Hello everyone thank you for all the advice on my last question regarding brake fluid
so I ended up purchasing penrite dot 5.1 which has been recommended for my vehicle not the cheapest at parts shop at $55.00 for 500 mil so brought 3
so my question is

Has any other forms member done a full brake fluid flush

Is there anything i need to know before fully replacing brake fluid guess what i mean is regarding the abs pump
only reason I am asking is i have also got two BMW e38 s
the 740il v8 and the 750il il v12
With them you have to connect to there abs pump via the scanner to flush system by turning on abs pump

Do I need any specific tools to do jaguar brake fluid system

Thanking you
Darrol

 

I believe that you still need to do the "old school" brake flush using a power bleeder on the S-type. A pressure of 30PSI (IIRC) needs to be attained in order to open all the valves in the ABS unit. Using the old "pump up the master cylinder" approach has been known to cause problems if the operator bottoms out the pedal on the down stroke, Jag master cylinders don't like that...

 

I don't know anyway except using an SDD to cycle the ABS stuff. Your right that the ABS has some fluid trapped inside that does not get changed out.
When faced with this in the past I would find a dirt road and after swapping all the fluid that I could I would give it a number of hard brake cycles on the dirt road making sure you felt the ABS "kick in" so the brake pedal was pulsing as the brakes were applied and released.

This forces the ABS pump to cycle and pump brake fluid into the system from the ABS reservoir. Does it work? I am still not sure but at least it was an attempt. I would then re-bleed the brakes hoping to swap the old ABS fluid out at the same time. Not real sure how much difference this makes but I also wanted to change as much of the fluid out as possible.

Now I have seen some real cool scanners that will actually cycle the ABS pump on command. So you just open the bleeder one wheel at a time then actuate the ABS pump and cycle as much or as little brake fluid as you want out of the system.
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Nah, you just wanted to show off how clean your big V8 engine bay is😂. And yes, now we know about your big Beemers too😄. Jealous, moi?! C’est impossible!🤤

 

I don't know about New Zealand but over here a lot of repair shops have a pressure bleeder that flushes out all the fluid and replaces it with new fluid for not that much money. It worked fine on my car. If you do it yourself with someone pumping the brake pedal, put some tubing on the bleeder screw and keep your finger on the end to minimize air leaking back in.

 

Yea should be clean after spending 11k on engine rebuild

 

Hi over here most garages won't look at jaguars
as you have no choice but to go to a Authorized dealer
And in New Zealand they know how to charge at $200.00 per hour

 

The local Ford dealership in my small Montana town used to be very accommodating about working on my S-type, after all it is a Lincoln LS in a Seville Row suit, no? Not so much now since their old service manager retired. The new guy can be a bit of a "dick" and has basically decided that his service area is reserved for those cars, of late model, wearing the blue oval. For a brake flush he suggested the Chevrolet dealer in a larger town some 45 miles distant. I visited this dealer in person and their response was "If we have an adapter that fits your master cylinder, sure we can do that..." They did have the correct fitting and $100 and less than an hour later I was good to go.

That alternative sure beat jacking the car up and going through all the fuss of bleeding the brakes; although, my Jag looked a bit odd surrounded by a sea of huge Chevy pickups and SUVs...

 

Here are my 10 cents worth:
I did the brake bleeding on the following Jags already - and I did it old school: X308 (=XJ8), S-Type, X-Type.
I would never spend NZ$55 for 1/2L of brake fluid. As I am sure that you will not try to compete with F1 cars on a racetrack, DOT4 for a fraction of the cost, will do.
Step 1 is to suck (with a little tube on a syringe) the old brake fluid out of the reservoir.
Step 2 is to fill up the reservoir with new fluid (and do not forget to keep refilling the reservoir, while you pump the new fluid thru the system). And always put the lid back onto the reservoir (to avoid too much air/humidity to enter the reservoir).
Step 3: Bleed the fluid at the bleeder nipples (start from the nipple furthest away from brake cylinder and end with the nipple closest). Either you have a little helper, who will then complain, how painful it is on the foot to always step on the brake (while you open the valve (and release the brake while you have closed the valve), or save yourself the whining and feed the tube on the open valve into a bottle, with the tube end submerged in the old brake fluid, which you removed in step 1. Always remember advise given in step 2: Always refill reservoir and do not let it run empty...
..because if you let it run empty, you might have to do bench bleeding...: even when I once forgot and it ran empty, I really did not want to do that - instead I refilled the reservoir and applied air-pressure (air-compressor-air-gun) thru a makeshift-lid with a hole for the air-gun. That worked, too.

