This weekend's project is chucking the brake fluid reservoir, replacing it with one intended for a Mitsubishi (as documented in Palm) as well as installing speed bleeders.

Would it make sense to drain all the existing fluid, install speed bleeders and new reservoir, then add all new fluid, or is there a reason it would be better to try an keep as much of the existing fluid in the line as possible and just bleed it out when the new fluid goes in?

Finally (I've not looked yet) when I ordered the speed bleeders I was told the XJS with inboard brakes only needs 3. I ordered a 4th just in case, but is that true?

Thanks,

John
1987 XJ-S V12
63,000 miles

 

2 back 2 front on my 84

 

This sounds like you're using what I knew as ABV (Automatic Bleed Valves) back in the 1970's?

ABV's were replacement brake bleed screws with a non-return valve making bleeding a simple one-man operation.

I tried to find ABV's again about ten years ago with no success. Are they still available or is 'speed bleeder' a similar product?

Graham

 

Graham, they are offered as an option still as "easy bleeds" but the nice thing is they are offered on an extended braided hose for the inboard brakes offered on several Jagaur models throughout the years and you mount the bleed end to the IRS frame for quick easy access and the other end to the bleed port and just leave them in place..

06-0003 - Remote Bleeders I.R.S. Cars; Braided Stainless Steel

 

doesn't matter if the car is inboard or outboard it still has 4 calipers which all need bleeders.

Keep the fluid in and flush it all out with new fluid, this will keep moisture contamination to a minimum

 

Found out the hard way today that the front bleeder and rear bleeders are different sizes. The rear bleeders are slightly smaller, how much I don't know since I didn't want to end up with brake fluid all over the garage. All I do know is that the 10mm speed bleeders that fit in the fronts would absolutely not thread into the backs. So I installed the speed bleeders on the front, and they were very easy to use. The back was going to be a PITA with or without speed bleeders, just not much space to work. So I did those the old fashioned way.

I agree that the stainless steel remote bleeders are the way to go, but at $100/pair they are pretty steep. Maybe when it's time to bleed again I'll think about them.

Oh...also tossed the OEM brake reservoir and installed the Mitsubishi reservoir, so hopefully my brake work is complete for a couple of years.

Cheers,

John
1987 XJ-S V12
63,000 miles

 

what is the mitsubishi resivoir look like and what year or model?

 

Ron,

Here is a shot of my engine bay. You can see the Mitsubishi brake reservoir in the lower right foreground of the photo. Seems that mine was off a mid 90s Eclipse.

This was just a photo I had on my laptop. If you wish, I can get a more specific shot of it tomorrow.

 

I love those bleeders! They're excellent in the rear calipers. When I rebuilt my IRS, I put in new calipers that came with regular bleeders. I had a heck of a time bleeding it - just couldn't get it right. I remember thinking "how the heck did I do this before?" Much later, it dawned on me that I had speed bleeders in the old calipers, which made it a breeze. The bleeders with the long lines sound interesting, but I feel they're unnecessary if you have the ordinary speed bleeders.

The front bleeders are metric 10x1.0mm - I think there's a "short" and "long" offered - get the long. The rear bleeders are fractional. I think 3/8" fine but I'm not sure.

I want to see this Mitsubishi reservoir, too! Are there provisions for the low brake light switch?

 

Just curious, are people having problems with the stock reservoir?

 

Find below a photo of my installation. I pretty much just followed what Palm said, at it was pretty easy.

I used a Dremel tool to cut out the bracket then bent it in the appropriate places and painted it.

I found two brass reducers the drop the hose size from the 10mm of the Mitsubishi reservoir to whatever size (can't remember at the moment) the hoses are on the car. I used air hose line.

I cut the wiring and spade terminals out of the top of the OEM part and just plugged them into the wiring on the new reservoir.

Oh, I took the photo with the cap off because the cap is so blinding white that it screws up the photo. I'll probably paint the cap as it looks funky being the only snow white thing in the engine compartment.

Cheers,

John
1987 XJS-V12
63,000 miles

 

Ronbros...just look in Palm's book (I don't have it in front of me or I'd tell 'ya), he gives the part # for the reservoir. I ordered it online for under $40.

Cheers,

John

 

the bleeders in the back are in a pretty good spot IMO.

All you need to do is lift the car so you can get under it and they are right there, could be much worse

 

What's the point of putting in the new reservoir? Is there some king of inherent problem with the original design?

 

the ones with the braded hose are not the easy bleed nipples back in the 70s.
they are easy bleed cos you can do the rears without getting on your back.
but there are good and bad kits of these, the best ones terminate on the same side

 

I posted a similar question, got no response. Apparently I'm driving around with a ticking time bomb .......or not....mine's 25 years old with no problems.

 

how the story started, your definitive answer to why, gone into folk law now,
taken from Bernard embdons blog

The original brake fluid reservoir was still structurally sound, however the low fluid warning switch had succumbed to fluid contamination and was no longer operational. In addition, the design of the reservoir cap allowed air in, further contaminating the brake fluid. The objective was not only to replace the reservoir but also to do this without bleeding the brakes and as always the complete project must look good.

The replacement reservoir (from a 1995 Mitsubishi Eclipse) is almost the same size as the original with fluid exit hose connectors in approximately the same location. Most importantly, it used a far superior method of monitoring the brake fluid level.

 

I replaced mine because it became brittle enough that one of the outlets snapped off when I was working in the area. The Mitsubishi unit was cheaper than the Jag counterpart, and supposedly, I won't have a brake indicator light flickering on my instrument panel anymore due to bad connections or a saturated piece of cork inside the reservoir.

 

Per Palm, "do not trust your life on that switch", i.e., the brake fluid level switch.

After examining it (and I'm no engineer), I can see his point. To fix the problem...or even what might be a problem...for so little money and effort seemed foolish to me (maybe it was all of 2 hours from start to finish and no more that $50). Plus, it wouldn't take but a few months for my brake fluid to resemble the color of pancake syrup, so it was certainly getting some dirt/moisture from somewhere.

I suppose another way to look at it is like this...it's a 25 year old car (mine is), and maybe back then the designers could or could not have come up with something better. All I know is that of all I demand the car to do, stopping and steering are the two things that are going to keep me alive.

Cheers,

John
1987 XJ-S V12
63,000 miles

 

Sorry, meant to say "to NOT fix the problem...."

Cheers,

John