How to Replace Brake Fluid in a 1993 Chevy Suburban

1993 Chevrolet Suburbans use a power brake system that incorporates a brake booster, master cylinder and the four sets of brakes to provide stopping power. All fluids get dirty and contaminated in time and require flushing. You never simply drain out brake fluid and refill as you do with oil. Instead, you flush the system and then bleed the air out of the system to maintain the proper levels of pressure. The Suburban's brake system operates identically to almost all other vehicles in this respect.

Instructions

Flush the Brake Lines

1

Remove the brake fluid reservoir cap. Drain any brake fluid from the master cylinder and brake reservoir using a turkey baster. Fill the reservoir to the full-line once empty with DOT-3 brake fluid.

2

Raise the entire vehicle off the ground one wheel at a time using a jack. Place jack stands under the axle of each wheel after you have raised the wheel and remove the jack. Remove the lug nuts using a lug wrench and set the lug nuts and tires to the side.

3

Loosen all four bleed screws. Disc brake bleed screws are located on the caliper facing the engine. Drum brake bleed screws are located on the back of the drum above the axle.

4

Have an assistant press down on the brake pedal and hold the pedal down. Tighten all four bleed screws and have the assistant release the pedal. Repeat this process until clean brake fluid is coming out of the bleed screws. Keep the reservoir full at all times during the process.

Bleed the Brakes

5

Bleed the passenger rear brake. Starting at the front just moves the air bubbles around without removing them, so start with the passenger rear and then move to the driver rear, then the passenger front and finally the driver front to ensure all air bubbles are forced out.

6

Place one end of the rubber tubing onto the bleed screw and the other end in the clear plastic bottle partially filled with DOT-3 brake fluid. Make sure the end in the bottle is submerged.

7

Have the assistant press the brake pedal and hold. Loosen the bleed screw and monitor the flow into the bottle. When the fluid or bubbles stop flowing, tighten the bleed screw and release the pedal. Repeat the process until you witness no air bubbles escaping the rubber tube for three turns. Monitor the reservoir to make sure it does not drop below half-full at any point during the process.

8

Repeat Steps 2 and 3 for the other three tires as outlined in Step 1.

9

Replace the wheels and lug nuts and tighten. Raise each wheel one at a time using the jack and remove the jack stands before fully lowering the vehicle to the ground. Tighten all the lug nuts with the lug wrench once the vehicle is completely on the ground. Top off the brake fluid reservoir and replace the cap.