Quote:
Originally Posted by atobe
if you got jack stands and a friend just do it yourself and save the $ have someone pump the brakes for... pay him with beer ?? it changes color when it gets old because it absorbs water vapors from the air.
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I'll drink to that. You can save the $100 and do it yourself for about $15 for fluid. it will take you a few hours.
As to your question on when the brake fluid was last changed, i'll daresay never.
Even if the brakes were done by somebody else its customary to simply top up. A shop is not going to flush them unless you pay them to do it (and even then - MAYBE!). So there it is, i'd assume that its never been done (and some claim you should do it every two years anyway - they may be right, even though practically no one does it this often.)
There's plenty of posts on how to do a brake flush, its easier with a helper person, of course. I have done it alone more then once. Using a stick against the seat to hold down the brake pedal and doing a lot of running back and forth. You can also get a cheap kit that includes some tube to pop over the bleeder valve, and a small (TOO small) reservoir for new fluid (it explains how you use the kit on the package).
(The only minor issue with flushing your own brakes is that there is a small amount of dirty fluid left behind, in the very bottom of the brake cylinders/calipers. Brake fluid does not circulate, after all, and the bleeder valve is deliberately designed at the highest point of the assembly to help you bleed all the air out.
In my view, if the brakes are working fine, and the fluid is just old and not contaminated with something else, flushing alone is good enough (and a lot more then most people driving older cars ever bother to do.)
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