It's almost 2 years since the brake/clutch hyraluic fluid was changed in my MK IV golf and this time I've decided to do this myself. Can anyone tell me how much hydraulic fluid I will require for this operation.
Many Thanks
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It would depend on the size of the reservoir,but I would think 500ml would be sufficient.
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You are correct sierraman, I will probably have to guestimate the correct amount based on the size of the reservoir. I have a Haynes manual and a the servive manual on CD, neither give the volume required. Which is annoying. Even my local VW garage don't seem to know - or don't wish to tell me :)
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It depends what method you use.
My method is to go to each bleed nipple in turn and then bleed off fluid until it runs clear and "new" looking. (Top up as you go, obviously).
I suppose there could theoretically be some old fluid lurking somewhere in the system, so maybe purists drain the whole lot, flush it out, then refill and bleed. That way the amount of fluid could be anything from 500ml to infinity, depending on how easy your system is to bleed and whether it has any quirks.
On some cars I hear of people using up gallons of fluid in an attempt to get the last bit of air out after some work has meant it has been drained.
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As this is safety critical, why not let your local independent do the job? he will then get rid of the old fluid as well, not only are you helping your local community, the enviroment as well. Is the service manual on CD worth getting? if so, where do I get one? Thanks
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Shoei, I've undertaken this sort of work on my previous cars and it's never been particularly difficult. The independents are there when I need a new cambelt and I'm more than happy to pay for a job like that.
RE The old fluid, my local council take this along with waste oil. No charge for that.
RE The service CD, I got mine off of Ebay and to be honest it's pretty useless. It appears to be aimed at the north american market and the procedures where listed are not that detailed. There may be other disks available, I got one for my fiesta and that is brilliant.
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As this is safety critical, why not let your local independent do the job?
Because he wants to do it himself. The first time I did it was a month ago and it seemed like a piece of cake. Different car, but similar method.
As mentioned before on this forum, do get a good bleeding kit such as gunson's eezibleed. I used the one-way valve type, so had to get a moaning sister to sit in the drivers seat and keep pumping the brake pedal.
One question which has always alluded me. Where do you get rid of the old fluid? I put it in with the oil, but surely this is not right? It was the only alternative to the drain I could think of.
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Mike Farrow
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Mike, there's no reason why it can't go in with the waste oil. Hydraulic fluid is a mixture of oil derivatives that are easily separated when the waste oil is processed for reuse.
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Cool, thanks misterbarbel.
I wasn't meaning to disregard your post, I'm just a slow typer (by a whole 10 minutes obviously!).
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A litre of DOT 4 shouldn't cost you more than a fiver if you're chatty to the guy in the motor factor and he gives you trade price!
A litre will be more than enough to completely re-fill any 'regular' braking system.
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Re disposal-I used to take old engine oil to a garage which used it to run their heating system,they stressed that brake fluid must not be mixed with the oil as it rendered it unusable.I think the the same applies at council recycling sites.I use my old fluid for starting bonfires as it is so flammable.
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Remember that any oil taken to a council recycling site is processed before being used as fuel oil. The oils we use in our cars these days are full of all sorts of chemicals , it wouldn't be advisable to use this oil in a heating system without treatment.
Last time I dumped brake fluid I checked with my local CA site and they said that hydraulic fluids were fine for the oil recycle bin.
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Whatever you do, don't go not doing it...as was the case with my dear Mother's Golf MKIII. When I checked her service history, found that it was last done in 1998!
I also found out that it hadn't had a FULL service before either - so was running on original plugs, fluids and filters. OK her car has done 35K from new ('P' plate) but still :P
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Im not plain stupid, just a special kind of stoopid.
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