• If you currently own, previously owned or want to own an Avalanche, we welcome you to become a member today. Membership is FREE, register now!

Brake flush intervals

spidey

spidey

Full Member
Joined
Jun 18, 2012
Messages
686
Location
Alberta
Cant seem to find anything in the manual on the duration of brake flush.  Usually the standard Ive read over the years for any vehicle is every 2 years.  Same standard for the AVY?

My fluid isnt dark, but defintly not the light clear colour either.  Kind of a nice golden tan :)
 
My car and my bike both have two year intervals. It's stated in the owners manuals. I've never bothered to do it in my other vehicles I've owned until 5 years.
 
GM doesn't even bother to publish this info.    In my last AV I'm not sure I flushed mine in 15 years.  never had a problem with brakes either other than standard rotor/pad wear.  I changed the rotors and pads once myself (both front and back).  Thought about bleeding the brakes and changing fluid but never got around to it.  If you want to keep everything really clean, maybe a good rule of thumb would be to do it on pad/rotor changes?
 
IF you must change then I would GO by Color.

AS it gets darker then change.

Otherwise maybe every 100k?
 
Intervals seem to get inverted by manufacturer.  BMW will have you changing brake fluid every 15k or 2 years, but then they claim you can go 15k on engine oil changes...  wtf...  I bet that oil looks great coming out!  GM's oil monitor seems to count down every 5000-7000 miles and having had sludge in my previous vortec, I can tell you my opinion is that was too long...  I'm switching to 4k oil changes on the new truck. 

 
marzahld said:
Intervals seem to get inverted by manufacturer.  BMW will have you changing brake fluid every 15k or 2 years, but then they claim you can go 15k on engine oil changes...  wtf...  I bet that oil looks great coming out!  GM's oil monitor seems to count down every 5000-7000 miles and having had sludge in my previous vortec, I can tell you my opinion is that was too long...  I'm switching to 4k oil changes on the new truck. 
Click to expand...
Yup, 2 years on the BMW fluid. My oil change monitor showed 13,000 miles after we reset it. Maybe depending on the engine? I think it was 8 or 9 quarts of Synthetic that went in it.

On my Avys, I went every 4k miles and just used dino oil in them. I tried synthetic in the first avy I had and it lost over a quart in 5k miles. Went to dino oil after that.
 
ygmn said:
IF you must change then I would GO by Color.

AS it gets darker then change.

Otherwise maybe every 100k?
Click to expand...
I don't trust mileage on something like that. 100k highway miles is a lot easier on the brake fluid than 100k city or even mixed driving miles.
 
ygmn said:
IF you must change then I would GO by Color.

AS it gets darker then change.

Otherwise maybe every 100k?
Click to expand...

I usualy do go by colour, and used to just do the 2 year intervals. but that was with older cars.  Contacted a GM dealership and they said every 84K.  Which sounds reasonable, every 4 years or so.

Since Im a bit over that Ill take it in, do a lot of towing and with summer coming up, the $114 Ill be charged it some good preventative maintenance.

I know its hard to keep track of this sort of stuff, every vehicle manufacturer is different.  Some places say follow the book, some say follow the monitor (oil changes), some say follow time, some say follow kms.

Some cars the manual says change every 5K, others say 8K, others say 12K, and so on

Nissan says the book says to do brake flushes every 16000 kms.  Thats like less than a year for many.  But the actual dealership says that way to much.  Daughter has an older Nissan Sentra and the manual was the same as my truck, says what kind of fluid to use, but doesnt say intervals

Thanks for the info
 
Brake flush rule of thumb: Every 2 years. Who does that? Almost nobody; I know I don't but I also know I should. If I rented out vehicles, oh hell yes! But comparing oil changes to brake fluid flushes is apples to oranges. Oil is exposed to the combustion process, brake fluid is not. Brake fluid (as we all know) has a different job. I doubt there is 'detergents" in brake fluid. Engine oil contains detergents, (really just a polymer that tends to keep tiny solids in suspension so it doesn't settle out in the oil pan) so the filter can do a better job at trapping them. The trouble with brake fluid is that it absorbs water (hence the heavy duty gasket under to cap/lid) and water boils when it gets hot and brake fluid gets hot. Water doesn't lube the parts in a brake system either; it promotes corrosion, I'm sure we have all seen rust in a brake system. I sure have. The longer it sits the worse it gets. Theory: The reason it rusts more when it sits is because by routinely using the brakes the water is distributed throughout the brake system so it doesn't promote corrosion in ONE spot (where we can see it)but in much smaller spots all though the system. So, maybe we should take another look at this?
 
