I’ve been doing alot of reading, car maintence is crucial and i havent been the best with it. I was curious if anyone has ever had abrake fluid flush? and the pros and cons? is this just a money maker for mechanics or is this a legit thing nowadays? it seems tom e its not even a reccommended service from thecar companies themselves and you knoww how they like to make money… anyone with any suggestions
p.s. how often should one change their brake fluid? im not the most car savvy… and i dont know if you change it or fill it…anyones advice would be hgreatly appreciated… thank you, oh and i read brake fluid should be changed every 24,000 miles…is that true? thank you all, havea good day!
The advice I hear is usually 2 or 3 years. I suggest you start by checking your owner’s manual and follow the advice there.
brake master cylinders are not 100% sealed. therefore air gets into the system. air contains moisture and dirt. this gets into the other hydraulic parts and can cause corrosion. the dirt settles into the lowest point in the brake system IE calipers/wheel cylinders and can cause damage to the seals. it is a good thing to flush every couple of years to rid the system of the dirt and any moisture
I was rather surprised by this, but here’s what my mechanic recommends:
If you flush the brake fluid every 25-30K miles FROM NEW, keep doing it.
If the brake fluid has never been flushed and the vehicle has significant mileage, leave it alone.
What’s the logic there? Isn’t that like saying “change your engine oil every 3,000 miles, unless it’s never been done, in which case never change your oil?”
The moisture that brake fluid absorbs over time can cause corrosion/pitting to the internals of various brake system components.
In cars prior to ABS, worst case you were looking at needing to replace wheel cylinders, calipers, and a master cylinder. A bit costly, but not prohibitively expensive.
Now you run the risk of pitting the internals of your ABS unit. Do you really want to be paying for a replacement ABS unit, which could have been avoided with routine brake fluid flushes?
You will find many who do not believe brake fluid needs to be changed. My experience puts me in the camp of those who believe it’s beneficial.
I didn’t say it was logical. I just explained what my mechanic recommended to me.
Vehicles with ABS brakes (and that is most cars today) should have the brake fluid changed. Honda recommends every 3 years (as per the manual for an '03 Civic) regardless of mileage. This fluid change is based on time only. I’d say every 3 years for your car is a good change interval.
I have mine flushed (front and rear) every time I need brake work, such as new pads. Of course if you don’t do much city or hilly driving, or enough total miles, this won’t be often enough.
I have my brake fluid changed at the 30k, 60k, 90k, and 120k service intervals.
Even if your Owner’s Manual does not specify it, I would suggest that you follow this type of schedule.
In addition to preventing damage to the ABS pump, calipers and master cylinder, changing your brake fluid on this type of schedule will help to prevent loss of braking ability when the brakes get very hot, as on a long downgrade.
Incidentally, DO NOT allow a quick lube place to do this work, or any other maintenance on your car. The probability of them screwing up the procedure is very high and they rarely stand behind the quality of their work.
I change brake fluid every 3 years.
If I had a car with ABS I would do it every 2 years.
It’s easy to do, especially if there are two of you. The brake fluid for the change should cost less than $10 and it will take yo an afternoon if you do it yourself; a coupe of hours if one pumps the brakes while the other manipulates the bleeder valve and refills the master cylinder reservoir with fluid.
It’s Hydroscopic and sucks up moisture. Every 2 years. Good practice.
In the past I was told similar advice for an automatic transmission.
In my case since the tranny had 155k on it and I was unsure of if it had ever been changed, I was told to leave it, I would worsen any small problems and could cause new ones if even drained and refilled.
Still do not know if it is logical, but more anectdotal evidence at least
Brake fluid should not be changed every 24,000 miles. Refer to your owner’s manual(s).
My 1989 Honda Accord says to change the brake fluid every 24 months regardless of mileage in the owners manual. My newer Honda’s (2002 civic, 2005 CR-V, and 2008 Ridgeline) all say every 36 months regardless of mileage in their owners manuals.
In both of these instances the recommendation wasn’t really in the actual maintenance schedule but was a footnote at the bottom of the page, I follow the above intervals for each car for this service.
This kind of advice (just like the similar transmission advice) seems to stem from Mechanics wanting to avoid blame for premature failure caused by poor maintenance occurring shortly after maintenance is performed. Changing the fluid after it hasn’t been changed for a significant time isn’t going to cause a component failure, the lack of previous fluid changes caused that component failure. Therefore I would just change it anyway and hope it isn’t too late, but if failure does occur, don’t blame the mechanic, it’s not his fault.
Okay, but do you have any information regarding brake fluid?
do you mean change it after 50 km? how many boat payments do you have due???