Posted: 6/27/2013 11:34:12 AM EDT
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1993 Ford Explorer
Soon, I'll be replacing the brake pads front and rear. Should I buy or rent a brake bleeder tool/pump? Can/should I replace them without this tool? Is there an easy way to replace the 20 year old brake fluid in the vehicle? Should I do that or leave it alone? Is this maintenance something I should just pay someone to do? |
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you don't need any special tools.
yes you should bleed them out. rear's should also have drum shoes inside the rotor hat that need to be replaced. for bleeding, use a turkey baster to pull out all the fluid in it. refill with clean put a block under the pedal so you don't push down too far, or you might damage the master cylinder from bleeding. have someone pump up and hold the pedal down, and crack open the bleeder on one of the ends. do right rear, left rear, right front, left front in that order. refill the master before it gets to the bottom. pretty much till you get clean fluid out of each corner. the motive and mighty vac's make it easier to do it by yourself, but are hardly necessary. typically the manufature recommends every 2 years. |
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It's easy to do with minimal tools if you have a helper. If you have access to a vacuum bleeder things will go faster and won't need a helper.
Be safe and use jack stands. Don't rely on the jack to hold the vehicle up. If you use a helper be sure to have a set dialogue and the helper knows not to do anything until you give a command. Something like "press" means you want the helper to press on the pedal and keep pressing until you say "release". While they're pressing you will be cracking open the bleeder which causes the pedal to fall, if the helper tries to pump the pedal a second time while you've still got the bleeder open air will get sucked into caliper. Once you've got the bleeder closed you'll give the "release" instruction to let the helper know they can take their foot off the pedal which will keep air from getting sucked in. Repeat the "press" and "release" commands until you're pushing out clean fluid. Consider replacing the rotors while you're replacing the pads. The biggest PITA you may encounter is if the rotor is stuck to the hub. If that happens you can put the lugs nuts back on the studs to protect them then hit the rotor with a ball peen hammer between the studs. If that doesn't work you can use two bolts and four nuts to push the rotor off the hub. Watch youtube for some brake job tutorials, youtube also has a tutorial for using the bolt trick to remove a stuck rotor. Use caliper grease, and be sure to pump the brake pedal to extend the pistons after everything is assembled and before attempting to drive. |
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The only time I bleed brakes is when the system has been opened by replacing a caliper, line, master cylinder or wheel cylinder. I have never changed brake fluid. It's a good idea to pump new fluid through it periodically, maybe every couple years. Especially with ABS..... |
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it is necessary to replace your brake fluid periodically.
it is hydroscopic and so absorbing water allows it to rust out components in your braking system internally. it also causes your fluid to have a lower boiling point. I have seen people who never changed their brake fluid come and say they were in heavy braking situations, like down hill and suddenly brakes went to the floor. later when they tried it they were fine. changing the brake fluid prevents that, and siezed calipers or wheel cylinders. |
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it is necessary to replace your brake fluid periodically. it is hydroscopic and so absorbing water allows it to rust out components in your braking system internally. it also causes your fluid to have a lower boiling point. I have seen people who never changed their brake fluid come and say they were in heavy braking situations, like down hill and suddenly brakes went to the floor. later when they tried it they were fine. changing the brake fluid prevents that, and siezed calipers or wheel cylinders. The word you are looking for is "hygroscopic". |
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Good luck with the bleeder screws. I would seriously recommend soaking them in PB Blaster or equivalent overnight before you go after bleeding the system. Thanks for the tip. I'll go spray them now. This is California, man. It never rains. There's no snow or salt or gravel on the roads,... ever. The underside of this 20 year old truck is amazingly clean and rust-free (was just underneath). The truck was only driven by a little old lady from Pasadena*. 
Lots of good tips, so far. Keep 'em coming. * Actually, I am the original owner. |
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Good luck with the bleeder screws. I would seriously recommend soaking them in PB Blaster or equivalent overnight before you go after bleeding the system. Thanks for the tip. I'll go spray them now. This is California, man. It never rains. There's no snow or salt or gravel on the roads,... ever. The underside of this 20 year old truck is amazingly clean and rust-free (was just underneath). The truck was only driven by a little old lady from Pasadena*.
