Brake Fluid maintenance?

[GraaaaayA90]

Just got a message pop up on my Supra asking to maintenance my brake fluid? This is pretty new to me. So my question is how important is this to do? I have only 12,300 miles in my car at the moment. Also is it an easy task to do or should I just go to my dealership for this maintenance?

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[PikkaGTR]

Buy a motive power bleeder and 2 bottles of brake fluid of your choice that is compatible
Spend a nice day with your car and about an hour of time to bleed you fluids
Best day ever

 

[Danimal]

Excellent advice. And for a non-track driven car, I’ve always aimed for a brake fluid change every 2 years minimum. Not sure what the Supra factory recommended interval is, but I’m sure someone will chime in and correct me

 

[jchadwell]

Excellent advice. And for a non-track driven car, I’ve always aimed for a brake fluid change every 2 years minimum. Not sure what the Supra factory recommended interval is, but I’m sure someone will chime in and correct me

You are wasting a lot of time and money…

 

[PikkaGTR]

You are wasting a lot of time and money…

2 bottles of brake fluid is what $30?
And an hour to bleed brakes and change fluids is time well.spent with your car
People pay $7 a day on Starbucks and spend hours on tiktok
There's way worse things to water time and money on

 

[Danimal]

Yeah it’s not expensive nor time consuming. This is the factory interval for my sport bikes and got me in the habit of doing it for my passenger cars as well. I think the factory recommendation on most German cars is every 3 years.

 

[jchadwell]

lol. The difference is TikTok and Starbucks provide some benefit (arguable imho) in exchange for whatever monetary donation is necessary. Changing brake fluid every two years or sooner provides no benefit unless there’s a leak detected or someone opens the reservoir and accidentally pours water in it. Would you throw out your milk two weeks before it’s use by date just because it’s not that expensive?

If this is something you want to do and it helps you sleep at night then I’m all for it. However, it is 1000% unnecessary unless there’s a leak and the system has been contaminated.

 

[Scoopra]

lol. The difference is TikTok and Starbucks provide some benefit (arguable imho) in exchange for whatever monetary donation is necessary. Changing brake fluid every two years or sooner provides no benefit unless there’s a leak detected or someone opens the reservoir and accidentally pours water in it. Would you throw out your milk two weeks before it’s use by date just because it’s not that expensive?

If this is something you want to do and it helps you sleep at night then I’m all for it. However, it is 1000% unnecessary unless there’s a leak and the system has been contaminated.

I'd like to have fresh brake fluid in case some guy pulls out in front of me with a Starbucks in one hand and tiktok in the other.

 

[PikkaGTR]

lol. The difference is TikTok and Starbucks provide some benefit (arguable imho) in exchange for whatever monetary donation is necessary. Changing brake fluid every two years or sooner provides no benefit unless there’s a leak detected or someone opens the reservoir and accidentally pours water in it. Would you throw out your milk two weeks before it’s use by date just because it’s not that expensive?

If this is something you want to do and it helps you sleep at night then I’m all for it. However, it is 1000% unnecessary unless there’s a leak and the system has been contaminated.

Brake fluid is hygroscopic
In 2 years worth of time, there will be a degradation of the fuild
The benefit is the same as changing your oil early and often, fresh fluids

Not sure what benefit drinking a cup of sugar and tiktok brain rot videos give
But hey, you do you

 

[Suggs.OR]

Buy a motive power bleeder and 2 bottles of brake fluid of your choice that is compatible
Spend a nice day with your car and about an hour of time to bleed you fluids
Best day ever

im going to accidentally turn this into 4 hours

 

[jchadwell]

Brake fluid is hygroscopic
In 2 years worth of time, there will be a degradation of the fuild
The benefit is the same as changing your oil early and often, fresh fluids

Not sure what benefit drinking a cup of sugar and tiktok brain rot videos give
But hey, you do you

How often do you change your oil? I’m getting a vibe that it’s like every 1000 miles or something. Sure you could change brake fluid every day and that day’s fluid would be fresher than yesterday’s but is there really a benefit? Being absurd just to make a point. Unless there’s a leak in the system, brake fluid will not absorb enough water in two years to degrade its performance at all.

 

[Danimal]

How often do you change your oil? I’m getting a vibe that it’s like every 1000 miles or something. Sure you could change brake fluid every day and that day’s fluid would be fresher than yesterday’s but is there really a benefit? Being absurd just to make a point. Unless there’s a leak in the system, brake fluid will not absorb enough water in two years to degrade its performance at all.

The root of the disagreement here is that we don’t seem to have have the same understanding of brake fluid life. Changing your oil at 1k miles is not a fair equivalency to changing your brake fluid every 2 years. It seems you’re assuming that the water absorption, heating of fluid from hard braking, and subsequent vaporization and bubbles in the braking system aren’t something you see much/at all in 2-3 years, but I am. And the manufacturer agrees - the standard interval on your Supra is 3 years. If you track the car, it’s much more frequent than that due to increased heat exposure.

Dan

 

[jchadwell]

The root of the disagreement here is that we don’t seem to have have the same understanding of brake fluid life. Changing your oil at 1k miles is not a fair equivalency to changing your brake fluid every 2 years. It seems you’re assuming that the water absorption, heating of fluid from hard braking, and subsequent vaporization and bubbles in the braking system aren’t something you see much/at all in 2-3 years, but I am. And the manufacturer agrees - the standard interval on your Supra is 3 years. If you track the car, it’s much more frequent than that due to increased heat exposure.

Dan

You’re initial statement:

Excellent advice. And for a non-track driven car, I’ve always aimed for a brake fluid change every 2 years minimum. Not sure what the Supra factory recommended interval is, but I’m sure someone will chime in and correct me

I started doing autocross and HPDE events in the mid-1990s. I am very aware of how brake systems and fluid operate. Your statement was that you change the fluid every two years minimum for a non tracked car. That is a waste of time and money.

 

[PikkaGTR]

im going to accidentally turn this into 4 hours

with the motive bleeder it's not that hard TBH
Take your time at each corner and make sure there is plenty in the bottle so it doesnt't go dry

 

[Danimal]

I started doing autocross and HPDE events in the mid-1990s. I am very aware of how brake systems and fluid operate. Your statement was that you change the fluid every two years minimum for a non tracked car. That is a waste of time and money.

What’s your recommendation?

Dan

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