Brake Fluid Service - Dealer vs. Opinion - What Would You Do

[Larrymoe]

I will say that after serving my son's Taco, the pedal is much firmer and it brakes better.

Sponsored

 

[Gros Ventre]

It is a fact of life that brake fluid is hygroscopic. There are many ways that moisture can get be seals. How often did you change the calipers or rebuild the calipers? Those piston seals can harden and moisture can get by them. The lines can leak. Doesn't take much. For those out there that went a lifetime without changing, did you add fluid along the way? In adding fluid the sealed system was opened...

 

[ChuckNorris]

When my kids were small I had a 2001 Windstar for many years. I never changed the brake fluid even when doing brakes. I would just push the cylinders back and leave it. Then one day towing my tent trailer, I lost almost all braking power while going downhill with cars in front of me.That was a very scary situation. Long story short, I eventually discovered that over time some water can collect at the lowest point in the system which is down in the calipers. When it gets hot from lots of braking it can vaporize and create a spongy feel or no brakes at all... Then when it cools off it can return to normal. The van was probably 10 years old at the time.

So my recommendation is to at least bleed off a portion of the fluid every 3 years or so.

 

[moonlanderadventures]

It is a fact of life that brake fluid is hygroscopic. There are many ways that moisture can get be seals. How often did you change the calipers or rebuild the calipers? Those piston seals can harden and moisture can get by them. The lines can leak. Doesn't take much. For those out there that went a lifetime without changing, did you add fluid along the way? In adding fluid the sealed system was opened...

The only exception is Dot 5 which is silicon-based and is not hygroscopic, but also not compatible with a ton of modern vehicles. I believe the military uses Dot 5 for long term durability. Based on previous feedback it sounds like your mileage will vary based on environmental factors and driving dynamics, which in turn reflects on how long before it goes bad. Most importantly from what I gather is it's not about what you can see or test, it's about what you CANT see. Just because the fluid tests good at the reservoir or from a test sample doesn't mean something else is bad along the chain. Contaminants may not always show up on a test strip.

Another way to look at it is once the symptoms appear, you've gone too far. It all boils down to how much trust are you putting into these test strips and moisture testers. The only time it ever matters is when you need hard breaking, even if you drive like an old grandma. You don't get to pick and choose WHEN you need to hard brake. Your brakes may feel absolutely fine up until the minute you need to hard brake and it fails you. As far as corrosion goes, if you don't mind replacing rusted out lines more power to you, but my main concern as I stated is safety for peace of mind.

 

[SALEEN961]

Even with factory sealed containers, brake fluid does have an expiration date. The ATE SL.6 DOT4 I used has a shelf life of 5 years. When the fluid is exposed to higher temperatures and sources of contamination in a less than perfectly sealed system, the useful lifespan drops down to 2-3 years depending on which auto maker you listen to.

 

[Rossi6998]

Personally, I would learn to do it yourself. There are a lot of "YouTube" videos out there on changing brake fluid. I would change it every couple of years.

 

[Gros Ventre]

Even with factory sealed containers, brake fluid does have an expiration date. The ATE SL.6 DOT4 I used has a shelf life of 5 years. When the fluid is exposed to higher temperatures and sources of contamination in a less than perfectly sealed system, the useful lifespan drops down to 2-3 years depending on which auto maker you listen to.

Don't forget, when you pop the seal and pour the new fluid in,it is right then absorbing some moisture...

 

[tsigwing]

I used a motive power bleeder to do my 2015 and my 2011 Camaro. Made the job super simple. Hardest part was getting access to the bleeder screw. Will use it on my Corvette and PB as well.

 

[Goldeneye36]

I dunno, this definitely seems to be getting into the same territory as the great oil change debate, lol.

I've never done anything with brake fluid on any of my vehicles until I did a full brake job on my Mustang last fall, which included upgrading the lines from rubber to stainless steel. That car never had the brakes touched on it since it left the factory in 1994 and I even spent a couple years autocrossing it. The fluid that came out when changing the lines was perfect.

