Recommended Brake Fluid Maintenance?!

waterboy44 · 2006-04-18T01:57:07+00:00

I own a 2000 Pontiac Grand Am. I was wondering what is the best way tomaintain the brake fluid... should I drain the entire system and refilland bleed it, or should I bleed each wheel individually? I'd like toreplenish every drop in the system, any ideas? Please Help!

Apr 18, 2006 25 Replies

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<HLS 20 years ago

and, how about to-day's " brakes' " exposure to the elements? Is it better or

worse from the standpoint of "recovery" from exposure?

Not sure exactly what you mean. Steel rotors rust. High chrome stainless steel rotors dont normally rust, although salt will play hell with stainless.

A steel rotor with a little surface rust will be right back to normal after a little use. Scored rotors, of any type, begin to lose efficiency, dependent upon the damage.

Corrosion of the INTERIOR parts of the brake system can be an expensive problem. Even stainless steel can and will corrode, internally within the braking system as well as externally on the rotor.

If you maintain your braking system to minimize internal corrosion, you normally only have to spring for a pad replacement and possibly a rotor truing occasionally. Cheap.

But screw up a high performance system like a Teves, and you may find yourself up someones tailpipe (expensive), or at least having some VERY expensive repairs.

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clifto 20 years ago

When I changed the fluid in my '89 and my '91 Grand Marquis, the difference in braking was beyond description. Same with an '80-ish Cadillac I used to have.

A friend took his two-year-old Grand Marquis to the dealer to have his changed (ABS). The mechanic, who he knew, thought he was crazy to want the fluid changed, but he insisted. When he came back to get the car, the mechanic was so amazed at the difference that he actually returned the car, new fluid and all, at no charge.

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clifto 20 years ago

Prestone DOT 3 sucks by comparison to better brake fluids. Ford fluid (clear as received from the dealer) has a much higher boiling point. Valvoline is not as high, still higher than Prestone, and has a higher "wet" boiling point. Castrol makes a super brake fluid, if you've got money to burn; it's about two bucks an ounce.

I wanted to use ATE type 200 but couldn't find it locally.

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clifto 20 years ago

At that point, it's time to bleed the master cylinder before going ahead with bleeding the brakes.

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Â« Paul Â» 20 years ago

Easy way to avoid that is to turn a quart/liter can upside down in the reservoir.

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larry moe 'n curly 20 years ago

The Prestone I've usually used is the one in the blue bottle labelled Super Heavy Duty rather than just Heavy Duty. Prestone said Super has higher wet and dry boiling temperatures, but they couldn't explain why the bottles for both types listed identical boiling points. Both are DOT3.

I found some Castrol DOT4, but because I didn't know how old it was, I've used it only as paint remover. AFAIK brake fluid is the only paint remover that can be used on plastic.

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