How often does the brake fluid need changing?

bob_a_builder

, but in all honesty I know very few people who've actually had it done

But possibly many who have paid to have it done

bob_a_builder

, but in all honesty I know very few people who've actually had it done

But possibly quite a few who have paid to have it done

castle96

I once had brakes seize on, due to hydroscopic fluid.. Never heard of anyone else though

zeon999

2yrs is a standard recommendation and standard service interval item.

It is very important as already stated due to water and air being absorbed into the fluid lowering its boiling point, then one day you may find you push the brake pedal for it to just go to the floor with no effect.

However to be brutally honest I do think it's something they do these days just to charge extra money more than anything as when I used to be a mechanic we never used to do fluid changes unless we were already doing major brake work, such as new wheel cylinders or master cylinder or new calipers ect.

To say it never happens is not 100% true though I know a few people its happened to, normally on motorbikes though (Which is even more dangerous)

Average drivers on the road don't use their brakes hard enough to get them hot enough for brake fluid quality to ever be a real issue.

Rory101

Saw an article about this and it was making the point that in the US, many manufacturers have dropped the requirement to change brake fluid now.

Maybe they use different stuff, or it's just another example of people in the UK being ripped off, like on the VW cambelt changes?

Ultrasonic

photome wrote: »

My car is having its 4th main dealer service in a week or so time (4 years old) and the quote was more expensive this year partly due to the optional brake fluid change, I declined

Interesting that the brake fluid change is listed as optional for your car, what make is it? The service schedule for my Skoda states:

After every 2 years a brake fluid change is required.

I'm guessing it's the same for all VAG cars.

Jakg

On my car it's every 2 years. Brake fluid isn't expensive (even for good quality stuff - I use ATE SuperBlue which is £15 and a tin has done two complete changes!) and it's not that difficult to do, either.

rdwarr

keith1950 wrote: »

They are only recommendations , I have never bothered having brake fluid changed in the 3.5 million miles I have so far covered !

Perhaps if you had changed it you would have only covered the 3.4 million miles you meant to

oscarward

My car has a recommendation of every 3 years. Talking to a Jaguar assistance mechanic he said he had never changed the fluid on any of his cars.

Many years ago I had brake failure on a Wolsley 18/85 going down a long hill. Had a firm pedal but no braking happened, let it cool down and they worked fine.

My view is while it may be an overkill and more to do with law suit avoidance, given the cost of doing it it's worthwhile to prevent trouble. However with the complexity of ABS, split circuit etc I wouldn't contemplate doing it myself.

e.g. Peugeot 407 coupe was told it needed the ABS/Brake limiter etc gubbins activating by computer to ensure complete change.

GolfBravo

IMHO, brake fluid change every 2 years could be an overkill, but it all varies - you should really change the brake fluid on its condition, and not schedule. In some cases you may need to change the brake fluid even every year.

The main risk associated with old/contaminated brake fluid is lack of brakes - just like in the post above, the brakes "work", but not very well. It usually happens going down a long hill where you apply brakes a number of times, the water contaminating the brake fluid starts to boil, and eventually the brakes just don't brake. Once I was a passenger in a car like this, very scary.

Another thing to consider is brake calliper rust - water contaminated brake fluid will slowly rust brake callipers on the inside, and you may find your 5-7 year old car needs new £200-300 brake callipers. IMHO it is better to change the £20-30 brake fluid every 2 to 3 years.

And the last thing: hydraulic clutch master cylinder. Most manual cars these days use hydraulic clutch master cylinders, and quite a few use the same fluid as brakes - using brake fluid from the same container as brakes. So, in the end the brake (and clutch) fluid will work twice as hard, and will have much greater risk of water contamination (master cylinder rust, etc.). In this case I would definitely want brake fluid changed every 2-3 years.

A visual brake fluid check will give you a pretty good indication of its condition - not very scientific method BTW. New brake fluid looks sort of like Martini Bianco (watered down apple juice), then after a year or 2 it looks like Scotch Whisky (tea coloured), but hopefully still clear. Once it starts turning sort of muddy and dark in appearance (water contamination) it would be a good time to start thinking about new brake fluid. Usually at 3yrs+.