tringy Posted August 15, 2018 Share Posted August 15, 2018 Hi all, I now intend to service my vehicle now as the warranty has run out. It is on a fiat 2015 150bhp 2,3 x290 and my question is can I change the brake fluid myself and is it difficult or a straight forward bleed out job? Thanks Tringy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chas Posted August 15, 2018 Share Posted August 15, 2018 Hi- you could change the brake fluid yourself if you have the knowledge and skill to do it. Myself I don't do that part of maintenance as feel it is a very important safety aspect IMO. However you can check if it does need changing yourself, I was told by garage friend that some manufactures quote every 2years, but he felt it was a way of making easy money when it may well not need doing so soon. I bought a brake fluid tester and its easy to see the state of the fluid and it tells you its condition, £10 well spent, of course when its showing between good and change, it will go in to be done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blaven Posted August 15, 2018 Share Posted August 15, 2018 tringy - 2018-08-15 8:31 AM Hi all, I now intend to service my vehicle now as the warranty has run out. It is on a fiat 2015 150bhp 2,3 x290 and my question is can I change the brake fluid myself and is it difficult or a straight forward bleed out job? Thanks Tringy. I’m not qualified to answer definitively on your vehicle. I’ve just done this on my 2003 2.8 JTD, but I have no ABS. For me it was straightforward using a Gunson or Seely type self bleeding kit working off the pressure in a spare wheel. and over a litre of DOT4. I suspect that ABS wouldn’t be any more problematic. I assume that the ABS system is under the bonnet, and not elsewhere. Others on here may have more expertise, but beware of ‘opinions’, and base your decision on hard verified facts before committing. My front discs are two pot and have two bleed screws per side, upper and lower. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keithl Posted August 15, 2018 Share Posted August 15, 2018 Hi Tringy, I'm not saying yes or no to you doing the job but my advice would be that if you do do it then do NOT let ANY air into the system! ie DO NOT open all the bleed valves and drain the system then try to refill it. Use the new fluid to push out the old fluid and always keep the reservoir topped up. I'm not sure how you get round flushing the old fluid out of the ABS controller on a Ducato, you may need a dealer level diagnostic tool to open the valves, you certainly do on a Sprinter with ABS. Perhaps Nick (Euroserv) can advise? Keith. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dipsticks Posted August 15, 2018 Share Posted August 15, 2018 blaven - 2018-08-15 10:24 AM tringy - 2018-08-15 8:31 AM Hi all, I now intend to service my vehicle now as the warranty has run out. It is on a fiat 2015 150bhp 2,3 x290 and my question is can I change the brake fluid myself and is it difficult or a straight forward bleed out job? Thanks Tringy. I’m not qualified to answer definitively on your vehicle. I’ve just done this on my 2003 2.8 JTD, but I have no ABS. For me it was straightforward using a Gunson or Seely type self bleeding kit working off the pressure in a spare wheel. and over a litre of DOT4. I suspect that ABS wouldn’t be any more problematic. I assume that the ABS system is under the bonnet, and not elsewhere. Others on here may have more expertise, but beware of ‘opinions’, and base your decision on hard verified facts before committing. My front discs are two pot and have two bleed screws per side, upper and lower. Please be careful anyone using the kits that pressurises the hydraulic sytem during bleeding. A friend of mine used this kit and with just the standard pressure in the spare wheel, as per the instructions, he burst the fluid resevoir and a money saving exercise became very expensive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hallii Posted August 15, 2018 Share Posted August 15, 2018 I changed mine myself, mines a Ford though. The ABS cannot be bled manually but I just did the rest using an "Easybleed" I kept the engine running whilst I did it not sure why but someone suggested I did! Make sure you get the right fluid. Dispose of the old fluid at the council tip. H Edit : Check the maximum pressure for the Easybleed, full tyre pressure of 70 PSI will blow things apart! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deneb Posted August 15, 2018 Share Posted August 15, 2018 You really need to pressure bleed a modern Ducato with ABS to bleed it successfully. However, the pressure needs to be kept fairly low to avoid system damage. Fiat recommend a maximum of 1 bar (14 psi) in the system. Bleeding the main hydraulic lines is fairly straightforward, but to flush old fluid from the ABS unit and replace it with fresh fluid you will need diagnostic software that is able to activate the ABS valves in bleed mode to pump fluid through the circuits within the module. