Nope, 2 years or 30,000 miles, which ever comes first. My life is worth it to me.....

 

Hmm - my brake fluid is still fine at 10 years and 168k - just saying that 2 years/30k is a bit extreme. It had front pads and rotors at 65k and the fluid was not flushed. I *WILL* have it done next pad change, which is coming up soon.

If you do your own work, then if you want to keep flushing it knock yourself out. I won't pay a shop to do it anywhere near that often, thank you. I have never had a brake failure due to bad fluid in my 45 years of driving and I don't flush it routinely.

 

Thanks for the reply and I agree with everything you've said here.

 

I've been working for a tires/service company for about 6 months now. After a long time in retail, it's my first experience in automotive. The technician tests the brake fluid on every visit for copper content. If it's high, we suggest the flush. All the other maintenance services are suggested by the manufacturer's mileage recommendation. It's not high pressure sales. It's just based on mileage or fluid test/visual inspection/levels. I think that's similar to what the dealer does.

 

If you actually do a fluid test, that's a very good way to gauge it. I'm just objecting to a flat 2 year/30k recommendation, that's like changing your oil every 1000 miles.

 

I feel bad my truck has 309000 miles on it and never had the fluid changed. I didnt know you needed to change it! lots of pads and several rotors but no fluid other than bleeding them and I stop just fine. May not stop the next time I push the pedal but so far so good.

 

How much on average does a shop or the dealership charge to change the fluid?

 

its your own prerogative to do extra maintenance. Typically you can't go wrong doing something more often... unless something breaks while you are doing the work.

But I'm not sure how a fluid flush is going to save your life.

To be perfectly honest, I'd be more worried about what a technician did to screw up my truck while working on it (if you are having a shop do it). But thats just me... I don't trust most technicians or shops to do a good job anymore.
Maybe you have a good one you use, or maybe you do it yourself.


As for the copper references in an earlier response
yes, copper will dissolve into the brake fluid. Its one of the reasons your brake fluid will turn dark. But dark brake fluid is not bad. And I don't know of any issues with having copper in the fluid (other than the darker colors). The copper is microscopic, so its not like its going to interfere with the seals.


Which brings me to the one benefit of flushing your brake fluid.
Your seals will wear over the life of the truck. Once in a great while, you might get a thin "ribbon" of the seal to break loose. This can get under the seal and cause a slow leak (like you are at a stoplight and the pedal slowly sinks to the floor).

Flushing the fluid could move that contamination away from the seals and prevent a soft brake pedal.

BUT
it could also push the contamination under the seal and cause the soft pedal. Especially if you are doing a pedal bleed.
I have seen it in the lab where the master cylinder is OK till we do a test such as pedal bleed and then you draw the contamination under the seal and it leaks.
it could also push the contamination down to the ABS/ESP module and cause a problem with one of those valves.


I guess what I'm saying is that it could help and it could cause problems. But in the end you will likely be OK with flushing it or with keeping the fluid from the factory.
So everybody wins!

 

I have a 72 chevy pickup that has been in my family since 1978 when my Dad bought it with 32,000 miles on it. I completely resotred the truck in 1995. I put new brake lines on the back, and bled them and refilled the master cylinder. That truck has about 180,000 total miles on it, and it still has the original master cylinder on it, and I have never changed the brake fluid in it. It still has the the original front calipers and rotors on it as well.
I have never changed the fluid in a car completely. I have replaced wheel cylinders and bled and refilled, but not the complete system.

If I changed the fluid every 30,000 miles, on my work truck, I would change it every 9 months. That seems a bit much.
I guess it boils down to what makes you sleep good at night. If changing it every 30K does it for you, then go for it. If saving the money and changing it at 100K is your deal, then that works too.

 

This is nothing new. These services are on the chart for mileages of 30K, 60K, 90K, etc. Tire rotation is every other basic service. If your vehicle is under warranty, there's no surprise that the dealer wants to do these services that seem unnecessary. After all, it's cheaper to flush the transmission than to replace it. I don't know what would happen if one were to refuse these services and then try and get warranty work done. I never wanted to find out and with the exception of my current (possible) fuel injector problem (there's no maintenance for those unfortunately) I've never had a problem with my truck in 60K+ miles. Unfortunately it is now out of warranty but I'd like to think that I prolonged the life of many components by keeping up with the maintenance scheduled by the manufacturer.
Karl

 

As long as you follow the FACTORY maintenance schedule, that's all you have to do. If you are in doubt, follow the schedule for "severe service". The maintenance schedule is in a booklet with your owner's manual, and can be downloaded from Ford.