Willem replied:

Thanks Shaker

That reminds me that I have intended to do just that for a while. Better go see my mechanic :o)

Gerhardp1 replied:

Yes, I regularly remove all the old fluid from the master cylinder, top up with new, and then bleed all brakes. No clutch as it's an auto.

western mudrat replied:

ADvice from the incrediby smart and technically minded people at the Honda dealer in Darwin (for the other half's civic mind you but should apply equally for the real car) is that in tropical climates with their high humidity you should change your brake and ideally clutch fliuds EVERY SIX MONTHS! due to the highly hygroscopic nature of brake fluid.

Something to keep in mind.

Member - Duncs replied:

And your power steering fluid?????

When was that last changed? I know if the power goes you can still steer it but have you ever tried to steer your car with the engine turned off.

Put yourself in that same mountain campsite without the power steering. Having to rely on the shoulders could certainly take the gloss off an otherwise pleasant trip.

ev700 replied:

A word of caution: don't have these things done immediately prior to a trip and check for leaks and fluid levels.

I had the automatic transmission flushed on wife's Falcon and it later poured fluid all over the floor (lucky I saw it!). Of course the service centre blamed a seal that had never leaked before.

Many places must use unsupervised apprentices to turn spanners, but they charge for A Grade mechanics!

I hope they up their training when the Govt allows in all of those o'seas apprentices. I have images of young non-ESP (PC jargon for non English speaking, you can't say foreign!!) migrants sitting in front of an incomprehensible video in English as the only training they receive.

Not having a go at migrants, just doubtful that many businesses will offer asequate training when it is all about saving dollars and there is already a lot of sub-standard work around.

On the farm we used to change all fluids on a schedule and the equipment rarely broke down. Now I take the vehicles to service centres for the same preventive maintenance and things fail following service. Go figure.

ACDC replied:

Try getting your car serviced correctly maintenance is cheap repairs are expensive!

Rigor replied:

Back onto the brake fluid argument , I have always used silicone fluid, well, for the last 30 years at least and it is the best thing since sliced bread . Convert to silicone and forget the hydraulics forever. I was put onto silicone by a friend in the brake industry and have been eternally grateful , 2 old volkswagens 28 and 29 years old and still same hydraulic components . I had one failure where the brake line to the rear rusted from the outside in (wet carpet) Only 1 reservation and that is not to use silicone in ABB systems. Lots of negative argument out there because of the lack of repeat servicing . and the old one of swelling the rubbers is complete crap , 30 years have proven that to me.

Just my 2 cents worth based on my experience with silicone.

Dave L.

Member - Davoe (Widgiemooltha) replied:

How does having water in your clutch fluid give you a low clutch pedal? I know it is far from desirable and should be changed but water actually makes an excellent hydrolic fluid as it is totally incompressable (i have been told it is in fact better than hydrolic fluid but some of its properties make it unsuitable) water apparantly can be used instead of brake fluid in an emergency according to bush mechanic books

Peter 2 replied:

The humvee uses silicone fluid too but it still requires regular fluid changes as while the silicone fluid doesn't absorb moisture any moisture that does get in the system ends up at the lowest point which is usually the calipers/wheel cylinders and they will corrode out and ruin seals etc.
Silicone fluid cannot be used in ABS systems as when it is pumped it aerates and foams and the resulting air bubbles can take days to seperate out.
When bleeding systems with silicone fluid in them you have to wait for any bubbles to work their way out and gravity bleeding is the go as pumping the pedal can also aerate the fluid.

Member - Phil G (SA) replied:

I just change the brake and clutch fluid every two years like it says in the service book. Easy job, and the fluid is cheap. Toyota still tell us to use DOT 3 brake fluid and not DOT 4, so I buy their stuff.

Cheers
Phil

Willb replied:

If I remember correctly brake fluid is hydroscopic (spelling?) and absorbs moisture.
If the fluid is compromised by too much moisture the water content after heavy braking, because of a lower boiling point, actually boils. The gas produced, (steam) can be compressed.
Therefor the pedal travel wil increase as you are compressing the gas.
Hope this makes sense as I think I stopped making sense after I lost ( again ) on the Cup.
Will