Brake pads and fluid change question.
Discussion
I'll be changing pads and discs ,myself, all round on my Mk5 Golf in the next few weeks but as the fluid has never been done in the 2 and a half years Ive had the car I was planning on putting it into a garage to get that done. Just wondering if its important to do either of them first or does it not make a blind bit of difference, thanks.
md. said:
Thanks for all the replies. I will get it booked in for after the pad and disc change.
If you are so able of discs and pads, you can change the fluid yourself. Pop down to local aquatics shop, buy a length of thin pipe and a non return valve. Attach two together.
Place one end on billed nipple and loosen off. Other end in a jam jar. Remove lid from fluid reservoir.
Pump brakes. Keep going back to reservoir to top up. Never let it run out! Once you've pumped through more than you have put in. Close nipple.
Repeat on other 3 wheels, but this time you don't need to pump as much as you only need to empty the pipe run, rather than the whole reservoir.
Make tea and admire the cost saving.
Happy days
Spangles said:
I've changed loads, normally with no appreciable difference under normal driving. Not sure I'd like to try 265k mile old brake fluid in a downhill emergency stop from 80mph though.
I've found the opposite, the last couple of cars I have bought have been old (7 years and 16 years) and I gave both of them new brake fluid when I got them. The brakes in both cars felt appreciably better after I'd done this. OP, it doesn't technically matter which order you do them in but getting the fluid done after the discs and pads has two advantages I can think of;
-No risk of spilling brake fluid onto your new pads / discs
-Less risk of the fluid reservoir overflowing when you wind the pistons in to fit new pads (as unless the fluid has been topped up to 'MAX' recently there'll be less fluid in the reservoir)
Call me cynical, but it's funny how cars didn't need the brake fluid changed 30 odd years ago when they need servicing every 6 months and there was points, etc to be replaced. Now they only need to go in once a year for a glorified oil change and suddenly brake fluid is less resistant to water absorption... Really?
PositronicRay said:
I think in the States they have much longer BF intervals, water contamination can be measured right?
Yep i have a meter i put in the fluid that measures the water content, they are prety simple, they just measure the resistance of the fluid, the lower it is the more water is in it.Brake fluid has allways had a short life, the "recomended" change intervals are in the manuals and allways have been but no-one reads them
although i would say older systems would be heated and cooled more than modern vehicals mainly down to drum brakes on the rear having crap adjusters then causing the fronts to overheat more and boil up taking in air and absorbing water, people just never noticed the crap brakes getting crapper, that and modern vehicals have much better brake cooling.I had a matiz in a few years back where the ABS kicked in at every pedal push (woman owner bought it in cos of the noise, not the fact the brakes didn't frikken stop the dam car!!), changed the fluid and rebled the system and it was fine after but that was a worse case sernario, i personly recon she filled the brake fluid up with water cos she was confused as to why the screen washer didn't work any more even though she kept overfilling the rad expansion tank
probably been filling every yellow cap with water looking for the washer bottle 
PositronicRay said:
So would you check for contamination? or just change regardless?
Peronly i would bung the nearest garage a fiver to test it first but if you are already changing pads and discs for the extra tenna for a bottle of fluid i would change it anyhoo whilst the calipers and wheels are off, suck the old fluid out the master with a 99p meat baister, fill the master (do not touch the pedal untill the master is refilled !!!) and then bleed one caliper at a time whilst topping the master, if ABS the ign will most likely need to be on to bleed the system, it will take maybee an extra 20 mins over the whole job and you can still do one corner at a time if you can't get all 4 wheels off the car at once, of course it "may" need onother person to push the pedal but even my 87 year old disabled grandad can manage that, the wife i wouldn't trust however, she'd get distracted and probably drive off on 3 wheels with me under the car Megaflow said:
Call me cynical, but it's funny how cars didn't need the brake fluid changed 30 odd years ago when they need servicing every 6 months and there was points, etc to be replaced. Now they only need to go in once a year for a glorified oil change and suddenly brake fluid is less resistant to water absorption... Really?
Not sure about 30 years ago, but I'm pretty sure it was in the service schedule for my mk 2 astra 20 years ago...eltax91 said:
md. said:
Thanks for all the replies. I will get it booked in for after the pad and disc change.
If you are so able of discs and pads, you can change the fluid yourself. Pop down to local aquatics shop, buy a length of thin pipe and a non return valve. Attach two together.
Place one end on billed nipple and loosen off. Other end in a jam jar. Remove lid from fluid reservoir.
Pump brakes. Keep going back to reservoir to top up. Never let it run out! Once you've pumped through more than you have put in. Close nipple.
Repeat on other 3 wheels, but this time you don't need to pump as much as you only need to empty the pipe run, rather than the whole reservoir.
Make tea and admire the cost saving.
Happy days
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