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dipsticks Posted August 15, 2018 Share Posted August 15, 2018 30 PSI blew the fluid resevoir of my friends Audi A4 apart, the maximum pressure for the 'easibleed' was of no consequence there, it is the pressure that the resevoir will take that is of importance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deneb Posted August 15, 2018 Share Posted August 15, 2018 dipsticks - 2018-08-15 1:18 PM 30 PSI blew the fluid resevoir of my friends Audi A4 apart, the maximum pressure for the 'easibleed' was of no consequence there, it is the pressure that the resevoir will take that is of importance. And the various system seals, hence the Fiat recommended absolute maximum of 1 bar! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tracker Posted August 15, 2018 Share Posted August 15, 2018 Whilst I applaud your desire to do it yourself there are a couple of points. Firstly the value of a van can be reduced by not having a garage stamped service history, but primarily and with respect, if you don't have the expertise to change brake fluid leave it to a garage that does as it makes no sense whatsoever to take any risks with brakes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blaven Posted August 15, 2018 Share Posted August 15, 2018 dipsticks - 2018-08-15 11:07 AM blaven - 2018-08-15 10:24 AM tringy - 2018-08-15 8:31 AM Hi all, I now intend to service my vehicle now as the warranty has run out. It is on a fiat 2015 150bhp 2,3 x290 and my question is can I change the brake fluid myself and is it difficult or a straight forward bleed out job? Thanks Tringy. I’m not qualified to answer definitively on your vehicle. I’ve just done this on my 2003 2.8 JTD, but I have no ABS. For me it was straightforward using a Gunson or Seely type self bleeding kit working off the pressure in a spare wheel. and over a litre of DOT4. I suspect that ABS wouldn’t be any more problematic. I assume that the ABS system is under the bonnet, and not elsewhere. Others on here may have more expertise, but beware of ‘opinions’, and base your decision on hard verified facts before committing. My front discs are two pot and have two bleed screws per side, upper and lower. Please be careful anyone using the kits that pressurises the hydraulic sytem during bleeding. A friend of mine used this kit and with just the standard pressure in the spare wheel, as per the instructions, he burst the fluid resevoir and a money saving exercise became very expensive. Just had a look at the Seeley instructions on ,the kit that I used. It stipulates that the spare wheel pressure MUST be reduced to a maximum of 20 psi prior to fitting to the brake reservoir, and that a pressure of 10 psi will do the job, though obviously that may need to be topped up if shifting a lot of fluid. The instructions (those things which many of us ignore) are explicit in this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deneb Posted August 15, 2018 Share Posted August 15, 2018 Fully agree with your second point Tracker. Having just paid £320 for a service to maintain the warranty on my van however, when the same amount of work and parts cost me less than £80 and a hour or so of my time last year for an interim service not required under the warranty, I wonder how much you think a van would devalue over time, compared to how much over the odds you would spend on garage work which in my experience, is not always done to a standard or with a level of care that I would take when approaching the work myself. Also, how far do you go down that route? I bought my van to use for its intended purpose, for as long as it lasts and as long as I am content with it. I don't understand the type of people who buy a new van every couple of years, but each to their own. The amount of money they're actually throwing away though, I doubt the difference in value between dealer servicing or otherwise is that much in comparison, although I'm sure they kid themselves otherwise. Reminds me of the cars I used to see which still had the plastic factory delivery covers on the plush velour seats at 2 or 3 years old. Yes, the owners were keeping the seats pristine "to protect the value", but at the expense of their own comfort during the lifetime of their ownership. They might has well have just ordered the vinyl seats for the use and comfort they got out of them! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted August 15, 2018 Share Posted August 15, 2018 And don’t forget that the concentric slave cylinder that operates the clutch of Ducato X250/X290 vehicles shares the brake system’s hydraulic fluid. (I note that Deneb advises on this in the following MHFun discussion) https://www.motorhomefun.co.uk/forum/threads/fiat-ducato-clutch.179206/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tringy Posted August 15, 2018 Author Share Posted August 15, 2018 Thanks for all your replies, very helpful and a lot of food for thought and I will concider my options very carefully. Kind regards to all. Tringy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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