dna9656 said:
Brake flush rule of thumb: Every 2 years. Who does that? Almost nobody; I know I don't but I also know I should. If I rented out vehicles, oh hell yes! But comparing oil changes to brake fluid flushes is apples to oranges. Oil is exposed to the combustion process, brake fluid is not. Brake fluid (as we all know) has a different job. I doubt there is 'detergents" in brake fluid. Engine oil contains detergents, (really just a polymer that tends to keep tiny solids in suspension so it doesn't settle out in the oil pan) so the filter can do a better job at trapping them. The trouble with brake fluid is that it absorbs water (hence the heavy duty gasket under to cap/lid) and water boils when it gets hot and brake fluid gets hot. Water doesn't lube the parts in a brake system either; it promotes corrosion, I'm sure we have all seen rust in a brake system. I sure have. The longer it sits the worse it gets. Theory: The reason it rusts more when it sits is because by routinely using the brakes the water is distributed throughout the brake system so it doesn't promote corrosion in ONE spot (where we can see it)but in much smaller spots all though the system. So, maybe we should take another look at this?
Click to expand...

I used to every 2 years, but it seems as vehicles get newer these flushes go longer and longer.

Maybe dealerships say longer now because then parts break down faster and get repaired more..

Maybe Ill go back to every 2 years.  Not super expensive.    Just got my rad fluid done to since it was over 5 years old.  Only $110 at the dealer
 
I do mine at least every 3 years. Brake fluid is hygroscopic, which reduces its effectiveness gradually as more water is absorbed. You won't notice the longer stopping distances because it happens over a long time. It is an easy 30 minute job if you have a Mity Vac. I buy Valvoline full synthetic for my changes.
 
dna9656 said:
What does one do with used brake fluid; I mean how do you legally and morally get rid of it?
Click to expand...
I asked the guys at Advance Auto and they said it's acceptable to combine it with motor oil. Basically all fluids except coolant can be mixed in with the used motor oil you drop off.
 
I hate to say it but I am still running original BRake fluid in my truck from 2001.
Still stops like usual.
Pedal feel the same.
I am on 3rd set of pads and rotors.

I do use turkey baster to remove some when I change pads from reservoir and refill with fresh.
So it is a mix of old and new.
 
ygmn said:
I hate to say it but I am still running original BRake fluid in my truck from 2001.
Still stops like usual.
Pedal feel the same.
I am on 3rd set of pads and rotors.

I do use turkey baster to remove some when I change pads from reservoir and refill with fresh.
So it is a mix of old and new.
Click to expand...

I do the turkey baster with power steering fluid, drain, fill, drive around, drain, fill again.  As good as hooked up to a machine, not sure.  Buts its funny when my kids take their cars in, they always get the power steering fluid smells burnt, it needs changed scam.

Brake fluid could be done that way.  And if this was something that needed to be done yearly, then might learn to do it myself.  But for the cost every 2-3 years, and in my case 5 years, sometimes its money well spent
 
MyBigToy said:
I do mine at least every 3 years. Brake fluid is hygroscopic, which reduces its effectiveness gradually as more water is absorbed. You won't notice the longer stopping distances because it happens over a long time. It is an easy 30 minute job if you have a Mity Vac. I buy Valvoline full synthetic for my changes.
Click to expand...

I know km based changes can be hard, since some people drive less than others, or more than average.

Gm said every 84K, which would be every 4 years for me, but for some, that might be 2 years, or 3.

Unless brake fluid has changed over the years, it always used to be 2 years due to what you said above. 
 
frito said:
I asked the guys at Advance Auto and they said it's acceptable to combine it with motor oil. Basically all fluids except coolant can be mixed in with the used motor oil you drop off.
Click to expand...

Wonders of wonders! I called O'Reilly's and got the same info and more; according to them (they will accept) as you said EVERYTHING (motor oil, tranny fluid, brake fluid) mixed together or not. I suppose they figured out that it all goes into the same incinerator? At my place of employment they learned that our waste (with the exception of rubber, dry cell batteries, and leather) that it all goes into the same waste stream. Well glory be, now I can get rid of all that used and outdated brake fluid!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top