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Changing brake fluid

VT-565

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myberlina said:
How do you tell when the fluid is due for change anyway? Being the second owner of this car means I know nothing of what has been changed before my ownership of the car.
Its great to see people wanting to keep to the maintenance schedule on the vehicle. You would be surprised how many cars get around and people dont even think twice about changing brake fluid.
Brake fluid absorbs moisture, hence the need for changes every 1-2 years.
Failure to do this can cause some oxidisation in the caliper bores, on the pistons etc which eventually leads to seal failure.
The biggest thing with bleeding your brake lines is, taking your time, as rushing will cause lovely brake fluid to spilt/sprayed/splashed etc all over the place. I use a one man bleeder kit, great for exactly that, keep pumping and topping up the reservoir til the fluid is clean in the tube and there are no bubbles coming through, then lock the nipple down. start at your rear passenger side caliper first, then rear drivers side, then passenger front and last but not least, driver front.
As i said, take your time and you will be fine.
 

gogoboygareth

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I think I need to buy a workshop manual...

I've been too worried about doing the brake fluid change myself, as brakes are a major safety thing and I figure if I stuff it up, I'll probably crash into something when the brakes fail. :)

I've owned my car since near-new and it's around 4 1/2 years old now - time for the 2nd flush. The K-Mart place keep saying it's dirty and needs to be done, but they just charge too much to do it, so I've been reluctant so far. :)

I tend to get my car serviced by the book, apart from the coolant which gets done every year. I might standard getting the auto tranny serviced yearly too (as I only got it done at the log-book 110,000km which seemed WAY too long an interval).
 

EXCESSV

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gogoboygareth said:
I think I need to buy a workshop manual...

I've been too worried about doing the brake fluid change myself, as brakes are a major safety thing and I figure if I stuff it up, I'll probably crash into something when the brakes fail. :)

I've owned my car since near-new and it's around 4 1/2 years old now - time for the 2nd flush. The K-Mart place keep saying it's dirty and needs to be done, but they just charge too much to do it, so I've been reluctant so far. :)

I tend to get my car serviced by the book, apart from the coolant which gets done every year. I might standard getting the auto tranny serviced yearly too (as I only got it done at the log-book 110,000km which seemed WAY too long an interval).
brake fluid every 2.5 years
clutch fluid every 2.5 years (manual car)
coolant every 2.5 years
auto every 40,000km...keep it with your major service time frame
 

gogoboygareth

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Thanks for that - 40,000km sounds like a much better timeframe. Not sure why Holden recommend it only at 110,000km....

I might do in between each standard major service, so I don't get hit with major bills every 40,000km (for the major service). :)

The only reason I do the coolant every year is I had a bad experience with my last car (nissan skyline)... cracked head due to bad coolant (plus my crazy driving). I've always played it safe since then...
 

VTSSDUDE

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I was lucky, when I changed my brake fluid, my brother is a mechanic and we did in it at the workshop he works at on a Saturday morning, we had my car on a hoist. But without a hoist it wouldn't be so easy I think.
 

Demons1964

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2Fast2FuriousDude said:
I was lucky, when I changed my brake fluid, my brother is a mechanic and we did in it at the workshop he works at on a Saturday morning, we had my car on a hoist. But without a hoist it wouldn't be so easy I think.
Yep, can be a real pain. I jack the car up and pull the wheels off to get good access to the bleed nipple. The wife operating the brake pedal is about the only work she does on the car all year (even then she still whinges about it!!).
 

Shounak

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I CBF doing that myself. I do everything but that.

Brakes Plus do a brake fluid flush for $30..
 

gogoboygareth

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Thanks for that tip... the closest one to me is in Fawkner (I think!). I 'll have to check them out.

I'm planning on buying "new" front/rear rotors (the surplus ones off the VZ commodores when they go to HSV apparently) + pads off Ebay, I wonder if they'll fit them for me...

I'm getting the car serviced in Bendigo in a little over a week's time though, still haven't got a quote from them about changing the brake fluid (and power steering fluid, I have zero free time at the moment!).
 
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