3 years / 30k miles - Shop says I need to flush brake and coolant, is this true?

ben8jam

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It seems early in its life to already need to flush the fluids - but from what little I could find on the forum, one person said the brake fluid can absorb water and yes needs flushing 'regularly'.

Dealer quoted 400$
Sponsored

 
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NotBudule

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It's not on the maintenance schedule I don't believe, I'd ask to see where it says that and is it required for warranty ?
 

EJH

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Brake fluid makes sense. My Subaru requires it every two years. I did the first time at three years, but now do it every two years. I have not confirmed the Ford schedule.
 


RedlandRanger

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Not sure about the brake fluid but the coolant has either a 100k or 200k life expectancy, depending on whether you have the orange (100k) or yellow (200k).
 

Frenchy

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First off look in the maintenance section of the owners manual. Engineers like @P. A. Schilke spent a lot of time and money figuring that stuff out.

As for my personal experience coolant should be fine, brake fluid on the otherhand may be a different story.
 

alcohenusa

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First off look in the maintenance section of the owners manual. Engineers like @P. A. Schilke spent a lot of time and money figuring that stuff out.

As for my personal experience coolant should be fine, brake fluid on the otherhand may be a different story.
My 2020 manual (v2) says to change the brake fluid every three years (page 417).
 

Oscar Grouch

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Do you do any deep water fording very often? Unless your brakes regularly are submerged for extended periods of time (more than just dropping a boat in the water), then the brakes should be fine. Coolant is fine either way.

TL;DR Waste of money.
 

quangdog

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First off, $400 is gouging you for these services. Secondly, the coolant should be good for *at least* 100K miles (and possibly 200K, as others have pointed out). The only reason you'd need to flush coolant this early in your truck's lifespan is if it was somehow contaminated by something catastrophic like a blown head gasket.

Finally: flushing brake fluid is not a hard job at all - if you have some jack stands and a few hours on a weekend, you can easily DIY and save a bunch of money. Heck, for what they probably want just to bleed the brakes you can buy all the tools / supplies you'd need to DIY, then you have it all for next time and still have saved money.
 
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ben8jam

ben8jam

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Ok explains why I couldn’t find any tangible evidence on what they are saying is “recommended”.
 

Frenchy

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It's their recommendation for lining their pockets.
On the coolant yes, the brake fluid not so much. One member has already confirmed that brake fluid should ve changed every 3 years as per the maintenance manual provided by Ford
 

db_tanker

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I've always asked them where that schedule is in the owners manual...especially with my "I'm an old redneck and work outside" voice. I get a dirty look. :)

One of the main reasons why I always go instead of letting the wife or my mom take their cars in for maintenance as I take care of most of it myself.
 
 



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