Dirrrrrrty Magura Raceline Oil: Wot to do?

[Johnsqual]

Hello,

I am in the process of setting up a set of old Magura Race Line brakes. I need to change the hoses and
levers, but when I bled out the oil it was filthy - black and opaque. The brakes still worked before I bled them.

What's the best way to clean the internals of the brakes?

- Just flush them through thoroughly with blue blood?
- Flush them through with water, detergent or similar first?

Is the filthy oil a sign of some problem with the internals, or is it just old oil?

Cheers for any help,

Johnny

 

[Retro Spud]

Hello,

I am in the process of setting up a set of old Magura Race Line brakes. I need to change the hoses and
levers, but when I bled out the oil it was filthy - black and opaque. The brakes still worked before I bled them.

What's the best way to clean the internals of the brakes?

- Just flush them through thoroughly with blue blood?
- Flush them through with water, detergent or similar first?

Is the filthy oil a sign of some problem with the internals, or is it just old oil?

Cheers for any help,

Johnny

All of mine (bought secondhand) have been the same - I've just put more fluid in and in the process of bleeding them you flush the crap out anyway - as its suspended in oil it comes out with surprisingly little wastage

 

[My_Teenage_Self]

Get a bottle of LHM from your motor factors, less than £10 for a litre and flush about 200ml through. It'll be running clean after half that. I've never used royal blood, only ever LHM.

 

[Retro Spud]

Get a bottle of LHM from your motor factors, less than £10 for a litre and flush about 200ml through. It'll be running clean after half that. I've never used royal blood, only ever LHM.

What he said ^^ Royal blood is just very expensive funky blue oil, that you’ll never see again when sealed in the system.
Just purge your brakes of air and in the process the expended oil will start to come out clean, so you’ll know when your done.

 

[Johnsqual]

Cheers all for the rapid responses. Wish I'd known sooner about the LHM stuff: I already bought a bottle of Magura oil months ago,
it's just taken me ages to get around to this stage.

 

[jimo746]

Re:

Best way to clean the insides is to change the oil, but honestly, magura's are pretty bombproof and will run on just about anything... Mineral oil, baby oil, water etc...
If they're working OK then don't worry about the fluid being dirty too much (it's probably just the old oil giving it that colour).
As you have the oil you may as well bleed them, but in general I never need to do anything but change the brake pads every so often in my Magura brakes.