Bleeding Hydraulic Brakes

[chollenback]

I have a 95 safari sahara on a a magnum chassis and I was going to bleed brakes. I see that it looks like the fluid resevoir is linked to power steering and then the 2 lines go from power steering to calipers. If I change brake fluid, will it go not power steering? I am so confused and as usual there is no information on web.

[jerrycarp]

Try Googling; Hydro-max hydraulic brake booster and master cylinder  if this is yours it is a Bendix,  but it now Bosch lots of info.

Jerry

[wolfe10]

The hydroboost system is completely separate from the brake fluid.  Hydroboost uses ATF Dexron (at least on our 1997 Safari Sahara).  The master cylinder is up front, driver's wheel well. It takes regular brake fluid (DOT III).

Best procedure is to suck all the fluid out of the master cylinder.  Yes, adding fluid is a pain, at least on ours, as the master cylinder had very little clearance to the top of the wheel well.  Have seen some with a remote reservoir accessed from the front hood area.  Fill master cylinder, then use a small screwdriver to "stir".  Suck it out.  Repeat until what you remove is CLEAR.  The idea is to NOT run the dirty hydrated brake fluid through the master cylinder, lines and calipers.

Once the master cylinder if full of clean, clear new brake fluid, go to the right rear (furthest wheel position) and use a suction pump with clear plastic hose to suck out old fluid until it is clear.  I have a 50 year old manual transmission pump and a couple of "reducers" with the last clear plastic hose sized to fit snugly on the caliper bleed screws. Continue to top off master cylinder.  Then left rear, right front and lastly left front.

This will completely change fluid WITHOUT stressing the master cylinder seals.

Do this every 2-3 years-- brake fluid is cheap.  Master cylinders and calipers are NOT.

[kaypsmith]

9 hours ago, wolfe10 said:

The hydroboost system is completely separate from the brake fluid.  Hydroboost uses ATF Dexron (at least on our 1997 Safari Sahara).  The master cylinder is up front, driver's wheel well. It takes regular brake fluid (DOT III).

Best procedure is to suck all the fluid out of the master cylinder.  Yes, adding fluid is a pain, at least on ours, as the master cylinder had very little clearance to the top of the wheel well.  Have seen some with a remote reservoir accessed from the front hood area.  Fill master cylinder, then use a small screwdriver to "stir".  Suck it out.  Repeat until what you remove is CLEAR.  The idea is to NOT run the dirty hydrated brake fluid through the master cylinder, lines and calipers.

Once the master cylinder if full of clean, clear new brake fluid, go to the right rear (furthest wheel position) and use a suction pump with clear plastic hose to suck out old fluid until it is clear.  I have a 50 year old manual transmission pump and a couple of "reducers" with the last clear plastic hose sized to fit snugly on the caliper bleed screws. Continue to top off master cylinder.  Then left rear, right front and lastly left front.

This will completely change fluid WITHOUT stressing the master cylinder seals.

Do this every 2-3 years-- brake fluid is cheap.  Master cylinders and calipers are NOT.

Ditto X2 on Brett's post, only thing to add to this, is that this is a great time to check the short rubber hoses that attach to each wheel, for inside failure, I have seen these begin to collapse on the inside over the years and will cause the brakes to feel very hard to apply and or a spongey feel. I have even seen the brake fail to release on a wheel because the rubber had broken inside the hose allowing the fluid to pass to the wheel, but it was acting like a backflow valve. Just a little bit of info in case yours is acting crazy.

[chollenback]

where can i buy the rubber hoses for the brakes? mine are very hard and cracking on outside. any part numbers?

[kaypsmith]

I usually take one off and take it to a NAPA or any comparable auto parts store for them to match it up. They are pretty common sizes normally. To remove I use plenty of rustbuster sprayed on each end, wiggle the fitting very carefully back and forth until it begins to turn freely.

[hermanmullins]

"Howe" has a great Penetrate that is also a very good Lubricant. I still use WD-40 for lots of things but keep a can of Howe's for many things. 

Herman