I agree, I have noticed over the years that most Corvette owners will overmaintain their cars and while it doesn't hurt the car, it does hurt the pocketbook. With my old C5 I pretty much did the bare minimum for maintenance and it still made it easily to 133,000 miles virtually trouble free. I never changed the brake fluid once, I never changed the rear end fluid, I only did the coolant once (at 100k) and I only the did the auto trans fluid twice (at 50 and 100k) I followed the OLM for oil changes, most of them were around 7000 miles but a few went to 9000.

IMO, you really don't need to worry about the color of the brake fluid. Most people on the road never even bother to change it and they have no issues. I just did the fluid on my 2006 Civic for the very first time a few weeks ago actually, with 136,000 miles on it and I noticed no difference in braking whatsoever. I honestly think that with most cars you could probably say that the right interval for brake fluid is about 10 years or 100,000 miles. If you're doing it more often than this you're just spending money that isn't necessary. (of course, if you track your car hard then don't take my advice, you definitely need to do more maintenance than I'm suggesting, as my suggestions are based soley on street driven cars)

 

Good call OP. I'll be swapping to DOT4 soon in mine. I plan on some track time this summer, so DOT3 won't do for me. I just did it in my other car in less than 30 mins by myself. I have access to a mityvac, so it's extremely easy to do.

 

Once a year. Twice a year if tracking.

It's just part of overall maintenance.

 

Now that is funny!

 

DOT 4 is more hygroscopic than DOT 3.

 

If you don't track your vehicle, there is probably not any need to really flush it or even change it very often. Yeah, it turns an ugly color but whatever.

If you track it, you better change it religiously.

 

sTz,
​​​​​​​Actually, giving a blood donation every 45 days or so, will keep your blood clean - to the extent that your body cannot completely filter it's existing blood, as well as it can just make new blood.

 

Change your brake fluid after every session. Jesus that is borderline obsessive compulsive.

not necessary. Bottom line is brakes are probably the most reliable component on a car. The pads could be damn well completely gone and still stop the car.

And while new fluid is marginally better than old fluid. Not necessary to change it out more than rarely at best.

 

A friend recommended I buy this this past Winter to change my fluid on my DD. It really makes changing fluid easy, especially if you're doing it without any assistance. Well worth the $30. No way I'll pay someone else to change the fluid in the future after using it.

 

track session is obsessive. Bleeding before each track day is about right.

 

Yes, you can definitely tell the "armchair" track guys from the real ones. It's a life changing experience when your brake pedal goes to the floor and you pray to come to a stop before the guardrail stops you. So if you track, you can't be too obsessive

 

It can also be pad-related, too, such as when a pad exceeds its temp and ability to stop effectively. But not the same as what OP is stating.

 

I'm sure they make speed blenders for our Brembos? Get those and some colored blue or red dot 4 and it should be a easy job.

 

Yes indeed. It gets real exciting when the water that's gotten into your brake lines pools in the wheel cylinder and boils when you're under heavy braking.

 

Friend sent this to me recently on brake fluid for general use. Notice the paragraph down from the top a bit talking about the sealed system.

https://www.cars.com/articles/2013/1...to-be-changed/

 

Thanks for the link.

I think the issue of a "sealed system" and moisture in brake fluid boils down to (no pun intended) what an owner does. The OCD behavior of many Corvette owners perhaps "unseals" the system and introduces moisture. Every time the cap comes off, you're introducing moisture.

Nonetheless, I agree with your link that every 3-5 years makes sense, although probably not all that necessary, and it's cheap.

 

I'm not sure if that's directed at me, but every session is beyond obsessive. I don't even know how the hell you do it without burning the **** out of yourself or melting things.

 

Wasn't directed at you,was agreeing with you. You can't be too careful.

 

I absolutely agree. A brake fluid flush should be done before and after every track day.

 

Yeah I hate it when some guys do that. Says this former track instructor.

Maybe some of you "change it every track day" guys should actually go talk to the guys that maintain the cars at all these
high speed courses out there. Because they sure as hell don't flush the brake fluid daily, hahaha.