 

[sbi]

In 2007 I bought a new F150. In 2010 the dealer started hounding me about changing the brake fluid stating the same stuff you guys are saying about moisture. 15 years later and still has the factory fluid in it. Never any problems other than needing new rotors and pads. We bought a new Expedition in 2000. Put over 300,000 miles on it. Same story. Never any problems with the brakes except rotors and pads. I am 65 and have had many vehicles in my life and have never changed the fluid in any of them. A few of the really old vehicles I had when I was young that had brake shoes had to be topped off when the wheel cylinders started leaking. I did buy some of the test strips and checked the 2007 F150 recently. It checked good. I bought a new 2024 a few months ago. Going on past experience I do not plan to change the brake fluid in it either. I think it is a rip-off.

Send me your driving schedule and location so I'll know to stay away from a 15 year old brake fluid.

 

[TheGoatman]

I’m preparing to do this job this weekend. I am looking at liqui moly dot 4 from autozone for the fluid.

I have a vacuum bleeder with my compressor, that I use yearly with castrol srf on my other car at the calipers. It seems like there’s no way to use this method on my f150?

would disconnecting the batteries and draw from the bleeder screws cause codes? I don’t care about getting a full bleed bc I’ll change it out yearly from here.

 

[v8440]

I dunno, this definitely seems to be getting into the same territory as the great oil change debate, lol.

I've never done anything with brake fluid on any of my vehicles until I did a full brake job on my Mustang last fall, which included upgrading the lines from rubber to stainless steel. That car never had the brakes touched on it since it left the factory in 1994 and I even spent a couple years autocrossing it. The fluid that came out when changing the lines was perfect.

Coincidentally, I was involved in changing out the brake fluid in a '92 mustang this weekend. It looked pretty nasty coming out, as in much darker than the new fluid that replaced it. This car has less than 70,000 miles on it.

 

[SALEEN961]

I’m preparing to do this job this weekend. I am looking at liqui moly dot 4 from autozone for the fluid.

I have a vacuum bleeder with my compressor, that I use yearly with castrol srf on my other car at the calipers. It seems like there’s no way to use this method on my f150?

would disconnecting the batteries and draw from the bleeder screws cause codes? I don’t care about getting a full bleed bc I’ll change it out yearly from here.

Liqui Moly SL6 DOT 4 should be fine, but using a vacuum bleeder with the battery disconnected does have a high likelihood of setting codes. Putting your truck into brake maintenance mode and using a vacuum bleeder also has a decent chance of setting codes.

 

[moonlanderadventures]

Liqui Moly SL6 DOT 4 should be fine, but using a vacuum bleeder with the battery disconnected does have a high likelihood of setting codes. Putting your truck into brake maintenance mode and using a vacuum bleeder also has a decent chance of setting codes.

Any advantages of pressure bleeding (pushing good fluid in) over vacuum (sucking bad fluid out)? I thought I read somewhere if you do get air in the line that trips a code you can simply get it up to 20-30MPH then do a few hard stops to activate the ABS pump to cycle the air out. You'll have working brakes, but a nagging ABS code all the time if its something you can deal with. For me since I plan to live full time out of my F-150 I have limited real estate for tools so I'm stricken to basic repairs that only require tools like rachets, wrenches, screwdriver, etc. Likewise with my skill level I am only willing to try so much because I don't want to cause a major repair from my negligence or lack of understanding.

 

[SALEEN961]

Any advantages of pressure bleeding (pushing good fluid in) over vacuum (sucking bad fluid out)? I thought I read somewhere if you do get air in the line that trips a code you can simply get it up to 20-30MPH then do a few hard stops to activate the ABS pump to cycle the air out. You'll have working brakes, but a nagging ABS code all the time if its something you can deal with. For me since I plan to live full time out of my F-150 I have limited real estate for tools so I'm stricken to basic repairs that only require tools like rachets, wrenches, screwdriver, etc. Likewise with my skill level I am only willing to try so much because I don't want to cause a major repair from my negligence or lack of understanding.

Pressure bleeding is the method that Ford recommends using. Generally speaking, pressure bleeders are better at getting air out of the system and they are less prone to accidentally introducing air into the system. I spent most of my career using a vacuum bleeder, but at this point I use a pressure bleeder 90% of the time.

I can't really comment on trying to bleed the HCU by triggering ABS events. This is something that did work on some more traditional, ABS equipped braking systems when air was trapped in specific parts of the system; but I'm not sure I would want to try it on a system like the one we have in our F150s.

Sponsored