Hello,

when did you change the brakefluid ?
Because my fluid looks dark.
Some guys told me all five years.

Thanks for response.

 

I try to flush the brake fluid in my vehicles every 24 months or so. I do this to prevent problems with the anti-lock braking system. I don't think it was as important before the advent of ABS. However with all of the clever pumps and sensors involved with ABS I figure it is cheap insurance to prevent problems with those expensive parts.

I flush the fluid more often on cars i take to the track.

I use the Motive pressurized brake bleeding system which makes it easy to flush your brakes without any assistance.

John

 

every two years.

 

I change all of my fluids and filters every 30,000 miles or once a year.

 

 

John,
You have a model number or anything that would help me find that one man bleeder?

Thank you - Chris

 

Never,nothing in the owners manual about flushing it.It is a sealed system and if operating properly,should be fine for 100,000 miles and more. I'm strictly talking road cars,not part time track cars.

 

Here ya go:

http://www.motiveproducts.com


I don't put fluid into the container - I just use it as a pressure source and check the master cylinder reservoir regularly while bleeding/flushing to make sure it doesn't get too low and allow air into the system.

Bob

 

with the about every 2 years for a street car that others have mentioned.

If you think the brake system is a hermetically sealed closed system, read this from a StopTech White Paper tech document:

Read the entire document here - scroll down and select "Brake Fluid 1A":


http://www.stoptech.com/technical-su...l-white-papers

Bob

 

With the motive bleeder kit I use the appropriate PowerProbe adapter from this kit - http://www.powerprobe.com/powerprobe/BAKIT01.html These fittings work better than the method the Motive kit provides. Of course the fittings are different, but I just use a small hose clamp to attach the adapter since I haven't yet found the correct hose adapter to make it work.

When I flush my brakes I first use a turkey baster to get most of the fluid out of the master cylinder - this speeds the process a bit. Next I put brake fluid in the Motive device and hook everything together and bleed the brake wheel cylinders in the order recommended in the manual. I use clear tubing attached to the bleeder valves, this makes it very apparent when you get to the new fluid.

In the past I have used ATE brake fluid for track cars and alternated between clear and blue tinted fluid each flush - this makes it easy to see when you have gotten new fluid if the fluid you're starting with isn't black. ATE is DOT 4 so you may not want to put it into your vette which requires DOT 3.

Finally, if you use a pressurized system such as the one from Motive, release the pressure at the pressure tank before removing the adapter from the master cylinder. If you loosen the adapter on the master cylinder while it is under pressure you will shoot brake fluid all over the place - I did this once and had a mess to clean up.

John

 

Also, make sure the Motive Power Bleeder is firmly seated on the reservoir to begin with. Otherwise, it can blow off under pressure. For all practical purposes you can change the brake fluid at home but IMO it pays to have the dealership do it every so often. You really need a Tech 2 tool to 'exercise' the ABS circuits to completely flush the system.

 

2nd this. I've been driving cars for 50 years and never changed the brake fluid in any car. I've never heard that you have to.

 

I agree, I own and operate a fleet of snow plowing equipment and trucks, we don't change fluid unless we have to and that is very rare. if you are tracking your car, yes more often but most of us drive these cars like regular cars and this is another way to sell us more stuff

 

If you track, you should probably change it every spring. If not, every 4-5 years is a good gameplan.

 

Not true. Do some research on the properties of brake fluid.

 

Only when I replace a component in the system. I have a 1961 Oldsmobile that still has the original fluids except coolant and engine oil. Replaced the coolant when I replaced the heater core.

 

That's a bad idea in my opinion. If nothing else, a new fluid will prevent corrosion of those old old bake lines :-)

 

Every two years. I learned an expensive lesson about ignoring brake fluid on cars with ABS.

 

Thanks a lot guys.

 

You need to use a device that attachés to the OBDII port when you change the fluid because it cycles the anti lock system so that the fluid is changed in the entire system.