Pressure bleeding brake fluid

[JFP in PA]

Originally Posted by evo-r

I'm planning to pressure bleed my brake fluid soon and thinking of purchasing the following items from Pelican Parts for this job;

- Black Label European Power Bleeder Kit ($69.95)
- ATE Gold Brake Fluid x3 liters ($15/liter)

Questions:
1) In addition to the instructions from PelicanParts do you offer any other tip for this job? Pelican Technical Article: Bleeding Boxster Brakes - 986 / 987

2) Is "ATE Gold Brake Fluid" a good fluid to use? What color is this fluid? Any other good alternatives?

3) I thought I had read somewhere that it only takes 1 liter of the brake fluid to bleed the system but Pelican Parts states a minimum of 3 liters, which is correct?

One liter is more than enough, I have no idea why Pelican thinks you need that much. ATE Gold (also known as ATE 200) is an amber yellow color.

[steved0x]

Originally Posted by JFP in PA

One liter is more than enough, I have no idea why Pelican thinks you need that much. ATE Gold (also known as ATE 200) is an amber yellow color.

I second this, I have never used more than 1 liter even when doing a full flush on the brakes and clutch. I think I even had enough left over to do the clutch on my son's Miata too (separate system on the Miata, not shared like clutch and brakes on the boxster)

Another interesting thing, the first time I used super blue, I had a mechanic bleed only the brakes. The next time had the car up and the panels etc. off I bled the clutch and it came out totally blue, no trace of amber. But I get an inch or two of amber out of the inner bleed screw on each caliper. Apparently my mechanic bled only the outer screw, and the amber remained there. But the clutch fluid somehow circulated and mixed with the fresh brake fluid. Interesting. I wonder if others have seen that same thing? Getting to the clutch bleed screw is a !@#$%$ and if it gets fresh fluid by mixing with the rest of the fluid then maybe I don't have to do it every time

[JFP in PA]

Originally Posted by steved0x

I second this, I have never used more than 1 liter even when doing a full flush on the brakes and clutch. I think I even had enough left over to do the clutch on my son's Miata too (separate system on the Miata, not shared like clutch and brakes on the boxster)

Another interesting thing, the first time I used super blue, I had a mechanic bleed only the brakes. The next time had the car up and the panels etc. off I bled the clutch and it came out totally blue, no trace of amber. But I get an inch or two of amber out of the inner bleed screw on each caliper. Apparently my mechanic bled only the outer screw, and the amber remained there. But the clutch fluid somehow circulated and mixed with the fresh brake fluid. Interesting. I wonder if others have seen that same thing? Getting to the clutch bleed screw is a !@#$%$ and if it gets fresh fluid by mixing with the rest of the fluid then maybe I don't have to do it every time

Over time, and with enough usage, the fluids will mix, but you should flush both the inner and outer bleeders every time you flush. You really don't want any trace of the old fluid in the system.

[kjc2050]

Originally Posted by JFP in PA

One liter is more than enough, I have no idea why Pelican thinks you need that much.

Pelican thinks you need that much because they're selling it. I bought 3 liters and used 1.