Lots of good tips, so far. Keep 'em coming. * Actually, I am the original owner. You can buy new bleeder screws that have check valves in them. They call them speed bleeders and you can buy them at the autoparts store when you buy your pads. Pic for reference: speed bleeders You probably should replace your bleeder screws anyway, and these cost about $15 a pair the last time I checked. Will save you from the frustration of sucking air back into your system if the person helping you (or you) don't do it right. |
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First - I'm going to replace the pads and inspect/repack the wheel bearings. How can you tell if the brake fluid needs to be replaced? It will be dark. Fresh BF is light-colored and translucent. If the fluid hasn't been changed in a few years, it should be flushed regardless. Use a syringe to empty the master cylinder as much as possible then top it off with fresh. When you bleed the calipers, bleed it until the fluid coming out it the same color as fresh brake fluid. |
| I redid the rear brakes of my 93 Explorer just last year. New brake cylinders, shoes, drums, springs, everything. It was fairly easy. Be sure you have a quality drum brake tool. I went through a cheap one before I bought a good one. The fronts are extremely easy to do. Just knock out a couple of pins holding in the front calipers, and be sure to regrease them when you put them back in. Pads and rotors are easy to do. Just like it was said before, get some fluid out of the reservoir and get new stuff in. Bleed them until it doesn't look like crap. Fortunately you live in CA and parts for 1st gen Explorers are cheap as hell |
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Good luck with the bleeder screws. I would seriously recommend soaking them in PB Blaster or equivalent overnight before you go after bleeding the system. clear RTV sealant around the threads has helped me on brake bleeders for the next time. always have to think ahead. 
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I use O'Reilly Auto Parts in my neighborhood. Their prices are a lot lower than NAPA and they are a lot closer than the nearest NAPA, too. Just use their private label Brake Best brand. If you have the coin you could get the Motorcraft or whatever but I can't see spending $60-70 on pads for a 1st gen Explorer, no matter how nice it is. I have used some of the other in-house parts like MasterPro for bearings on my 93 and they seem decent, but it's not my DD so I can't speak for that type of usage. |
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not sure how much longer a 93 is going to last,... That's what I said 10 years ago.
It's got 108k miles on it. Some say it will go 200k miles. For me, that's another 20 years. I bought the parts and this brake job starts tomorrow. Now, can we talk about air conditioning maintenance, or should we wait until next week?
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Quoted: Quoted: not sure how much longer a 93 is going to last,... That's what I said 10 years ago. It's got 108k miles on it. Some say it will go 200k miles. For me, that's another 20 years. I bought the parts and this brake job starts tomorrow. Now, can we talk about air conditioning maintenance, or should we wait until next week? I got that one covered. Just take it to the pros for that one. If you over pressurize the system that's just as bad as not having enough. If you suspect a leak then those recharge kits are ok I guess since you can check for it yourself...but aside from that, that's one job you actually want to contract out |
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Now, can we talk about air conditioning maintenance, or should we wait until next week? I got that one covered. Just take it to the pros for that one. If you over pressurize the system that's just as bad as not having enough. If you suspect a leak then those recharge kits are ok I guess since you can check for it yourself...but aside from that, that's one job you actually want to contract out Thank you for the help. |
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Quoted: I finished the front brakes and got started on the rear. I am taking a lunch break before finishing up the rear. It's going very well, so far. I haven't done any of the brake adjustments, so I am a bit concerned about getting that part correct. The rears are always a touch harder because of the parking brake adjustment. Just take your time and you'll be fine. You can't really fuck it up per say, you'd just need to re-adjust the parking brake either at the handle/pedal or at the rear brake. |
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Yes, the rear brakes were much more complicated. Doing the first one took a while (~1 hour) but the second was dramatically faster (~20 minutes). The adjustment of the rears was pretty easy, really. I was unnecessarily concerned.
I took it for a successful test drive. That little squeak I was hearing was gone. Braking was smooth and powerful with no hint of pulling to either side. The parking/emergency brake also stopped the car smoothly and without pulling to either side. The fluid level in the master cylinder is fine. Is there anything else I should check? |
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Is there anything else I should check? Don't brake aggressively (if you can help it) for the first 50 miles or so. This applied whether you did your brakes yourself or if you paid someone to do it. Will allow the pads and rotors to bed in well without glazing. |
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...besides your wallet for all the money you just saved.... When was the last time you drained and refilled your radiator fluid? Power steering fluid level? air filters? how'd the struts/shocks look? Sway bar bushings look ok? Engine oil and tranny fluid? My guess is I saved $300. The going price seems to be about $350 but I spent about $50 on parts and the brake spring tool. It did take me most of the day to do it but I knew it would and had planned for that. I was slow because it was all new to me. If I had to do it again, it would take a lot less time. Having done it myself, I can say I enjoyed doing it myself. All those other things are well. Though I was intending the question to refer to checks of the braking system. I had the various suspension bushings replaced two years ago. That made a dramatic difference in the feel of the truck. It is a lot a "tighter" and more "solid" than it was. |
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Is there anything else I should check? Don't brake aggressively (if you can help it) for the first 50 miles or so. This applied whether you did your brakes yourself or if you paid someone to do it. Will allow the pads and rotors to bed in well without glazing. ty, an excellent tip, I'll do that. |