first valve, put a few loops in the hose to catch air bubbles so they dont return to the system, the other end of the hose goes in the cup. you call to the guy in the cab to pump the pedal, he puts it on the floor five or six times and calls that he's done, then you loosen the valve and youll see some really gunky fluid head down the tube to the cup. repeat like they said above, closing (gently) the valve each time before the next pump cycle, and then closing it snug when you're ready to move to the next valve. you're done with a valve when the fluid is obviously clean and clear and there are no bubbles. it IS possible to tell when new fluid hits the line even without different color dye...probably the water it soaks up over time changes the way light passes thru. it's a very subtle difference but you will see it. this is not the case if youve recently bled the brakes (like in the last few months) and then change a line or something, then go by the bubbles. once you're spitting new fluid down the tube and there are no more bubbles, do a few more pump cycles to be sure and then close the valve snug.
i did not use a turkey baster. with loops in the line (use a zip tie if you want), a longish line, patience, and two people, just do a pump cycle, see how far the level in the reservoir drops, keep going until it's near the bottom--BEFORE you draw air in to the lines, which is why it's important to keep the cylinder level high--then add your new fluid to the top. repeat until youve cycled the entire bottle through the lines and then the last time only top it to the line. you can do it all yourself but it's quicker with two people.
there is nothing wrong with draining the master cylinder. i have had to do it twice before, i do have abs, there is no special procedure on these trucks to bleed the lines with an abs system, and the refill was easy and drama free, if time consuming since i had to refill the entire system and that meant working out a LOT of air bubbles.
if for some reason you do need to swap a line or let the m/c drain, just fill like i mentioned above, let it settle, and get right to the pump/drain cycle. all that will come out at first will be bubbles...keep going until all you get every time is fluid. it's time consuming, nothing more...every single bubble needs to be gone. when you start the truck, check the pedal...pump it a few times to see if it firms up quickly like it should, check for leaks, go for a VERY short, VERY slow test drive and check again...if it feels soft at all, there's probably air left in the lines, so do it again.
hope this helps, its not difficult, just takes good attention to detail. its actually harder to do the power steering fluid.
-sean
*edit* btw when i mentioned pumping the brake at the end i dont mean that it's supposed to be soft til you pump it up...it should feel firm the first push, and almost impossible to move subsequent pushes. if it isn't fairly firm the first time, there's probably still air in the lines.
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