Brake Bleeding Procedure

[TheContrarian]

I wanted to ask for tips/tricks and the general procedure for bleeding the RS3 brakes. I'm on factory fluid and its time to get it out of there.

1. Order of bleeding corners (and nipples on the front brakes)
2. Tools you use to help, bleeding screws, kits, anything
3. Does VAGCOM come into play?

And were you able to get a nice firm pedal after the procedure.

Thanks

[o1turbo30v]

I just did mine last weekend using a Motive pressure bleeder:

1. bleed order goes from farthest from reservoir to closest (RR,RL,FR,FL).
2. Fill Motive up with 1 liter of new fluid
3. Pressurize to 10 psi
4. rears crack bleeders (11mm)
5. front, 2 bleeders per caliper, do inside ones first then outside ones

Just periodically check the pressure in the Motive stays around 6-10 psi, might need to pump it up a few times.

My tool list was
1. Motive Power Bleeder (or similar) https://www.amazon.com/Motive-Produc...0002KM5L0?th=1

2.Fluid catch can (or similar) https://www.arestool.com/products/1l...servoir-bottle

3. Pentosin super dot 4 https://www.fcpeuro.com/products/sup...iABEgJvG_D_BwE

4. 11 tubing wrench or similar

5. CRC brake clean or similar


Wont need Vag-Com unless you are changing the rear pads, super easy, will take you longer to jack the car up and get wheels off then bleed, just make sure you leave a little fluid in the Motive, i used liked 800ml.

Cheers

[tegxsi]

In many modern cars you are supposed to bleed the wheel closest to the ABS unit first and move out from there. If you are just flushing and there is no air in the system then it really doesn't matter.

[Potatohead_RS3]

If you don't introduce air, it does not matter. You can bleed in any order and you don't have to bleed the ABS pump. The actual technical order is opposite of conventional thinking (as stated above) - LF>RF>LR>RR.

Just keep the master full, bleed one caliper, fill the master again, and continue. I just use a small handheld vacuum pump to do it but no doubt a pressure bleeder is easier. I've done it twice now and the brakes feel like factory.

Also I would suggest a low-viscosity fluid, especially living in Winnipeg. I've used both Pentosin Dot 4 LV and ATE SL.6 with success.

[S3DUDE]

I had mine done by a shop on the second year mark because apparently you have to change it every two no matter the mileage. Now I want to do it but using Motul RBF 660 or similar. I have plans to use the run the car at the local short road course (1400 yards long), on this road course I have to use the brakes a lot because it has a lot of turns.

Has anyone used full syntethic brake fluid with a high boiling point like the ones from Stoptech, the Motul RBF 600 and RBF 660? Also, can anyone recommend me a decent stainless steel braided lines?, I want to do them at the same time. The shop that has been doing my maintenance said that they use a positive pressure device on top of the brake reservoir to avoid getting air going up on brake fluid lines. Thanks a lot in advance.

[TheContrarian]

Thanks for the replies. I bought the motive pressure bleeder to make things as easy as possible.

Performed the brake flushing today while I did my season tire change. I ran into one issue, while I was bleeding the last caliper (right rear) I started getting a lot of air along with fluid.

I closed the screw and checked the motive bottle, still at 8 psi and with 100-200 ml of fluid remaining. Looking in the master cylinder revealed it was almost empty!

I disconnected the motive and refilled the master cylinder directly. One problem is that it is very hard to read the fluid level in the master cylinder with light colored fluid in poor lighting.

I repeated the entire bleed procedure and the pedal felt good on subsequent test drive.

So keep an eye on the master cylinder fluid level while doing this because fluid in the motive bottle does not mean the master cylinder is full. My master cylinder level was probably a bit low to begin with as I'm still on factory pads.

[S3DUDE]

What I great topic. I am about to switch my brake fluid as well, look at my update on post #47 on this link
(see below):

https://www.audizine.com/forum/showt...-on-the-floor)

My question to you is: did you tried using a strong flashlight behind the reservoir to see if you could get some liquid contrast (shade)?. My brake fluid change is going to be more challenging, I am replacing all 4 lines too which it can turn into a nightmare and costlier too because I am using 2 bottles of Castrol SRF at $60 per bottle.

I just convinced myself to go ahead and buy the motive kit and do it in the garage with my friend's help. If you look into my post#47 on the link provided you will see how expensive the shops want to charge for the lines and brake fluid purging/flushing. I am following username 01TURBO30V advise.

[mtwallace85]

1. bleed order goes from farthest from reservoir to closest (RR,RL,FR,FL).
5. front, 2 bleeders per caliper, do inside ones first then outside ones

You might want to check the manual.

IMG_7464.jpg

[kevin#34]

+1 for the FL, FR, RR and RL sequence

[TheContrarian]

My question to you is: did you tried using a strong flashlight behind the reservoir to see if you could get some liquid contrast (shade)?. My brake fluid change is going to be more challenging, I am replacing all 4 lines too which it can turn into a nightmare and costlier too because I am using 2 bottles of Castrol SRF at $60 per bottle.

Yes, by the end I figured out turning on a smartphone flashlight and holding it directly in contact with the master cylinder makes the fluid glow and you can easily see the level.

I would suggest toping the master cylinder up directly before attaching the motive bottle filled with fluid, I think I started with too much air space in the master cylinder and then bled out too much fluid.

[TwistRate]

ProTip - Buy your Castrol SRF from FCP Euro and only pay for it once. Use the lifetime warranty to replace it.

Empty the reservoir of old fluid using a turkey baster. Refill with fresh fluid before starting in order to not mix large quantities of old and new.

The Motive Bleeder has a small siphon tube that should be positioned lower than the rest of the bottle this will ensure you don't suck wind.

Order of bleed makes no difference. I sometimes have to bleed just the fronts at lapping day if I overcook them.

The two person brake flush using the pedal is MUCH faster than the motive approach. It moves more fluid faster.