[Disclaimer] This is on my MB C280. Hoping someone here may have some wisdom.

Master Cylinder Reservoir Cleaning

Has anyone removed the reservoir from the master cylinder to clean it? I have a layer of black scum at the "waterline" of my reservoir, and I would like to remove it to clean it. My thought is to slightly depress the brake pedal to close off the fluid ports, drain, and remove the reservoir. After cleaning and drying, I will re-install the reservoir, and fill with new fluid, then bleed the brakes.

Thank you.

Comments?

 

maybe buy a spare clean it and fill with fluid then very quickly exchange them. jim

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I used some pipe cleaner-esque flexible tubes to clean that fluid line off mine without removing it.

Made it look brand new and only took like 5 minutes while I was doing the bleeding and the level was down...

 

Genius! But I never made it to the store.

Here is what I did:

I followed the procedure I outlined, and some suggestions gleaned elsewhere. I depressed the brake pedal, and held it with a length of 2x4. Then I removed the reservoir. The fluid level in the transfer ports did not drop, so I was not worried about air intrusion.

I did use non-chlorinated brake cleaner with the straw to clean as much of the reservoir as possible. I dried the the reservoir as best I could with compressed air. Then I used the methylated spirits (container said denatured alcohol) to clean again. Compressed air to dry, followed by two rinses with fresh brake fluid. I re-installed the reservoir, and refilled with fresh fluid.