Bled my brake fluid today...some observations

[Long Islander]

Thanks to the RennTech DIY instructions and others on this board, I bled my brake fluid today. The instructions were very helpful.

Here are a few other tips I can pass along to anyone else who plans to do this.

Drain tube:

You should buy 2 feet of clear plastic tubing, 3/16" inner diameter, 5/16" outer diameter. The tubing needs to be clear so you can see if there are any air bubbles in the fluid that's being drained. Less than 2 feet will leave the end of the tube dangling, and you'll have to hold your drainage jar with one hand and the end of the tube with the other hand.

Drain jar:

Obtain a glass jar (tomato sauce or apple sauce jars are perfect) that has at least a 1/2 liter capacity and mark the level in advance for 250 ml and for 500 ml. Save the lid. Drill a 5/16" diamer hole in the lid. The drainage end of the drain tube will fit perfectly in the hole you drilled in the lid and you won't have to hold either one. Also, when disconnecting the tube from the nipple, the other end will just drain into the jar and you won't spill a drop of fluid anywhere.

Turkey baster:

The instructions have you using a turkey baster to remove fluid from the reservoir. Well, the turkey baster my wife gave me was way too wide at the tip to fit around the little pieces of plastic that blocked access to the bottom of the reservoir (yes, I did remove the screen). I'm not sure if they make smaller turkey basters, but the tip has to be thin enough to fit into a small slot at the side of the opening to the reservoir and get way down to the bottom.

Instead of a turkey baster, what I did worked really well and was probably much quicker. I used a clean plastic pump from a liquid soap or lotion dispenser, with a flexible but stiff tube attached to the bottom. I was able to push the end of the tube down the side of the opening inside the brake fluid reservoir, and pump the brake fluid into an empty water bottle.

Brake fluid:

Have at least 2 liters of brake fluid available. I used all 2 liters.

Oh, and BTW, the used brake fluid that came out of the car didn't look anything like the nice, clear slightly yellow ATE gold fluid that I put in. It was definitely time.

[GOB]

Thanks for the tips. I flushed my brake fluid yesterday with the help of the head Porsche mechanic and what he did was to pour an ounce or two of fresh fluid on the receiving bottle that way, when he opened the first nipple, no air came back as the tube had fluid in it all the time. This saved us from having to open and close the nipple every time I had to pump the brake pedal.