2004 Ford Taurus, 3.0L 12V Vulcan engine, 68,000 miles.
I called my local Ford dealership to aski for a brake fluid flush as proactive maintenance. (Yeah, I know, I should consider independents.)
Anyway, the service advisor said, “We don’t do brake flushes, we don’t even have one of those machines.” So I asked, “Well, what do you charge to just drain-and-replace the brake fluid?” To my amazement, she replied, “We don’t do that unless there’s a problem.”
Any opinions?
I meant ask, not aski. Why can’t you edit after posting a new thread? Stupid website…
First: Really stupid of the dealer. Did you check your owner’s manual to see if the service was listed and how often it should be done? Did you get that in writing from the dealer? It would be interesting to see what you happen if you happened to have an accident next week.
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If you look at your message you will see a pencil on the right bottom of that message. That will let you edit that message, just as I am editing my message right now.
Of course this assumes you are logged in under the exact same name/password you used when you posted the message.
I don’t believe that Ford recomends routine brake fluid changes for the 2004 Taurus.
Yeah, you’re right, it’s not listed on the maintenance schedule. I also don’t believe that brake fluid lasts for the lifetime of the car, either.
That pencil was not visible during the original posting; I only ever see it in replies. Thanks for your input about the dealer also.
Unfortunately, because car manufacturers want to be able to demonstrate very low maintenance costs for their vehicles, there are a number of maintenance items that they fail to list, or for which they list ridiculously long intervals.
As evidence of this, despite the reality that transmission fluid should be changed every 30k, some manufacturers no longer list transmission fluid changes. Also, US car manufacturers seem to ignore the fact that brake fluid is hygroscopic and as a result it decomes diluted with moisture that it absorbs from the air. Diluted brake fluid leads to rust and corrosion of brake components over the long term and can even lead to loss of braking ability when the brakes are overheated–as on a long downgrade.
Most, if not all, of the Japanese car makers specify a brake fluid change every 30k. Since all brake systems work in essentially the same manner, US brake systems are not immune to damage, and the brake fluid on US-made cars should be changed just as often as on Japanese-branded cars.
The OP is correct to want his brake fluid changed, even if the dealership is not aware that this is a good proactive measure.
Thanks for one of your usual intelligent replies, VDCdriver. By the way, what does the VDC stand for? Just your initials?
When I first became a member of the board, I was really stumped as to a unique screen name, and I didn’t want to duplicate screen names that I use in other forums, so I just used an abbreviated version of the model name of my car, H-6 3.0 VDC.
It would be interesting to see what you happen if you happened to have an accident next week.
If something happened for instance, a brake line rusted through, it would have been to late anyway.
But with that said, the service writer needs to bone up on vehicle knowledge. Brake fluid does need to be flushed.