[Thad E Ginathom]

all brake fluid is bad for paint.

And even worse for skin, eyes, etc.

[Rehaan]

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

all brake fluid is bad for paint.

And even worse for skin, eyes, etc.

Yet, good for cuts ?

A couple of years back i was at a roadside mechanic and i cut my finger on a peice of glass. A rather deep cut and it was bleeding quite a lot. He promptly popped the hood of a nearby esteem, unscrewed the cap if the brake fluid reserviour and made me stick my finger in there. The bleeding stopped immediately! (im not sure if its a good thing or a bad thing , and have been trying to figure this out since then)

cya
R

[Thad E Ginathom]

I'm pretty sure a doctor wouldn't have done that!

Years (ok, decades) back, a friend was driving us from London to Cornwall (about 300 miles). This meant quite a lot of hurried DIY maintenance the day before, including some new brake pads. He had to finish off by bleeding the brakes just before we left. Due to an accident, he squirted some in his eye.

He had swelling, pain and redness the whole day. I don't know how he drove, but he was the only one of the group licensed and insured to drive his car.

Brake fluid: nasty stuff. Except in brake systems, of course!

[2fast4u]

Originally Posted by nitrous

Can DOT4 be used in a DOT3 application??

yes
but NOT dot3 for a dot4 system.

[gd1418]

Brake fluid, very abrasive in nature. But I too have heard from mechanics about its efficacy in stopping bleeding and healing the wound. Though never tried.

Many years ago, one of those times when my mechanic who used to maintain the family Amby, was in good mood, would clean the carburettor by soaking it for an hour or so in the brake fluid and then cleaning with it. Dunno, whether it was psychological or something else,the start-up, pick-up and FE used to definitely show an improvement.

Originally Posted by Rehaan

Yet, good for cuts ?

A couple of years back i was at a roadside mechanic and i cut my finger on a peice of glass. A rather deep cut and it was bleeding quite a lot. He promptly popped the hood of a nearby esteem, unscrewed the cap if the brake fluid reserviour and made me stick my finger in there. The bleeding stopped immediately! (im not sure if its a good thing or a bad thing , and have been trying to figure this out since then)

cya
R

[bblost]

This Sunday, I found myself with a bottle full of DOT3 oil and some time.
The DOT3 was bought a couple of week’s back, but that day my mechanic's shed was closed.
I had been looking at the dot3 and thinking how to go about refilling my bikes disc oil.

I opened the main container and topped up the oil.
The brake was working fine.

The devil crept up my ear and kept reminding me that old oil is looking old.
Decided to bleed the brakes.

Opened the nipple cover and set up the spanner for the valve.
press brakes three times
HOLD
open and close the valve.
Repeat the above.

complete loss of pressure in the brakes.
spent more than 4 hours trying to get the air out.
The valve was spitting out oil as expected but still no pressure.

finally went to the mechanic, Monday morning.
took him half an hour to fix it.

what I was missing
the hydraulic pump, needs to be opened up.
springs et all removed, flooded with oil and closed.
voila the brakes work fine now.

What I learnt.
riding a bike without brakes is more fun.cheers:

[saket77]

Reviving this old thread.

Brake bleeding is the process of removing air from the hydraulic system. Presence of air makes the brakes lesser effective and the brake lever/ pedal spongy and hard.

Posting the detailed pics of my bike's brakes being bled. Bleeding *only* is a five minute job (in bikes), but if you want to flush the whole system and fill new fluid, then it also requires the hydraulic pump to be cleaned and filled with brake fluid, not to mention the brake fluid container too.

Flushing and bleeding the whole system:

Step 1: First check, which fluid your system would take like DOT3/ 4/5 etc and get the smallest can available as the bike wont take more than 40-50 ml at the max. Since, all dots have been discussed before, I will just focus on the job.


Step 2: Open the brake fluid container at the handle bar and take out the internals.


Step 3: Open the hydraulic brake hose pipe from the disc assembly. Pump the brake lever repeatedly until all fluid drips out from the system. The brake fluids (& engine oils) are nasty fluids, hence, dispose off accordingly. Do not spill over and avoid contact with skin & vehicle paint.

Step 4: When all fluid is dripped out by brake pumping, clean the fluid container by cloth. Also, there may be some deposits, clean the container well.



Step 5: Fill new brake fluid in the container and pump the brakes so that the fluid makes its way to the brake hose pipe at the bottom end.


Step 6: Fit the brake hose pipe back to the disc assembly.

Step 7: If the pressure is not felt at the lever, you need to fill fluid in the pump by removing it.

Step 8: Once the pressure is made, you need to bleed the brakes for removing all the air from the system.

Step 9: Locate the Bleeder valve on the disc assembly.



Step 10: Pump the brakes 3-4 times and HOLD the lever.

Step 11: Open the bleeder valve slightly with a wrench. Some air bubbles along with some fluid would escape. Tighten the valve, then release the brake lever. Repeat the step 3-4 times. To avoid spilling, use a small pipe & a container to collect the

Step 12: Top up the brake fluid container with fluid as some would have drained while bleeding, place all internals of the container back & screw it tightly so as to avoid getting water in the system. Clean the disc thoroughly so that to clean any accidental spillage of fluid on the disc. Check brakes in a safe location first.

Looks happy after the job!


Caliper greasing would be a great idea and this would result in complete service of the disc brakes. Will discuss it shortly.