"Change the Brake Fluid"

[olderbudwiser]

Maybe this is a result of a lawsuit??? My brakes failed because I did not know to change my fluid.

I have know knowledge of such an incident. But when changes come out of the blue normally something preceded it.

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[Decayed]

I'm no mechanic but that sounds extremely excessive. I can't imagine needing to change the brake fluid below like 100k miles

It's not just miles but time. We bought an 05 explorer earlier this years as a spare car and even though it only had 112k on it the brake fluid was BLACK. It was thick too. I changed the fluid and bled the brakes until everything was clear again and the difference in braking power was very noticeable - almost as much as when I put on new rotors and performance pads.

Brake fluid gets acidic when it absorbs moisture and that will corrode internal components. Can't help but wonder if this change is the result of someone finally looking at the numbers and pushing to change the old recommendations? Sometimes these things go on out of sheer inertia despite evidence to the contrary.

 

[Thoron99]

For any shade tree mechanics who want to try a brake fluid flush at home. Haven't tried this myself yet.

 

[MaverickTopGun]

A brake fluid hack I was told by a Honda trained mechanic, that I do. Get a turkey baster and pull one-two basters full of brake fluid out each year, then put new fluid back to the same level it was. It It will mix together and keep the fluid fresh. Basically, never have to fully change the fluid and/or bleed the brakes.

That is what I'd recommend, annual turkey-baster method refresh. I just did that today on my non-Maverick (Toyota Venza 2009). It was easy. Other people do say it does mix after a few hundred miles or so, should work nicely to keep the fluid fresh.

The Maverick is too new to worry about it yet. Summer 2023 task.

About getting air into the new fluid using this partial-change turkey baster method, I don't understand why some say air gets in from this. No place to trap air from what I can tell, since it's just the reservoir mass that gets changed out. I'll drive the Venza carefully just in case.

I'll probably do about the same thing with the Mav Hybrid's eCVT HF45 fluid "change" since it's easy to pump out about half the Mercon ULV and replace it, no lift required either, about every 2 years or so, meaning you'll never have to completely replace the fluid.

 

[gretencord]

I have the motive bleeder. Relatively affordable if you’re a DIY guy. Highly recommend it. Likely pay for itself the first time you use it.
Good fluid can also withstand a bit more abuse.

the brake fluid is really not going to circulate much regardless of model. Every other year would be plenty. Every third fine. I notice a performance difference. So it’s worth it to me.

Have you tried the Motive Bleeder on a Maverick? I'm not convinced these "3-prong" adapters would work but would love to be proved wrong.

 

[Tiger Dude]

Brake fluid has always been "supposed" to be changed every 3 years. I have never done this to a car, only bikes. Brakes on a bike will kill you, so I always did it. Never seen a problem with a car, the brakes are worked on every 5-6 years for pad or rotor wear, that is often enough for me.

Now that I don't have a bike any more, I have a vacuum brake tool just aging out in my toolbox.

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