i have a el Fairmont ghia and i need to do a brake fluid flush, can anyone give me some hits and tips on doing this?

1) buy some quality brake fluid

2) jack up all wheels and remove wheels.

3) starting from the left rear bled the brakes thus:
a) get a glass or plastic jar
b) secure a piece of plastic hose that is about 600mm long, and fits over the bleed nipple
c) if you a bleeding by yourself, place about 20mm fluid into the jar, and attach one end of the hose to your brake nipple, and immerse the other end in the fluid in the jar (this stops air being drawn back into the caliper)
4) loosen your brake bleed nipple (10mm ring spanner) jump into the drivers seat and start pumping the brake pedal. If all is well, the pedal will go to the floor*. Do this about 10 to 12 times.
5) leap out of the drivers seat, and look into your brake reservoir. It will be low on fluid. Open a bottle of fluid and top it up. Empty jar but leave about 20mm in the bottom (see 3c)
6) repeat for all wheels, starting furthest from the brake reservoir and finishing closest to the reservoir.

If you do a good job, you should use at least 2 bottles of fluid.

Road test the vehicle. Sometimes the brake warning light in the dash stays on. This is because, while you were bleeding, you activated the warning "pin" . Often after a few brake applications it will go off.

* If the pedal remains hard after you have loosened the nipple, it probably means it is blocked, usually by dirt. This will mean you will have to remove the nipple and clean out the holes. Don't worry about taking it right off the caliper, you are bleeding the brakes anyway, and if you have enough fluid in the reservoir, by the time you clean it out and put it back, not much fluid will have escaped, and you can continue bleeding. (Escaping fluid stops air going into the caliper)

Been doing it this way myself for 30 years and works fine

Spot on creeture!
I do it similar method myself and have always gotten good results. $15-20 worth of fluid each year will save you a lot of brake problems later.

thanks a real lot guys, helped me out heaps, is there special type of brake fluid i should get for my el? grades or something??

You could use Castrol Super DOT 4, or PBR Gold DOT 4.......
A better way to flush to to vacuum bleed it.
The guys forgot to mention to check if the bleeder nipples are blocked....guaranteed the front ones will be.
Put never-sieze or silicone grease on the thread of the bleeder nipples.
Check the caliper slides for ease of movement and not dry.....use silicone grease to lube the slides, NOT any oil based lube, this will swell the boots.
Another way to get more fluid changed is to compress the pistons back into the calipers, but don't let the fluid back up the hoses, let it come out the bleeder.

I had to remove the master cyl res to clean the crap out of it on this AUII.
The new fluid will go dirty in a couple of months because the new fluid will lift the crud off inside the master cyl, and push it up the reaction ports.

 

 

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Man that IS grotty. Obviously hasn't been looked after for a while, it's a wonder the brakes worked at all!! (or did they??)

They still worked, but after the flush, the pedal was a lot firmer feel to it.

thanks guys, helps me out heaps, any tricks on removing the master cyl res?

Hey, My Ef looks like that on the pic. How do i take the white thing off?
thanks.

There is a tiny little bolt, has an 8mm head. Use a 1/4" drive socket & ratchet with a very short extension, and undo it. Just lift the res up squarely, will take a bit of doing.
Then use a tooth brush and some truck wash to clean it. Hose it out, dry it completely, then put a bit of silicone grease on the spigots and push squarely down, refit the bolt. Don't over do the bolt, just a really light nip is all it needs.
Then top up fluid, and start bleeding the system.
At the end of flushing, have the lid on, pump the pedal several times. You may notice some crud coming out into the new fluid, suck out the fluid and re-top-up.

thanks mate will do