Change Brake Fluid

[vanuatoo]

Is it recommended to completely flush/bleed/change brake fluid in the car during its lifetime?

 

I have not seen this requirement in the maintenance schedule

but I know that brake fluid tends to get moisture over time and it loses its braking capabilities.

[morpheus]

The rule of thumb is to change it when it hits 3% water or so.

 

You can get test strips that you dunk in the fluid, or more expensive electronic testers will tell you what the water content is.

 

There's no specific schedule, as moisture absorbtion will be different for all driving conditions..

 

If in doubt, and the fluid looks dark/dirty, then it's cheap insurance to change it. $10 buck or so worth of fluid.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brake_fluid

Edited November 17, 2009 by morpheus

[nunya]

Brake fluid change? I personally don't know but my theory is--- Your goeing to break a line eventually and it's gonna make you lose a good ammount of fluid and last time I checked the stuff is new in the little white can from the parts store. Seriously though I never heard of anyone making a special trip to change brake fluid (except maby GoPathyGo with all the brake issues he had)

[CaughtLikeFire]

If in doubt, and the fluid looks dark/dirty, then it's cheap insurance to change it. $10 buck or so worth of fluid.

 

agreed. there are a lot of 100k+ Pathfinders out there with original fluid that still have an ok functioning brake system (maybe not optimal) so it's not crucial to do it every 3 yrs/30k or whatever the Nissan recommendation is. given the low cost though, it's worth doing if the fluid isn't a nice clean amber anymore.