Hey guys,

I did a search but I still am confused as to when exactly I should change out my coolant and when I should change out the brake fluid? The car is a DD w/ 32k on the clock. I don't track the car and pretty much baby it most of the time. Thanks in advance!

~fred

 

I would suggest the brake fluid but it isnt absolutely needed. The coolant should still be fine but you could test it just to be sure.

Look in your owners manual for the recommended service intervals for your car and climate.

 

The service manual states that the coolant should be changed every 30k miles.

A safe rule of thumb is probably 30k or two years if you don't track your car.

d

 

Get a big bottle of brake fluid and a turkey baster. Once a month suck out as much brake fluid as you can without completely emptying the reservior and just pour some new fluid in. If you keep this up your brake fluid will never get dark and always stay nice and clean.

 

 

ak47po, thx for posting that- very helpful!

 

every 2 years i like to change all my fluids (brake fluid, ps fluid, coolent, ts fluid, rear diff fluid, tranny fluid)

 

I've been thinking about this since yesterday. I never heard of anyone suctioning out and replacing fluid like you describe.

Brake pipes are made of steel and brake fluid becomes brown in color over time due to rust. The rust is caused by wet brake fluid. Brake fluid doesn't circulate, what fluid is in the caliper stays within the caliper. On the other hand, new dry fluid in the master cylinder reservior, since it is partially in contact with the fluid in the brake piping, should cause all the fluid to eventually reach equilibrium wetness which may tend to dry the fluid in the caliber too. So, I don't dismiss what you are doing completely.

Still, I think a better method is to bleed brakes at the caliper until the fluid drawn there matches new fluid added to the master cylinder. Then you know all brake fluid is dry.

One important note when doing this is to not let the master cylinder run dry. If air enters the braking system it can be very difficult to remove.