Installing all new brake calipers on all 4's. Options

[surfdogskier]

So I decided to bite the bullet and get refurbished brake calipers for all sides. One of mine was toast, back driver side and front looked like it needed a good rebuild anyway.

1. Should I pre-fill the calipers with fluid?
2. If figure I should only do one at a time and bleed the air out before going to the next, correct?
3. DOT 3 brake fluid or other.

Thanks,
Jason

[ClayPerrine]

Paging Eric Shea. Duke of Deceleration, please pick up the white courtesy phone.
@Eric_Shea

[Mikey914]

No need to pre fill the calipers.
If the calipers are shot you should also check the master cylinder. If the fluid that drains out has rust particles in it or dirt, you have to replace it. You may have dodged this bullet, but if it's contaminated you are spreading this crap through your system.
I'm sure Eric will have much more to say.

[mepstein]

Replace rubber soft lines if it’s been a while. Also think about getting the rear pressure regulator done by pmb.

[Frankvw]

Hi, great when you have all 4 new !
I started with the new rear calipers, new pads, new flexible hoses.
I took out the old brakefluid from the brakereservoir and added new fluid. I used dot4.
I understood that the rear Flex hoses were a hard job. It was not too bad actually. When changing the flex hose, the brake fluid kept coming (old fluid getting out the lines, so that was good (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif) ) and after the new flex hose was in and attached to the rear hard line, first I let the gravity let the brakefluid get through it. I capped the hardline with the cap from the brakecaliper from the bleedingscrew.
Then bolted on the brakecaliper . I did not prefill them.
A fun task was to set the clearance on the rearbrake pads. It is an interesting design, and not too difficult if you have new calipers that work like they should.
I did the bleeding of the rearcaliper, then set the clearance, bleed again, re-measure/re-adjust the clearance again if needed.

[914werke]

A fun task was to set the clearance on the rear brake pads. It is an interesting design, and not too difficult if you have new calipers that work like they should.

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/agree.gif)

[davep]

Yes, if replacing calipers, definitely replace the rubber lines with new rubber lines if they are more than 3 years old. Also replace as many steel lines as you can.
I empty out the reservoir and fill again with fresh fluid; I generally use a cheap fluid to start, then finish with a quality fluid like Castrol LMA. Always keep an eye on the level of the fluid in the reservoir. I suggest flushing the lines first before putting a new caliper on. No use putting dirty fluid into a new caliper. Some of the procedure depends on how you plan to do the bleeding; pressure, suction or pumping the brake pedal.
I generally replace one caliper at a time starting with right rear, then LR, then RF and finally LF. That flushes the longest line first. When you bleed the caliper the first time just get most of the bubbles out. When all are replaced, and the initial bleeding has been done then check the feel of the brake pedal. Then go around and do your next set of bleeding. Again check the pedal feel. Sometimes you need to do a careful drive to get the pistons set up fully.

[rjames]

Do a search and you'll find several methods that have worked for people.
Replacing the bleeders with Speed Bleeders and using a Motiv Power bleeder connected to the reservoir to help force fluid through the system made the job very easy for me.

[surfdogskier]

Thanks for all the suggestions. Look forward to getting her back on the road.