I'm taking the brakes / suspension off now....

Can I just drain the brake fluid via the bleeder pts, or do I need to blow them out using pressure?

Will fluid stay in the lines? How much fluid is in the whole system?

Yes


Depends on what you want to do. If you blow them out they won't drip all over the place.


No. See previous comment. They will drip and drain over time if left with fluid and not capped off somehow.


Don't have a clue. Not much though.

The reservoir is 0.35L (0.75 pints for non-metric system folks). The fluid capacity of the system depends on how worn the brake pads are.

The more you drain it, the more air you'll have to get out of the lines later. If you're just replacing calipers, I'd let a little drip out and just have to do a regular brake bleeding when you are done.

I've been using the Speed Bleeders with good success. You may also consider using some of the different branded brake fluids that are colored to know when the old fluid has been replaced if you're concerned about getting all the old fluid out.

To get fluid out of the resevoir, get a large syringe and get it out with it. That would be at least that much you'd not have to deal with....I totally agree on using different color fluid each change. As has been said, you know when all the "old" fluid is gone....

If you want to keep the fluid in the system while working on it, get a pole or something and hold the pedal in about an inch or so, or halfway down. This will seal the inlet and keep fluid in the reservoir and MC until you're ready to bleed later. Then you can remove the calipers at will.

But if you're replacing with new calipers I wouldn't want to force old fluid through them. The best thing is to bleed before the calipers are replaced, then you have new fluid in the whole system. Bleeding then is limited to the calipers.

The pedal half-held will retain the new fluid until you get the calipers on.

I've never blown them out with air. You'll get much more movement out of the fluid bleeding under pressure than air under even higher pressure.

Good Luck!