Help me out here guys. I was bleeding my rear brakes on the 735 yesterday and while pmping the pedal I was loosing ATF from the resevior. The engine was not running so I cranked it up and it still poured out from from the top of the resevior. Any ideas?:help

do not take this the wrong way, but did you open the bleeder valve? personally, I am a fan of the one-man bleeder kits like this:
http://www.bavauto.com/assets/imglib500/pb03.jpg

The bleeder valve on the caliper? Yes I did. I was getting the brake fluid out of the caliper while ATF was coming out everytime my wife pumped the brake pedal. Is the powersteering fluid tank somehow connected to the power brake system?

And sorry for the terrible heading, my computer was doing something really stupid.

sorry, do not know if p/s shares internals with brakes. hope one of the gurus here chime in soon.

Yea, maybe Shogun can answer this one! Shogun are you out there?? Can you give insight to this?

Help me out here guys. I was bleeding my rear brakes on the 735 yesterday and while pmping the pedal I was loosing ATF from the resevior. The engine was not running so I cranked it up and it still poured out from from the top of the resevior. Any ideas?:help

A lot of people are not aware that the P/S fluid level should only be topped off with the engine off and after pumping the brake pedal 20-25 times or until the level in the resevoir stops rising. Instead they check the level, think its low and add fluid then when someone attempts to bleed the brakes like you did, the P/S resevoir overflows.

After pumping the brake pedal with the engine not running, the level should be 10mm below the top of the resevoir. Good luck and no worries, just an oily mess at this point.:D

Is the brake system somehow connected to the powersteering system? Maybe in the vaccum area? I have bleed brakes on a lot of cars but never had one do this.

Your 735 uses a hydraulic brake booster so yes, it is tied into the power steering system. Its a great system when it works, and it usually does. Can get pricey to repair though.:eek:

You seem to be quite knowledgeable about the BMW both by what you have already told me and by your member name, maybe you can shed a little light on another issue I have ocme accross. This was a free car to me so I don't know a lot other than I could drive it home, it is an '88 735i, the interior is from a newer model, and the passender side rear door is deadlocked. Yesterday I took it for a test drive after blleding the brakes and I stomped on the gass to see how the car really drove and it got "stuck" in a gear. When I let off the gass the rpm's dropped but when I pushed the gas (even gently) it would rev up to where it left off. Usually at about 2800 rpm going about 65 mph. I pulled off the sideof the road, turned off the engine for about half a minute, cranked it up and drove it home gently and it seemed to shift just fine through all the gears. Any Idea?

And what should I be using in the PS tank? The previous owner was using Mercon ATF I think. I found a couple bottles under the hood and I do know the hoses leak a little.

You seem to be quite knowledgeable about the BMW both by what you have already told me and by your member name, maybe you can shed a little light on another issue I have ocme accross. This was a free car to me so I don't know a lot other than I could drive it home, it is an '88 735i, the interior is from a newer model, and the passender side rear door is deadlocked. Yesterday I took it for a test drive after blleding the brakes and I stomped on the gass to see how the car really drove and it got "stuck" in a gear. When I let off the gass the rpm's dropped but when I pushed the gas (even gently) it would rev up to where it left off. Usually at about 2800 rpm going about 65 mph. I pulled off the sideof the road, turned off the engine for about half a minute, cranked it up and drove it home gently and it seemed to shift just fine through all the gears. Any Idea?

And what should I be using in the PS tank? The previous owner was using Mercon ATF I think. I found a couple bottles under the hood and I do know the hoses leak a little.

Sounds like the trans went into failsafe, any warning lights on the dash? If all else seems OK, a fluid and filter change may be a good idea.

BMW recommends Dexron in the steering system but I don't think Mercon will hurt. ICBWT.

ICBWT = I Can Be Wrong Though??? IIRC FWIW :)

You may have the hydroboost system, it uses pressurized ATF for power steering and power brakes.

Thank you for your responses. I was really freaked out when ATF was pouring out while pumping the brakes. While bleeding the brakes I found out I am going to have to change all the fluid as it was coming out of the rear caliper in a dark brown almost black color. Oh well, it was a free car that I might be able to pass onto my son once I get '94 back on the road.

ICBWT = I Can Be Wrong Though??? IIRC FWIW :)

I'll stick with ICBWT. Referring to Mercon damaging the system.
IIRC would refer to the first part only.
TFWOFMT. GTKSHMB.:cool