Brake fluid change

[cjny]

Originally Posted by guybo

The book maintenance says to change the brake fluid (flush and fill only I think) at 15k miles.

The schedule for my 2016 BRZ says 30k miles, which seems more reasonable.

[guybo]

I'm going to change mine at 30. Even that seems like a short interval but it's so easy to do (and cheap) why not. I'm at 25k ish right now, so by Springtime I'll do it

[qqzj]

I changed my old Toyota's brake fluid after 15 years and 100k miles just because I wanted it. Not because I need to. Pretty sure the factory fill can last 8 years if just DD.

[gravitylover]

Ehh my brakes were getting mushy so when I put new rear pads and rotors on a few weeks ago I flushed and changed the brake fluid at ~85k miles.

[Soulboarders]

Once a year or two has been my stand by. Fresh fluids see never a bad idea.

Sent from my LG-V410 using Tapatalk

[DimitrisBreg]

I have just changed the brake fluid in my GT86 with Motul 5.1

[DimitrisBreg]

Originally Posted by DimitrisBreg

I have just changed the brake fluid in my GT86 with Motul 5.1

[mjanmohammad]

I do mine every 20k with Motul RBF600.

The week after I got the car new, I changed the fluid, and now I plan to do it yearly in November. I also heavily track the car, so my maintenance intervals are much more frequent.

15k diff/trans, 20k brake. I'm still trying to figure out my oil interval using Blackstone

[Turbo86]

Originally Posted by WNDSRFR

I've had at least 20 cars in my life and have never changed the brake fluid. I top it of from time to time. But I have never changed it.
I still have a Mk 4 GTI with the original brake fluid in it. It has 265,000 miles on it. And the brakes are as good as the day I bought it new. (The brake pads have been changed a few times.)

Originally Posted by WNDSRFR

Ya know what?
This got me thinking. I just changed the pads on the FR-S a couple weeks ago and I never even opened the hood to check the brake fluid.
I think I'll go do that right now.

For future reference and for anyone reading this, you can damage your master cylinder if you swap out the pads and fail to remove/loosen the cap on the brake fluid reservoir while you squeeze the pistons into the calipers to make room for the new pads.

Also fyi, you said you never change your fluid but you "top it off from time to time". It's a sealed system and you should never need to top it off unless something in the brake system is damaged and in that case it needs to be replaced.

There's no way "the brakes are as good as new" if you're still running the original brake fluid after 265k miles. If you're just driving the speed limit everywhere on flat ground, brake early and lightly before stops, and never do any type of performance/spirited driving then you probably just don't notice a difference and they may very well work fine for your driving style, but outside of those conditions you would definitely realize your brakes don't have the same thermal capacity or pedal feel as new fluid. It's a safety issue for most people driving these sports cars to run that long without a fluid change.

[guybo]

I did the change a few months ago and what a difference. The brake feel is a lot better and the brakes bite better.

[DarkSideFRS]

just wondering what fluids you guys run? prestone should be ok for daily driving?

[Lynxis]

Originally Posted by DarkSideFRS

just wondering what fluids you guys run? prestone should be ok for daily driving?

It should be fine for daily driving, just make sure it's DOT3 compliant.

What fluid you should use depends on your usage case. For daily driving or autocross use, any DOT3 compliant fluid will be fine. For extended spirited driving through the hills or forests, generally any a DOT 5.1 compliant fluid will be fine. Finally, for track/lapping use, get a proper high temp fluid. The lowest I would recommend is something like Motul RBF600 or equivalent but be aware that the pedal may go soft after events until you perform a partial bleed. Better fluids are available for more extreme usage cases.

As for my personal bleeding habits, I bleed once a year now with Castrol SRF React. I like it because it never fades, doesn't need partial bleeds like cheaper fluids and only needs to be bled once a year. It's really expensive but as the old adage goes, you get what you pay for.

[DarkSideFRS]

Originally Posted by Lynxis

It should be fine for daily driving, just make sure it's DOT3 compliant.

What fluid you should use depends on your usage case. For daily driving or autocross use, any DOT3 compliant fluid will be fine. For extended spirited driving through the hills or forests, generally any a DOT 5.1 compliant fluid will be fine. Finally, for track/lapping use, get a proper high temp fluid. The lowest I would recommend is something like Motul RBF600 or equivalent but be aware that the pedal may go soft after events until you perform a partial bleed. Better fluids are available for more extreme usage cases.

As for my personal bleeding habits, I bleed once a year now with Castrol SRF React. I like it because it never fades, doesn't need partial bleeds like cheaper fluids and only needs to be bled once a year. It's really expensive but as the old adage goes, you get what you pay for.

thanks for the info. i might hit the track or auto-x once or twice a year, but nothing crazy.. i think prestone will be fine for me