Opinions on cam belt replacement and brake fluid

HansOndabush

frost500 said:

£70 is such a small amount of money, why is changing the brake fluid ever in doubt. Think about it, it is only half a days wages for most people. What is the problem.

It's a whole day's pay if you are on the minimum wage, more after NI deductions. Why pay £70 when you don't need to?

AdrianC

dipsomaniac said:

frost500 said:

£70 is such a small amount of money, why is changing the brake fluid ever in doubt. Think about it, it is only half a days wages for most people. What is the problem.

Why are they charging half a day's pay just to change brake fluid?

They're charging about an hour's labour, once you take the cost of the fluid off.

You do know that the labour rate covers a lot of costs other than just paying the mechanic, right?

Norman_Castle

AdrianC said:

photome said:

most likely the brake fluid as well , but I dont normally agree with Fred but how does water get in a sealed system

It isn't sealed. If it was sealed, the fluid level in the reservoir couldn't drop as the friction material wears.

Mines sealed, old V40. There's a flexible rubber dome inside the cap which deforms to match the vacuum in the system.

fred246

Pollen filter is a classic for not being done. So it's supposed to be done annually and someone buys a car with 10 stamps in the book. They change the pollen filter and guess what. It's the original. No-one has ever changed it. So you get the brake fluid changed every 2 years. After 10 years someone finds it's the original brake fluid. Think again. How can anyone ever say it's the original fluid? You have no chance of ever knowing if a garage has ever changed any brake fluid. If you ever discover that they have charged you and not done it what do you do? Phone trading standards. What do they say? Go back to the garage and ask them to do it. Wilko sell DOT4 for £4. Garages should pay less. So they could syringe out the reservoir and refill with new. Costs £4 or less for fluid. Takes less than 5 minutes. They can say it's been changed. Charge customer £70.

photome

I have taken everything on board, wife wants it to go to SEAT.  I have booked it in for Service, MOT, Cam belt and brake fluid, managed to get a small discount off their online "fixed price"

Homer_home

photome said:

Thanks for comments guys. Will et the cambelt done. most likely the brake fluid as well , but I dont normally agree with Fred but how does water get in a sealed system, and in days gone by 70s and 80s and 90s I dont recall changing fluid on cars that I had for a few years and back then I used to do most things myself
ps Seat give a 5 year warranty on the cambelt if they do it

Brake systems aren't sealed , they can't be , there's a hole in the reservoir cap to allow the fluid to drop when your brakes wear 

Homer_home

dipsomaniac said:

Anyone actually change there brake fluid every 2 years? 

Will opening up the system more often let in more moisture?

Yes and no

Changing the fluid is simple , a basic DIY job , it costs me 15 quid and I use a gunson easibleed kit , takes me about an hour 

Homer_home

fred246 said:

Pollen filter is a classic for not being done. So it's supposed to be done annually and someone buys a car with 10 stamps in the book. They change the pollen filter and guess what. It's the original. No-one has ever changed it. So you get the brake fluid changed every 2 years. After 10 years someone finds it's the original brake fluid. Think again. How can anyone ever say it's the original fluid? You have no chance of ever knowing if a garage has ever changed any brake fluid. If you ever discover that they have charged you and not done it what do you do? Phone trading standards. What do they say? Go back to the garage and ask them to do it. Wilko sell DOT4 for £4. Garages should pay less. So they could syringe out the reservoir and refill with new. Costs £4 or less for fluid. Takes less than 5 minutes. They can say it's been changed. Charge customer £70.

Clearly you have trust issues with garages ....

Homer_home

HansOndabush said:

Homer_home said:

If your brake fluid is old and has water in , when the brake fluid gets hot it will bind your brakes and eventually they will lock on , until they cool down then they will release 

You can tell when your fluid needs changing as on a hot day your brakes will be a lot sharper and require less pedal travel to brake 

Complete nonsense; not even worth a proper reply.

No it's not, and the reason you won't reply because you only think it's nonsense because it doesn't make sense to you 

Just to enlighten you water expands when hot , therefore if your brake fluid has water in it (because the majority of brake fluid is hygroscopic) in hot weather the water will expand and bind your brakes and eventually after long enough will lock your brakes and you will have to wait until your car cools down to release the brakes  (normally you have to wait until it's dark) 

A simple brake fluid change will solve this

And how did I find this out ... It happened to me.... And yes once I changed the brake fluid ..... Problem solved 

So please again tell me how is my post complete nonsense?

.

Homer_home

fred246 said:

There is no definition of what brake fluid change really means. I have seen people say. "Remove brake fluid from reservoir with syringe. Pour in clean fluid". It's a sort of brake fluid change. I can't imagine a garage spending hours making sure every molecule is changed. No-one will have a clue if they have done anything anyway. Just big money making exercise for garage.

fred246 said:

There is no definition of what brake fluid change really means. I have seen people say. "Remove brake fluid from reservoir with syringe. Pour in clean fluid". It's a sort of brake fluid change. I can't imagine a garage spending hours making sure every molecule is changed. No-one will have a clue if they have done anything anyway. Just big money making exercise for garage.

A brake fluid change means replacing the old brake fluid with fresh , it's exactly the same definition as doing an oil change 

There's no mystery about it and it's very quick and easy for garages to change fluid