Morris Minor Owners Club

stuffedpike20 wrote: ↑Wed Nov 05, 2025 1:49 pm I went to the motor factor today and asked for some 'old fashioned dot4'.
He looked closely at a couple of containers and then sold me some Febi brake fluid. None of the writing on the bottle is English.
He assumed it would be ok because it did not say 'synthetic'.

Will it be ok? Not broken the seal yet so I don't know what colour it is.

Thanks

Febi make/supply several brake fluids....
If none of the words were English, how did the guy know it wasn't saying synthetic somewhere.... ??
It does state what they are on the front of the container.
For example... https://partsfinder.bilsteingroup.com/e ... ortdir=asc

They had two bottles. One had 'synthetic' on it...the other didn't.

Are all synthetics a different colour to non synthetics?

"Synthetic" is a confusing term when referring to brake fluid because all glycol-ether brake fluids are man made. You need Dot 4 brake fluid for a standard Minor set up. Sometimes the term "synthetic" is vaguely used for higher performance Dot 4 fluids. Really the term "synthetic" was to differentiate from brake fluids that are mineral oil which is definitely NOT for a Morris Minor. Post a photo of what you bought and we'll tell you. My German isn't too bad or you can use Google translate and your phone camera if you have a smart phone.

Not for the OP but for anybody reading in future. Brake fluids of different standards must NOT be mixed e.g glycol-ether (Dot 4) must not be mixed with Silicone (Dot 5). Mineral oil brake fluids are NOT used in Morris Minors.

Stephen

stuffedpike20 wrote: ↑Thu Nov 06, 2025 11:05 am They had two bottles. One had 'synthetic' on it...the other didn't.

Are all synthetics a different colour to non synthetics?

Well I've just looked at their website, as per the link I gave you earlier, and they supply 5 different Brake/Clutch Fluids;
DOT 4, DOT 4 LV (Low Viscosity), DOT 4 Plus, DOT 5.1 and DOT 5.1 EHV (electric and hybrid vehicle)

Each Product as illustrated on their website is clearly marked, as I indicated earlier.
Each of them is described as "Fully-synthetic brake fluid with oxidation and corrosion inhibitors"

They DO NOT list any DOT 5 on their website.
As Stephen said, all glycol-ether brake fluids are man made.

Thank you both.
I don't have the technology to post a photo...but what I have bought seems to be standard Dot4.

I looked at the bottle of my last Wilko fluid, and that is synthetic too.
So for a 'normal' Minor setup...Dot 4, and for a silicone setup....Dot 5.

stuffedpike20 wrote: ↑Thu Nov 06, 2025 12:53 pm Thank you both.
I don't have the technology to post a photo...but what I have bought seems to be standard Dot4.

I looked at the bottle of my last Wilko fluid, and that is synthetic too.
So for a 'normal' Minor setup...Dot 4, and for a silicone setup....Dot 5.

But note: not 5.1which is not silicone

Thanks Bill.

Let us know how you get on, please. I'm thinking of going down the eezibleed route myself.....

Will do.
I have not got the cap yet...and I am hoping that it is not one from the bad batch.

Maybe I'm old fashioned but I still use one of those bleeders (?!) that looks like a bit of pipe with a nail stuck in one end.

The postman has been....and still not brought the MC cap. So the job is postponed again.

I'm sorry I'm coming into this post a bit late. Earlier this year I was having great problems with bleeding my Low-light's brakes and, with a lot of help from this forum I put together an ESM unvented cap and a Gunson's Eezibleed kit.
Unfortunately, I haven't actually competed the brake bleeding work, but here are some images of drilling and tapping the MC cap and fillting the eezibleed pipe.
I ended up getting 3 caps from ESM as they are all very tight fits.
The 3rd cap did fit, but after a lot of "working" it in - hence the damaged hex top,

George.

Continued ...
(this was going to form a separate report of progress) George.

My cap has still not arrived.
I bought it from ebay, so the courier rhymes with 'every'. They seem totally useless.

If you really want to just get on with it and not keep waiting for your MC cap get a Vizibleed kit from Halfords. Available off the shelf. £7. Cheap and easy one-man kit. You do off course have to keep topping up the MC but with the Vizibleed the brake fluid is collected, you can see any bubbles in the clear plastic tube and there is a non-return valve so it can't suck air back in.

