• Welcome to the Land Rover UK Forums

    You are currently viewing the site as a guest and some content may not be available to you.

    Registration is quick and easy and will give you full access to the site and allow you to ask questions or make comments and join in on the conversation. If you would like to register then please Register Now

Advice regarding old brake fluid

J

jorj.ives

In Third Gear
Hello all,

I recently purchased my first Landy, a '68 series IIA. I'm just fettling her up for the MOT.

I'd like to completely replace the brake fluid and was wondering about the best technique to do so. Should I bleed the system completely, then top up the reservoir and re-bleed? Also, how much fluid am I likely to need when re-filling the system?

Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Jorj.
 
There is no point in bleeding it dry - you will just get air in it and then have to try and get rid of it. I would bleed it until the reservoir gets low, then add to it and keep bleeding until you get fresh fluid out each bleed nipple.
 
Depending on how much you know about the brake system (i.e. is it working ok, when fluid last changed etc) might it might be worth stripping down the wheel cylinders and cleaning them out. Sounds a bit extreme I know.

I had completely renewed brake fluid (as advised above) as one of first jobs I did since when I bought mine the brakes didn't work. I fitted new wheel cylinders to rear wheels. This worked fine but a year later when I went for MOT I had failure with front brakes (imbalance). Eventually worked out that front right cylinder was seizing/sticking a bit. I stripped it down and the gunk inside was unbelievable. Cleaned bore, renewed seals/rubbers and bled in new fluid - she passed MOT and works fine now. That said, mine had been neglected for...well a decade or so I reckon...
 
The brakes seem to be working well and the pedal feels pretty solid, but she's been sitting for 8 or 9 months and I don't know how old the fluid is. After the MOT, when I have some more time, I'll probably look into overhauling the cylinders, but for now I think changing th fluid should do fine.

While I'm here, my track rod boots are perished, is it going to be a big job to replace them? It doesn't look as though it should be, but I know these things can be deceptive.

Many thanks.
 
While I'm here, my track rod boots are perished, is it going to be a big job to replace them? It doesn't look as though it should be, but I know these things can be deceptive.

Many thanks.[/quote]

The track rod boots at the front are pretty easy to do as long as everthing comes undone Ok, the drag link to the steering box involves far more work (removing battery tray etc)
 
Back
Top Bottom