Project Trackday

The first batch of ordered parts arrived today, and since the weather was nice out, that alone was reason enough to work on the car…

UPS dropped off the following items:

• Motive Products Power Bleeder
• ATE Super Blue Racing DOT4 Brake Fluid
• Brake cleaner

First things first… Gotta check that the power bleeder is getting a good seal with the master brake cylinder.  Hook it up without any brake fluid in it first…

Power bleeder hooked up to the MBC. The Motive Products #0111 has the aluminum adapter specifically for the Miata

Pump until 10-15psi and check pressure gauge to make sure that it is maintaining that pressure (no leaks!)

Pressure holds steady...

Now release the pressure and add in some brake fluid

ATE Super Blue Racing DOT4

… And then pump until 10-15psi (I went with 12.5psi here, just down the middle of the recommended from Motive Products)…

ATE Super Blue gets pumped into the MBC.

Now the bleed order is as follows (according to the good folks at miata.net forums):  RL, RR, FR, FL.  Easy way to remember is counterclockwise starting at the rear wheels…  I jacked up and removed the wheel on the first one (RL) to show the bleed valve in pictures, but there is enough space to do the brake flush on the rears easily without having to remove the wheel.  For the remaining corners I didn’t remove the wheel…  My bleed valves had little rubber plugs covering them, and a gentle pull removes them easily.  Just remember to put them back on once you’re done!

Wrench on bleed valve with homemade catch bottle

You can purchase some catch bottles at your favorite auto store, but I had an old bottle that I never use sitting around, and the extra plastic hose was provided with the power bleeder kit, so I just made my own.  Since the old fluid was amber, I just let it bleed until the fluid had completely changed to the color of the ATE Super Blue.  Turning the bleed valve with a wrench starts the bleeding process.  Make sure the catch bottle is above the bleed valve so you can see any air bubbles that come out during bleeding.

As for the fronts I needed to jack it up a bit to have more space to fit my arm behind the wheel.  No need to remove the wheel, but I found the clearance on top of the wheel to be a bit too tight to fit an arm behind the wheel without jacking it up.  As always, safety first, and make sure you either have blocks or the e-brake on before attempting this!

For the future I will be alternating between the ATE Super Blue and the ATE TYP 200, both are exactly the same specification brake fluids, but having different color brake fluids between flushes makes it easy to see when to close that bleed valve.

For those of you that are keeping track of the expenses on this project, the power bleeder isn’t exactly cheap at $68, but it’s a one-time cost and the car will need at the very least a brake flush every summer.  As for the amount of brake fluid you need to do the flush, I bought 2L just to be 100% sure I had enough to do the job (I’d be pissed if I started and found out half way that 1L wasn’t enough), but it took less than 1L to do the brake flush, so I have an extra 1L of unopened ATE SBR for some other time…

First impressions:  Maybe its the placebo effect, or maybe the old fluid sucked, but I’m liking the new brake fluid.  There seems to be more feel to the brake pedal now (I don’t feel like I’m stomping on the brakes before I get any deceleration), though I haven’t gotten the brake system hot enough to evaluate improved brake fade characteristics yet.

Still more work to do on the brakes, but I’ll get to those when the parts arrive…

Edit:  Just an addendum to this post.  If there is still brake fluid in the power bleeder when you finish flushing the system, turn the bleeder on its side so it doesn’t pick up any more brake fluid.  Continue bleeding the brakes a bit more from the brake closest to the brake master cylinder as the level in the reservoir drops down to between the MIN and MAX lines.