Brake Fluid Change

[Fishman]

Hi,

The girlfriend has been quoted £39.99 for a brake fluid change on her 2001 1.25 fiesta (on top of major service [£189], MOT [£44] and pads and disks [£157 or something]. It seems a bit excessive to me but then ive never had mine done. I guess it involves dropping the fluid and bleeding fresh in removing all air from the lines.

Its a ford dealer so Im naturally suspicous.
Your views please

Thanks

 

[Matt82]

i think i was charged something similar. its apparently an even harder job with abs.

ive done most things on my car, but just didnt fancy that job. you would need all 4 wheels off, maybe more than one at a time.

i just was not confident enough.

if i did it again id make sure fancy fluid was put in there. saying that, the normal DOT4 doesnt fade. my brakes are killer

 

[Jonny69]

Brake fluid is brake fluid, 'fancy' brake fluid will be no benefit so just use the right stuff and avoid DOT 5 which has a habit of eating some people's brake systems for some reason (I think it's because it's silicone based)

They are probably charging an hour labour for that plus fluid, you have to change it every few years because brake fluid absorbs water, then it slightly loses its incompressibility and also starts to eat some of the internal components.

Edit: they have a power bleeder that forces the fluid through so I don't think it's any different with or without ABS. Just open the nipple, flick the button and out it comes.

Edit 2: Nipple, button, come

 

[FeFiDoh]

bleeding brakes is quite easy job. Theres nipples on each caliper u just open them and pump the pedal to force the air out and close it once the air is all out of that caliper. U have to start at rear and go opposite corners i believe cant remember exact order! But u can buy kits for <10 in halfords. I take it thats not pads/disks for both front and back seems cheap for all of em? They are realitively easy as well especially are ure doing brakes at same time.

Most of the cost will just be labour bits are cheap you could do it with a haynes for a lot less as long as ure DIY compitent.

 

[CypherPunk]

Changing brake fluid is more difficult on modern cars because of the ABS systems, there is normally a special process required to drain all of the brake fluid, with some cars it is as simple as bleeding the callipers in the correct order, while on others it is more difficult.

Brake fluid must be changed on schedule as it is hygroscopic, meaning that it absorbs water, this eventually reduces the boiling point of the brake fluid is and therefore it’s effectiveness is also reduced.

DOT 5 brake fluid isn’t hygroscopic as it is silicone based not glycol based, however DOT 5 fluid has its own set of problems. Because water in the system is not absorbed it settles in the lowest point(s) of the system, which can cause corrosion and reduced braking performance when the water boils. This means DOT 5 fluid must be changed more often and as such it is not recommended for road cars.

 

[Fishman]

Thanks all, it is just front disks as the rear has drums. From the sounds of it they probably have whatever they need to do it in the minimal time but because it can be tricky if you dont have the equipment they probably bill you for loads of labour and tell you thats how long it takes.

 

[agw_01]

u just open them and pump the pedal to force the air out and close it once the air is all out of that caliper

Woah woah, you start pumping the pedal with the bleed nipple open and you're going to take in more air than you're forcing out.

You need to open the nipple, push the pedal, tighten the nipple and bring the pedal back up. Keep doing that until the caliper is free from any air.

 

[Lopéz]

ive done most things on my car, but just didnt fancy that job. you would need all 4 wheels off, maybe more than one at a time.

Why? Last time I did them on the 205 I didn't even jack it up.

 

[CypherPunk]

Woah woah, you start pumping the pedal with the bleed nipple open and you're going to take it more air than your forcing out.

You need to open the nipple, push the pedal, tighten the nipple and bring the pedal back up. Keep doing that until the caliper is free from any air.

You can use a one way check valve to overcome this problem, it does what it says on the tin.