When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
Car off, key off for most cars, not sure about Lexus but some older GMs with 1st gen abs need a special procedure.
What does "my calipers are out" mean?
If the fluid in the master reservoir is black and is loaded with gunk, sure you may have issues bleeding your brakes, because of such poor maintenance habits of you and/or PO(s).
Pumping that crap through a master is a good chance of damaging seals.
Additionally, such crap in the reservoir is also an indicator that there is a good chance of corrosion/pitting on the master cylinder sleeve. this is an issue when bleeding as full stroking the master will often drag the seals over the rough sections outside the normal stroke and rip up the seals, resulting in a bypassing master.