How often do you change brake fluid in your car?

[Rod Sheridan]

Every 3 years, same for my motorcycles.............Rod.

[Greg R Bradley]

They try to call most modern brake systems "sealed" but that only means they are less open to the air than most older ones.

Virtually none sealed as well as many American integral reservoir cylinders from the 1970s that had a diaphram sealing between the top of the resorvoir and a metal cap that was held down by a spring clip. This allowed the air to come in the top so fluid could go from the reservoir into the cylinder but the air could not get to the fluid.

I can almost guarantee your Honda is NOT sealed in the complete meaning. My 2006 Honda Ridgeline has an O-ring in the cap and is called sealed but moisture gets to the fluid. If it didn't the fluid won't flow into the cylinder as the pads & rotors wear. Sure enough, it flunked the moisture test around 4-5 years in fairly dry SoCal. It flunked it again last year.

Fluid is cheap and brake parts are not. That doesn't even consider the safety issue.

[Dan Hintz]

Not really because you have to squeeze the calipers dry to install new brake pads. If you empty the reservoir before you compress the piston, then do it again afterwards, you'll get most of the fluid in the system, with whatever is left in the lines remaining. Refill with fresh from a sealed bottle and you're good.

There is a LOT of fluid in the lines themselves... squeezing the calipers only sends (most) of your gunked up fluid into the lines, awaiting for a fresh batch to push the gunk back into the calipers. Not to mention if any of this stuff makes it back up into the ABS unit while compressing the piston, you'll quite likely be looking for a new ABS unit.

But hey, I don't like taking chances on stuff like this... others obviously don't mind.

[Curt Harms]

I had a Ford pickup, back when anti lock brakes were just becoming common. As has been said, brake fluid is hydroscopic, absorbing moisture. The brakes worked fine after it had some mileage on it, but the anti lock light stayed on.

The anti lock valve that operated the system had gotten rust inside and quit working, which made the truck revert to a default system of normal, non anti lock braking. It cost $1,000 to fix.

I have no idea if the newer systems are better guarded or not.

That's the issue I'm aware of though we haven't experienced it. The repair quote I saw was quite a bit more than what you paid.

[Jason Roehl]

I will preface this by stating something first...

I am in no way a mechanic. Yes, I do work on my own vehicles...but only because I am too cheap to pay someone else to do it. I have been "Shade-treeing" it for over 30 yrs.

OK...that said...I have never changed my brake fluid. Ever. And I have owned a lot of cars.

Same story here. I've never had a brake problem (on my own vehicles) due to brake fluid, after multiple pad/rotor jobs, changed wheel cylinders and the like--they were just worn out parts.

I did work on a church bus ('78, I think, Ford B700 with a 390 V-8) that had sat for 8 years. The brake "fluid" was barely a fluid. Just black sludge. I won't tell the whole story that goes with that bus here...we'll just call it a miracle bus, as there are 29 of us who probably shouldn't be alive...

[Jim Andrew]

I never thought about changing brake fluid, till I was listening to a show on radio. Think it was Bobby Lykis. He said brake fluid will work ok at 50% water to fluid. Also, they started selling dot 3 synthetic brake fluid at Walmart. Now I only buy the synthetic as it does not absorb water.

[Mel Fulks]

50 percent water. Well, I guess you could pee in the resovoir if stranded and needed brake fluid. Unless he is a comedian
I can't imagine why he would make such a statement.

[Leo Graywacz]

Bought my current truck new. Now it's 8 years old. 73K miles on the odometer with the original brake pads. Never changed the fluid. Probably has the newer silicone fluid in it, not sure. Brakes work fine.

[Jim Andrew]

The point he was making was that, although with half water your brake system will work, but the water will destroy your brake system. And if you look at the fluid,mixed half with water, it looks like brake fluid.

[Mel Fulks]

Jim ,thanks for explaining that. Makes sense now.

[Larry Edgerton]

I buy a new truck every two years.

So about every two years............

[Mark Blatter]

I've never flushed the entire system, but every time I change the brake pads, I syphon out a lot of the fluid to keep it from overflowing and I replace it with new. Otherwise, other than verifying that it's full, I don't worry about it much.

A good friend, who was also our fleet director over 135 vehicles, also told me to do this same thing. After about 80K miles or so, use a basting bulb and pull out all the fluid in the reservoir each week for a few weeks. Do this every year or so and you will 'change' the fluid over time.

[ken masoumi]

A good friend, who was also our fleet director over 135 vehicles, also told me to do this same thing. After about 80K miles or so, use a basting bulb and pull out all the fluid in the reservoir each week for a few weeks. Do this every year or so and you will 'change' the fluid over time.

I used to use a basting bulb to empty/replenish the power steering fluid when I had Chrysler but never thought the same method could be used for brake fluid.

[Roy Harding]

You're supposed to change brake fluid?

[Chuck Wintle]

can silicone fluid be mixed with regular brake fluid?