Stephen

I would wait - after all, he's paid for the cap already. Also, with that kit you will have to pump the pedal, which I want to avoid, personally, as the last time I did it that way, the MC failed as has been previously described. Very annoying as I tried to bleed it multiple times without success until I handed it over to a garage who failed to get a good pedal as well and then assumed (correctly) that the MC had failed.

I got so fed up waiting for the cap to come that I decided to try to adapt a spare vented one.
I blocked the little breather hole with by hammering a piece of wire into it. Even though I drilled the cap with an 8.5mm drill bit, the hole was a bit big for the tap. I think it's because the cap is alloy and not steel. Using washers and 'O' rings I managed to get a reasonable seal.
The tyre I was using had 20psi in it, and I was surprised how tight everything had to be to make a seal.
The objective was to replace the brake fluid. I was surprised how slowly the fluid came out of the bleed nipples, even when being pushed by 20psi of pressure.
I bought a cheap suction tool a while ago that claimed to be able to suck brake fluid through the bleed nipples, but it was not upto the job.
The Eezibleed worked well, but at the end of the whole process I had an overspilling master cylinder. Maybe the cap had come loose?
Just as I had done all four wheels...the courier came with the unvented cap. It is the wrong size...being too small. So after all that waiting, it has got to go back!

During the process, I removed the drums to get rid of dust and check the cylinders. Unfortunately, 2 of the front cylinders are weeping. Lockheed cylinders that have not been on for long...maybe 2 years. The cheapo back ones are fine.
I now have to decide wether to repair them, or buy complete new ones. At £25 each, they are not cheap. What would you do? Would new seals be ok?

Have a look at the video here: https://www.gunson.co.uk/product/G4062/Eezibleed-Kit

In the Gunson video they bleed the brakes of a classic VW Beetle. Although 20 psi is the maximum recommended Gunson say to use a lower pressure, 10 psi on classic cars.

It is possible that your cylinders were weeping due to the 20 psi and because they leaked that is why the bleeding seemed slow (fluid leaked from the cylinders rather than the bleed nipple).

Personally, I would clean everything up and jam a piece of wood between brake pedal and seat. Leave overnight. If the cylinders have leaked or the piece of wood has fallen out then you have a problem. Also give some hard presses of the brake pedal as if doing an emergency stop. If any fluid leak you must take action.

It is possible that it is one of the joins to the cylinder that is leaking rather than the cylinder itself. It can be hard to tell if there's fluid all over the place.

I would repair the cylinders provided the bores and piston are perfect.

When I first used the Eezibleed after a brake system rebuild, fluid leaked from several joints. I tightened them up and all was good. I was pleased the Eezibleed helped me to find faults.


Stephen

svenedin wrote: ↑Thu Nov 13, 2025 2:15 pm Have a look at the video here: https://www.gunson.co.uk/product/G4062/Eezibleed-Kit

In the Gunson video they bleed the brakes of a classic VW Beetle. Although 20 psi is the maximum recommended Gunson say to use a lower pressure, 10 psi on classic cars.

It is possible that your cylinders were weeping due to the 20 psi and because they leaked that is why the bleeding seemed slow (fluid leaked from the cylinders rather than the bleed nipple).

Personally, I would clean everything up and jam a piece of wood between brake pedal and seat. Leave overnight. If the cylinders have leaked or the piece of wood has fallen out then you have a problem. Also give some hard presses of the brake pedal as if doing an emergency stop. If any fluid leak you must take action.

It is possible that it is one of the joins to the cylinder that is leaking rather than the cylinder itself. It can be hard to tell if there's fluid all over the place.

I would repair the cylinders provided the bores and piston are perfect.

When I first used the Eezibleed after a brake system rebuild, fluid leaked from several joints. I tightened them up and all was good. I was pleased the Eezibleed helped me to find faults.


Stephen

Thanks Stephen.
I think the cylinders may have been weeping for a while. It is the cylinders on both front sides...the front cylinders that are mounted 'downwards' with the pistons pointing to the ground. I wondered if this weeping could be 'normal' for those particular cylinders?

The rubber band dust seals are damp, but the snail cam and mask below the cylinder is also damp.
If it was the Eezibleed that made them weep, that still proves that they need repairing doesn't it?
Is it easy to repair the cylinders...does it involve a spring in each one...and would you coat the bores with rubber grease?
Thanks.

And, are the Lockheed seals 15/16" for a 1968 car?