Brake line flushing

[Beowulf]

Any suggestions for cleaning the brake lines before I install the new master cylinder, calipers and rear brake cylinders. Want to clean out the old fluid that’s been sitting in these lines for 15 years. Thought of using air pressure to blow through the lines to clear old fluid by disconnecting at the old master cylinder.  but cleaning the lines?  

[datzenmike]

I guess you could, sure.

 

I just push the old out with the new.

[jagman]

Before you remove the master cylinder drain the master cylinder of old fluid and fill with break clean.  Push the cleaner through the system. You may want to do this twice, and then disconnect the wheel cylinders  to empty them if you plan to rebuild them.  Disconnect all brake lines to let the cleaner evaporate and refill the cylinders with clean brake fluid.  The cleaner in the brake lines needs several days to evaporate from the low areas.

[Stoffregen Motorsports]

I always blow out with compressed air. Even then, sometimes there is crud in the lines, but how do you clean that crud? Very small gerbils...

[Beowulf]

Just now, Stoffregen Motorsports said:

I always blow out with compressed air. Even then, sometimes there is crud in the lines, but how do you clean that crud? Very small gerbils...

I would have thought small ferrets would work better 😆

[Beowulf]

On 11/5/2021 at 7:52 PM, jagman said:

Before you remove the master cylinder drain the master cylinder of old fluid and fill with break clean.  Push the cleaner through the system. You may want to do this twice, and then disconnect the wheel cylinders  to empty them if you plan to rebuild them.  Disconnect all brake lines to let the cleaner evaporate and refill the cylinders with clean brake fluid.  The cleaner in the brake lines needs several days to evaporate from the low areas.

Problem being this is what the master cylinder is full of

[jagman]

Looks like you need to remove and replace your master cylinder in order to clean the lines. I would remove the lines from the wheel cylinders for the first cleaning and clean them separately or just bite the bullet and replace with new after the lines are clean.

[datzenmike]

43 minutes ago, Stoffregen Motorsports said:

I always blow out with compressed air. Even then, sometimes there is crud in the lines, but how do you clean that crud? Very small gerbils...

 

42 minutes ago, Beowulf said:

I would have thought small ferrets would work better 😆

 

Gerbils. This is what Richard Gere uses.

 

[Beowulf]

5 hours ago, jagman said:

Looks like you need to remove and replace your master cylinder in order to clean the lines. I would remove the lines from the wheel cylinders for the first cleaning and clean them separately or just bite the bullet and replace with new after the lines are clean.

Got a new master cyl, clutch and slave cylinders. Just trying not to get crap into the new wheel cylinders and calipers when I install 

[ShutterMeShort]

With what you have there I'd take as much of the system apart as possible and really clean the lines.  Spray with brake clean and use air to blow everything out.  Put it back together and fill the system and bleed at least a full 32oz bottle of fluid through it.  Dirt obviously can be really bad. Water compresses, can boil, lead to mold growth, and lots of other fun stuff. Seems excessive maybe but we are dealing with brakes...  Let's stay safe.  Let's also not have to tear it all apart again because you missed something!  Let us know how it all goes!

 

I see sooooo much bad brake fluid...  it's the one fluid everyone seems to forget about

[Beowulf]

Will do thanks, going to do it in sections. Then replace soft lines, calipers and wheel cylinders. Definitely want it safe as it’s going to grandson as first vehicle. Doing suspension parts the same way

[Stoffregen Motorsports]

Also, it's not a bad idea to bleed it again in a month or so, after you get some heat into it and exercise it a bit. If the fluid is still dirty at that point, you may want to flush it again.

[Beowulf]

12 minutes ago, Stoffregen Motorsports said:

Also, it's not a bad idea to bleed it again in a month or so, after you get some heat into it and exercise it a bit. If the fluid is still dirty at that point, you may want to flush it again.

Thanks didn’t think of that