Bleed Brakes On 2010 - Corolland: the Toyota Corolla Forums

Hello all - 2010 S with 89,000 miles. My question today is about brake bleeding. About 3 years ago, I changed the pads and rotors but never bled the brake fluid. Lately, I feel like my pedal is softer than usual. I'm going to check the pad material and replace if necessary, but I've never bled brakes before. Just never came up - but I'm sure it needs it because the fluid is nasty and probably has contaminants in it. I've read up on the procedure for general brake bleeding, but now it's time to ask about my specific car. I ask specifically because the FSM states I should bleed the master cylinder, the ABS actuator, and the brake lines. Do I need to bleed all three, or can I get away with just doing the brake lines with the bleeders on the calipers and drums?

Also, since it has ABS, I read that I should do this with the ignition in the ACC position (not on). True, or doesn't matter?

With ABS vehicles, it really depends on the ABD module and how the lines are setup - sometimes you have to bleed the module itself and put it into a "maintenance mode". In terms of the ones in Toyotas - I've never needed to do that on any of my cars that were equipped with ABS. There might be some residual could be trapped inside the module - but exercising the ABS a couple of times through the year should help cycle that fluid out.

Just bleed from the furthest point from the master cylinder working your way inward. Can use the old two person brake bleeding team - one to stand on the brake pedal, while the other cracks the bleeder screw. Or you can one man bleed with speed bleeders on the brakes, vacuum bleed them, or use a pressure bleeder. The two person job never fails for me - assuming that I'm the one cracking the bleeders and the person that is standing on the brakes listens well. If I had to do it solo - pressure bleeder would be the way to go - super fast to get the brakes done, don't have to replenish the fluid levels between wheels as it will be constantly topped off by the bleeder tool.

As always, thank you for the help and advice!

Hello! I'm resurrecting this thread. I finally have time to bleed the brake fluid. I purchased Lucas DOT3. However, it hit me that Toyota sometimes uses special fluids in their cars and I read about an Avalon recall that said aftermarket fluid could damage a seal in the master cylinder. Does anyone know if the 2010 Corollas are tolerant to aftermarket brake fluid?

Thanks!

Mike

Never heard of brake fluid causing seal damage unless it was the wrong type (ie, silicone vs glycol based).

I've used DOT 3 and DOT 4 aftermarket brake fluids with no issues. Bunch of brands - Valvoline, Lucas, Motul, Castrol, and ATE - none had any issues.

The ones to stay away from are DOT 5 and DOT 5.1 - which are silicone based. DOT 5.1 is actually the funny one, as it is part polyethylene glycol, like the DOT 3/4 ones but also contains about 70% silicone. Supposed to be "compatible" - but silicone in general will eat non-silicone seals like crazy.