brake fluid change

I've just had mine done at a National Tyre Centre for £23 ! Good value I thought. :-)

Andy Pandy To e-mail, address hopefully, self-explanatory !

If you need to ask about this you should not do it!

A proper garage will have the proper equipment and also advise on the condition of the braking system at the same time.

It is not expensive to do properly and if you make a mistake it could prove fatal.

If you want to do this job yourself then buy yourself a Haynes manual which will give you clear and precise instructions. It's a very easy job to do - particularly if you get hold of a simple one-man bleeding kit from somewhere like Halfords. Some cars require you to bleed the brakes in a certain order, however, hence the need to get hold of a manual.

Kev

Alan wrote:

Brake fluid is best changed using a pressure device and a reservoir of brake fluid which connects to the master cylinder. The bleed nipples then are opened in the correct order until the system is flushed. Gunsons make such a device but I would take the advice already given. Apart from the safety aspect, it would cost you as much to buy the equipment and brake fluid. It's also not a nice job, unless you can fully raise the car.

Interestingly, although brake fluid change is part of a two year service, how many of you know for certain that it has been carried out on your car without actually requesting it?

Terry D.

Thanks for the replys. £23 dont seem bad at all, for peace of mind, I'll start ringing round. Thanks again.

Seconded although he booked it down as Tyre Valve change as he didn't=20 have a code in the 'puter for it.

It's getting to the point where it's so cheap it's not worth the aggro=20 of doing brake fluid and oil changes yourself anymore.

--=20 Conor

Hi. This is my friend, Jack Shit, and you don't know him.

True ! He also left the float damping filter on a ledge, and shut the bonnet down on top of it ! I suppose it stopped it falling off on the way home ! I managed to straighten it out OK ! :-)

Andy Pandy To e-mail, address hopefully, self-explanatory !

Except for the fact that if you do it yourself you KNOW that it's been done and been done properly. When my car last had it's full service at the main dealership I was charged for brake fluid but the bleed nipples had never been touched. I hate having to put the servicing of my car in the hands of a garage!

Kev

my van went in 2 weeks ago came back still with one headlight not working and pulling to the left who says they don't do anything :)

Just cos someone is good at taking money doesn't mean they are good at fixing cars, even if they do have a neon sign outside and let you use their coffee machine.

The Haynes manual and a bleeding hose will cost less than £23.

what if you have to factor in the cost of the brake fluid? and the dirty clothes? and the spanner? and the possibility of someone else having to work the brake pedal while you get underneath? and the jacks and axle stands that you have had to purchase for said job? mounts up doesn't it :)

that's why I never work for free, even a favour is worth something long gone are the days when I used to do it because I wanted to learn how it was done and didn't mind practicing on someone's car :)

In this respect I don't have a problem. THe guy at Bridlingtons National Tyres is a spot on bloke and takes pride in his work. I've found two garages that actuallydo jobs properly. Apparently, KP Motorsport (the other one) have people coming in from all over to get work done. For example, on the missuses car she had a distributor problem. Rather than sell her a new one, they stripped it, fixed it with bits from another and only charged an hours labour. Places like that are gold dust.

And as rare as chickens' teeth !!!!!

Kev

I should have included a couple of quid for the fluid. There should be a jack in the back of every car and a set of spanners in the cupboard of anyone considering DIY maintenance.

For this particular job, the fluid and a bleeding hose are the only extras. Everything else mentioned will be used for virtually every job.

In fact, to bleed the brakes on most cars there is no need to raise the car or remove the wheels at all.

Kev

should

the

the only

every

raise the car

No need, but a helluva lot easier to see what you're doing if you do. Mike

Nobody in their right mind uses the car jack for *any* maintenance.

Getting the trolley jack underneath when it's too tall.

Well..............do you manually 'lift' your car onto the axle stands then?? :-)

Kev