Fluid change intervals - brakes, power steering, clutch, etc

[hipifreq]

OK, so my recent post about my brake and oil pressure light coming on got hijacked, and I thought I'd restart a NEW thread with the hijacked topic:
Changing you brake fluid (or other fluids too)

How often do we change out the engine oil? Seems natural to change it frequently. How about your tranny fluid? Power steering? clutch? brakes? coolant?

All these fluids need to get changed every so often. My owner's manual ('80 Dasher) says to change the brake fluid every 2 years. When I bought the car the wheel cylinders were leaking, and when I swapped them out the fluid was full of crap. They probably failed due to OLD brake fluid getting contaminated and never changed. The master cylinder had worn out too, probably due to old fluid, which then leaked into the booster and has now eaten through my vacuum pump diaphragm. So much trouble just because someone didn't think to change the fluid.

Anyone else thinking to themselves "when did I last change the brake fluid?" You should. It could save you a bunch of time and money.

[jtanguay]

can't agree more... bleeding the brakes is way cheaper than all of the above grief...

supposedly the tranny fluid is good for life.   :lol:  man were they ever wrong!  but i would give it around 15 years or so... the oem fluid is pretty good stuff!  as for power steering fluid, i've never heard of flushing that out, but i'm sure after 18 years or so it couldn't hurt at all.  clutch should be done every 5 years i'd say... or consult the owners manual.  even if it says not to touch it... touch it!  :lol:

coolant every 5 years is pretty safe.  you can even exceed that a little bit... but not recommended as the pH may rise and cause it to be acidic... eating away at seals and even aluminum parts.

[burn_your_money]

I plan to bleed my brakes once a year, it'll save the grief of seized up bleeders. My coolant gets changed every few months, but that isn't by choice :evil:

[hipifreq]

I found this page [bmw-m.net] to be interesting for all those who like to make their own tools. The author walks you through construction of a pressure bleeder from a cheap hand-pump pressure sprayer. Pretty cool stuff!

[wolfsburgnut]

Using the volkswagen "blue" "longtime" (pentosins words not mine, gotta love german translations) coolant is actually supposed to be good for 5 years which is a lot better than the normal stuff.  Its more money and I dont know if its worth because it seems, like burn your money, I end up changing the coolant every few months, and not by choice.  However hopefully now that I have changed every hose (which are supposed to be changed every 5 years according to Bentley) the oil cooler, and the head gasket I should be good now.  D'oh there goes the rad....

Peter

[clbanman]

I plan to bleed my brakes once a year, it'll save the grief of seized up bleeders. My coolant gets changed every few months, but that isn't by choice :evil:

One trick to prevent your bleeders from seizing is to remove them and wrap the threads with teflon tape.  This has the added benefit of helping seal the threads if you use a vacuum to bleed your brakes through the bleeders.

[TomB]

I do the engine oil every 6 months which is about 4000-6000 miles.  I've just had a new gearbox, so that should be good for a while :-)  I changed the coolant when I bought the car last May as  a matter of course, although I think it's about to get done again as I need a new bottom hose.
I've just done the brakes when I fitted copper pipes, but would otherwise do the fluid every year.
No PAS here, but it's supposed to last for a long time :-)

[hipifreq]

Copper pipes for the brakes? I certainly hope you mean copper-coated steel or perhaps copper-nickel alloy. Where'd you get it?

[jtanguay]

would you even trust copper for the high pressure brake system???

[TomB]

Our local motor factors (and most others around here) sell it by the 25ft roll, along with flaring kits for the unions & bending kits.  I think it's a copper-nickel 90/10 alloy.
Much better than the rusty steel ones, and a common replacement for bubs of a certain age... :-)

Here's the stuff:

http://www.nfauto.co.uk/brake_flaring_tool.htm

[LeeG]

Copper/nickel tube and brakes:  http://www.copper.org/applications/automotive/hydraulic_brake_tube.html
  copper.org...they might be biased but still an interesting read.


Straight copper tube, I dont know for sure, but certainly around here it has always been regarded as a big no-no, not able to take the pressure and subject to cracking from vibration.   maybe thats urban myth.  I did buy an old type 1 beetle for parts once that had the rust prone rear line replaced with what appeared to be regualr plumbing copper.  It appeared to have been there for some years and I couldnt break it standing on the master with both feet.  After a few days as a field car and a trip past the cutting torch, the copper tube was still in the carcas when it went off to the nackers.

I would stick to the tried and true and inspect regularly.  Having blown a steel line once (my typeII) and a hose once (customer car) I can tell you it is not a fun feeling.  At least most if us don't drive around with single masters anymore.

[TomB]

That's quite strange to have such a difference between one side of the pond and the other.  Most garages recommend replacing mild steel brake lines with copper alloy ones, once they have started pitting & it's a standard replacement that I've had carried out on at least 3 cars.
Cheers for the info though.
Tom