Is there a simple DIY brake bleed procedure?

Yeah I bleed my brakes and my generation to all the time old style I even own tech stream . The mini VCI cable the proper one needs to be used with the laptop to use the Toyota software bunch of articles about it here pages and pages and pages of.

 

It depends partly on why you are bleeding the brakes: what work was done, where the air is.

In usual "brake job" settings (had a couple calipers or wheel cylinders off, got some air bubbles in there), you can get away with folk bleeding approaches.

In some other settings (head end parts were replaced, or fluid ran low and air got sucked in), not so much. Those parts have a bunch of passages with valves that are just plain not open until the computer opens them, and nothing else you do gets the air out. There are already plenty of threads here explaining that, and some include the diagram of the system showing the valves that aren't open.

And then there are the other posts and videos and such by people who just do some folk thing even in those situations, and are convinced it worked fine, and it's live and let live as long as I don't have to ride in the cars they've worked on.

 

For what reason do you need to perform a bleed?
If you haven't done a major job, like swapping the brake actuator, etc, you can disconnect the 12v battery and do a bleed using a kit designed for one person bleed. This basically has a handheld vacuum pump and reservoir container (~4 ounces) that you connect to the brake bleeder and suck fluid through the lines and into the container. Keep the brake reservoir full to prevent sucking air into the system. These kits are available at harbor freight pretty cheap. Do 8 ounces from each wheel and you'll see the color difference easily when the new fluid has filled the line.

I have a rig similar to this, but it uses an electric vacuum pump. Works fantastic.

 

Simple fluid replacement, starting with a bubble-free system and no need to bleed, and careful not to let any air in while working, is not as tricky as actual bleeding. You can do it just about any way that won't let air in. You won't have changed a small amount of the fluid stuck in those passages behind closed valves, but you'll end with almost all new fluid.

 

So you mad people will have a good time and an easy time with this the diameter of the brake lines on your car or what like 2 mm internal diameter maybe three something like that I don't know it'll say in the manual or you can ask the guy at AutoZone what import brake line is he'll show you a piece and go here's the label it's 4 mm x 10 ft long and straight with fittings on each end It looks just like the brake line in your car now which you can see without any problem so that line full of fluid from the wheel cylinder in the back all the way up to the secondary pump or whatever that is on the passenger side firewall that looks like it's connected to the rear brakes It can make a racket when it's starved for air whatever it hammers so however much fluid could be and say that 13 ft piece of brake line that should be one of the longer lines you have so from the beginning of that until it empties and starts to take on the new fluid from the reservoir that's been added just by being cracked open 8 oz seems like a lot to me would seem more like about four You do the math and tell me maybe quite a bit less than that so 8 oz that's giving you seemingly plenty of cushion and that line should be starting to show the new fluid If you let it drip on a white towel and move the towel after two or three ounces and see if the fluid is starting to get more clear on the white towel like it wasn't a second ago that usually indicates your newer fluid is pushed through and now you roll over and go do the other side I'm just letting this drip right on a towel I'm not sucking it sometimes sucking it will try to introduce air through the zerk fitting so I don't generally like to pull on those I just crack them open and let them drip I don't lay there and watch it either I'll get up make sure the reservoir is full and go change the spark plugs or whatever else I'm doing Go in the house get a bowl of cereal whatever I wait about 15 minutes then I walk back out to the car passing the reservoir making note of how far down it's gone while I've been eating cereal. I go ahead and fill some more fluid into the reservoir walk to the back of the car slide my towel to a clean spot make sure that what's dropping on the towel is not brown and clear just like what's coming out of the bottle close that fitting roll over and do the other side now go back and get a glass orange juice whatever. Sucking and pumping and all that nonsense that's for people that have no time somebody that's under the gun to get maximum dollar extraction from the system for every minute that they're awake I'm not under those issues most people aren't at their house.

 

I personally have not ever had a brake failure in 55 years and believe you me if anybody should have had one it should have been me I'm driving a car right now that the brakes are in massive fail mode the beep comes on every 15 minutes for 5 minutes so on and so forth my Prius will never not stop unless it's like completely out of brake fluid and even then I think the rear brakes are something maybe even possible to squeeze up or work without almost any fluid or some such silliness I don't know but I do know that it seems the Prius cannot not stop we've tried we don't even have to steer off the road to go into the drink or any of that you'll have the brakes like I say you'll have them when the beep is on you'll be breaking like a 1956 Dodge truck with a master cylinder and no brake booster on the firewall and four drum brakes remember that two feet on the brake pedal to normally stop if you looked up and realize you had to stop No big deal you won't be in the middle of the intersection it'll be right there at the stop sign. And then when the beep is not on you have full power brakes without ABS so if you squeeze up on the brakes with your foot it'll throw you out the front windshield or give you a headache and a cracked windshield. This is how both of our cars have acted when the actuator is out of whack accumulator is not making pressure etc I've done this twice on my cars and I drove the given car for months while I waited to find a used accumulator to avoid paying $1,400 bucks that's what I'm doing right now with the green car no problem 100 miles a day.

 

I’ve done DIY brake fluid replacement a couple of times, on a Gen 3, using a technique described in Repair Manual. I purchased 2 pints of Toyota DOT3 fluid, aimed to use nearly all of it, leaving just an ounce or two in reserve, in case subsequent level adjustment was needed.

I raised the full car on safety stands, had wheels off, windows down and parking brake on (mandatory for setting the car in “invalid mode”). The technique does not require Techstream. I had a helper pushing the brake pedal. I believe one of my signature links describes this in more detail, has repair manual excerpts (on a phone turn it landscape to see signature).

However, the second Gen repair manual does not have a similar, non-Techstream technique. Have you considered contacting dealership service department and getting a quote for them to do this? Should not be over $150 CDN. If they give you the gears, and it’s practical, contact several dealerships.

 

All it takes is one whoops for the system to think there's a leak and the brake system isolates that wheel and tons of heartache for someone without techstream or a clear idea on how to recover.

No 12v power=no sensors looking for a problem=fluid swap with no "whoops".
I purchase a 32 ounce container of brake fluid. I remove the majority of old fluid from the reservoir using a large syringe (like a flavor injector kitchen tool) and refill it with new fluid, then start vacuuming fluid from the bleeder valves one at a time. The vacuum container I use holds 4 ounces of old fluid. I fill it twice, topping off the reservoir with new fluid after each fill and then move to the next wheel. This method has been flawless for me and is pretty darn quick with an electric vacuum pump. It is a VERY obvious color change when new fluid starts being drawn from the bleeder valve.

 

I'm planning to replace the brake fluid in my 3rd gen and watched the nutzandboltz video as well as the one from the car care nut. Based on what you said, it sounds like you did not need to put the car into "invalid mode". Instead, you disconnected the negative terminal on the 12v battery and vacuum bled the brakes like any conventional vehicle.

I have a mity-vac bleeder and the above seems like the easiest way to replace the brake fluid. Are there any risks or problems with this method?

Is the method outlined by nutzandboltz easier assuming most people don't have a vacuum tool?