This is my first time changing the pads for the X, but my brother with an IX told me that I needed to bleed the brakes also. Is this true, if so does anyone know the process for bleeding the X's brakes?

 

Evo brake bleeding (the VIII, IX, & X are all the same process): http://www.joe250.com/cars/evo8/brak...ebleeding.html

 

Should it be done when changing pads? I've seen conflicting answers about this....I have a brake bleeder but was wondering if just pumping the pedal until it feels firm/normal would work?

 

I flush my brake fluid with every pad change. Street fluid is generally only good for 2-3 years (depending on type, driving conditions, etc.). If you track your car should be at least be bleeding it after every event. If all is well with your car, you will not feel any difference after flushing your brake fluid (this tells you that you didn't wait too long and your previous fluid was still capable of operating safely). The whole point of maintenance is to do it frequently enough to prevent a problem from occurring

 

There isn't any mechanical reason that you have to bleed the brakes before/after changing pads. You aren't opening the hydraulic loop for just pads. Should you bleed / flush the brakes? That depends on you and your car. If you are changing pads because the older ones are completely worn and you are just putting a new set in, yeah it's a good idea to bleed (or completely flush) your fluid if it's been a while (say 2+ years). If you are continuously swapping back and fourth between track and street setups, there is no reason to bleed / flush any more than needed to keep your fluid clean / water free for the track (i.e. you are probably already bleeding / flushing enough after every x number of events).

I would personally flush my fluid before installing new brake pads on a car that had pads which were completely worn out. That way, when you push the pistons back into the calipers you don't get dirty brake fluid pushed back into your hydraulic system.

Edit: dammit Kracka beat me to it...

 

^Still good info though. You elaborated more than I did.

 

I think you guys are leaving one thing out of the discussion.

Our ABS pump and solenoids are somewhat finicky. I, personally, would never shove lots of down-stream, used fluid back up through the ABS pump. I would crack the bleeder when pushing the pistons back in to make room for the new pads. Then a bleed would be required when the pad-swap was done.

Maybe I'm paranoid, but too many things on this car are touchy. Shoving used brake fluid back through the ABS pump doesn't seem equal to the time required to do a quick bleed.

 

My X is 11' I haven't changed the brakes out since I bought the car, it's currently on 25k miles. The brakes haven't squealed or anything until last week, so I ordered some Hawk HPS pads to change it out tomorrow, just wondering if I am required to bleed the brakes after the new pads are installed.

 

As long as you don't let any air into the system you should be fine.

But it might be a good idea to change the brake fluid (I'm assuming that you haven't changed it) and then you have to bleed the system.

 

Where did you get it? My daughter would kill for such a car. My X is something like 14 feet long, like all of the others I've seen.

edit: not sure why this (popular) error bugs me so much; glad the other person took my whining in stride (see new post)

 

Lol, whoops. I meant 2011.

 

When I bled mine I used a vacuum bleeder and it worked just fine. I would definitely recommend bleeding them with your pad replacement. My fluid was pretty dark and it was only a couple years old when I did it.

 

HAHA , never heard that one before.

You made my freshly baked baguette launch like a scud missile .. trying to pick up the eatable pieces that didn't land on the floor now.