Brake Fluid service @ 10k miles????

[concept]

A few general comments on brakes and fluid. Some cars such as Ford Focus RS mk3 have a brake system thats not totally sealed. The cap sealing bladder has an integral "valve" so total sealing isn't guaranteed. You can get water ingress beyond the usual leaching through the cap bladder and other rubber components.
Not all fresh brake fluid in a sealed bottle off the shelf at the auto store is zero moisture content as it should be. I have bought batches that straight out of the sealed bottles have been 1.5% water contaminated. Anything greater than 2% you should change out. These days I buy the fluid and open it at the counter and test it before I leave and exchange any that don't pass.
Pressure bleeding is far superior to the old pump the pedal style bleeding and much safer especially in older vehicles that may not have had adequate fluid changes over the years. In these cases contaminated fluid can accumulate at the end of the master cylinder stroke and cause corrosion at that point where the M/C piston never travels to in normal braking events. You then go and use the old style pump the pedal bleeding methodology and bingo you're pushing the M/C piston to a place in the cylinder bore that it never normally sees and the corrosion damage at that location destroys the M/C seals during the bleeding process. The amount of corrosion necessary to do this is miniscule. M/C seals won't tolerate even a grain of sand sized particles.

Phil

Very true about manual pump-bleeding. Popular Mechanics had a writeup about this after a shop used this method which rendered my wife's 10 year-old vehicle with an MC that could not produce a firm brake pedal. The shop had to replace the MC.

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[concept]

One of my cars is 10 years old on the original fluid. The car will not just explode. People cry wolf about this crap way too much.

What type of fluid?

 

[razorlab]

What type of fluid?

Whatever VW fills it with on the assembly line.

 

[concept]

Whatever VW fills it with on the assembly line.

" Most VW and Audi models came from the factory with a light amber/tan colored brake fluid. If your original Audi VW brake fluid has turned a dark amber / or a dark brown color it should be changed using approved German DOT 4 or DOT 5.1 Audi VW brake fluid."

 

[razorlab]

" Most VW and Audi models came from the factory with a light amber/tan colored brake fluid. If your original Audi VW brake fluid has turned a dark amber / or a dark brown color it should be changed using approved German DOT 4 or DOT 5.1 Audi VW brake fluid."

Okay? Not sure why you are posting this.

 

[RenRed2]

The brake fluid on my DD's last 2 years before it is around 3% water contaminated and requires changing. Not all brake systems are totally sealed by design.

Phil

People here forget an engineer actually designed the system with a given set of parameters and its been tested and proven. There is an owners manual and a maintenance schedule said company is making you aware of. Brake fluid is hygroscopic, meaning its inherent characteristic is do attract and retain water/moisture. Lack of sealing yields that result as stated above and its easily measured. Brakes will save your life and are the most important system to maintain perfectly!

Hi to all fkn car owners - Read your fkn manual and learn something about the very sophisticated system you have purchased. If you dont like that the maintenance required is part of ownership, get a bicycle and remember to at least oil the fkn chain occasionally. Now all of you STFU up and go start another oil thread!!

LOLLLLLLLLLLL

 

[FLtrackdays]

One of my cars is 10 years old on the original fluid. The car will not just explode. People cry wolf about this crap way too much.

Same! I don’t give it a 2nd thought on our daily cars. Unless I see it’s visibly lower.

Edit: Someone asked recently in one of the cars, if I wanted it done. It was my daughter’s car @60k miles. We changed it.

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