PS: As I never read anything and neither saw any video about applying air-pressure from the top via and air-gun (that was my own idea), I am sure that someone will tell me now that this can't be done for some reason. But I did it, it worked, and I did not damage anything (but I can't guarantee that it is not possible to damage something that way....

 

Peter, your method of using compressed air is basically how a pressure bleeder works. The "right leg method" is not effective in getting all the valves in the ABS unit to open and clear the old, dirty and moisture laden fluid from the most expensive component in the system. Using the "gravel road" method, may well circulate the new through the ABS system, but also involves then re-bleeding the brakes to clear the now contaminated new fluid from the system.

 

Ah, thanks, "S-Type Owner". Now I know that I wasn't just lucky that I did not do any damage by applying air-pressure via air-gun from the top via a make-shift lid with a rubber seal (and a hole thru that lid), and if that method is actually more thorough, I might just do it always that way from now on (with a bottle at the end of the bleeder) and giving my little helper a new job: just look at the fluid coming into the bottle and check, when the new, clean fluid comes out...

As brake fluid will draw water over time, the brake fluid needs to be changed from time to time.

 

Yes I have a pressure bleeder and it does work well but it can't bleed the ABS. As S-Type Owner posted above the ABS valves must be cycled while bleeding to remove the fluid trapped in the high pressure chamber of the ABS unit.
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Hi Peter
Reason I spent $55.00 per bottle is our repco shop had it in stock and they did not have any super dot 4
yes they could get it in for me but not sure about Australia but in nz if repro has to get something in that not in stock
they classified it as special order
and hit you with courier charges and courier service is very slow over here at moment and was told it could not take up to 8 working days
so I bit the bullet an purchased what they had in store

 

Hi Darrol,
well, Repco is heaps easier to deal with in AUS: Coincidentally they are only 2km away from me, they stock very little, but whatever I want: They have most of it by the next day - of course without extra charge. DOT4 is obviously one of the BASICS one needs for a car - it just cannot be special order - and if they charge for it, it means that they let the customer pay for their restocking.
Actually, DOT4 is THAT basic, every fuel station should have it...
And I just checked: EVEN "Big W" has DOT4. DOT4 is as basic as milk!
What about ebay in NZ? Does that not work as normal either?

PS: I was just thinking: If you have not opened DOT5.1 yet, and you can find the way cheaper DOT4, which should be available at every corner - maybe you can return the DOT5.1!?

PS2: I checked yesterday, what "the internet" thinks regarding the frequency of a brake fluid change - "the internet" recommends every 2 years. I think, that is overdoing it. On the other hand: I got a feeling that some of the close to 20 years old Jags I bought never ever had a brake fluid change done before. I think, that's "underdoing" it...

 

Hi Peter
Repco in oamaru is useless example they don't even stock oil filter or 5/30 full synthetic engine oil
In 5 or 6 L only 1 L bottles
my repco store is 30 km away next is super cheap 100km away
As for ebay not in New Zealand when I purchase on eBay it has to come from either Australia 5 to 10 days shipping
United Kingdom 10 to 15 days shipping or United States 20 plus days shipping
If you own a European car over here its hopeless to get parts
I'm not worried about the price of the brake fluid
and all done now

 

Peter, the "internet" is following most manufacturer's recommendations. I did the same thing for decades, but then I got one of these:


The brake fluid on my S-type needed replacement at between 3 and 4 years. So, at least based upon my anecdotal experience, you are correct.