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MG MGA - How to drain brake fluid

I am rebuilding the brakes on my '58, replacing all the cylinders and hoses, flushing the system and replacing with synthetic fluid. What is the most effective way to drain and flush the brake system? Should I leave the old cylinders and bleeders in place, drain all the old fluid through the one farthest away, then fill the master cylinder with alcohol and go from bleeder to bleeder, flushing the lines? Then replace the cylinders? I searched but could not find instructions anywhere for this process. Anyone know the drill? Thanks.
J Plegue

This is a interesting question wrt Dot 5/synthetic fluid. I did it in the brake bleed sequence several times and discarded 1/2 litre of silicone. This seemed to work but I've heard stories of inadequate cleansing and nasty things happening when traditional brake fluid is left in the system.
J H Cole

Drain the fluid at all bleeders, and blow it out with air pressure. Flush with alcohol through all bleeders, and blow it out with air again. Then replace all hoses, rebuild all cylinders, and refill with your preferred brake fluid.
Barney Gaylord

Totally in line with Barney's advice, this article is from the MGCC Safety Fast magazine that I converted from hard copy for them and is now available on their website for all to see: http://tinyurl.com/coov6fp

Steve
Steve Gyles

Excellent. That's what I needed to know. Thanks, guys.
J Plegue

I did exactly what Barney advised back in 2003. I used an A/C flushing solution used to flush R12 to retrofit to R134A. It smelled exactly like alcohol (because I am sure it was). It was a freebie from a shop going out of business. Easy job worth doing.
Tom Baker

My brother and I installed all new cylinders in our TD recently and converted to DOT 5. We actually drew brake cleaner through the system from the master cylinder to the bleeders, and then blew compressed air through each leg after removing the master cylinder. Replaced all the cylinders and hoses, then bled with DOT 5 as you normally would. Seems to have worked fine, got nothing but clean purple fluid at the bleeders.
Del Rawlins

This thread was discussed between 14/08/2012 and 16/08/2012

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This thread is from the archive. The Live MG MGA BBS is active now.