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

mtsoxfan

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I have never seen black brake fluid. I have never changed/flushed brake fluid. Not sure I will change it until I see/hear of a valid reason to, and not because someone was scared into it.
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mtsoxfan

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My first job as a mechanic was at a transmission shop. They offered a (very low cost) transmission service. This was 1981. When we dropped the pan, naturally there was clutch material. The hard sales went into effect, saying it was starting to fail and they needed an overhaul. If they didn't want it done, I was told to put old fluid back in, poured from the 5 gallon bucket with other nasty oil in it, because they said legally a service wouldn't help at all.
I quit after a few short months. Scammers..
I worked at a GM dealership for 10+ years, and they writers would push to sell anything to up their commision. I know not all are like this, but I am an aware customer...
 

deleriumtremor

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I have never seen black brake fluid. I have never changed/flushed brake fluid. Not sure I will change it until I see/hear of a valid reason to, and not because someone was scared into it.
All non-silicone brake fluids (DOT 3, 4, 4LV and 5.1) start absorbing water the second you brake the seal on the bottle. The absorption rate is a factor of time and available moisture in the air.

As your brake fluid ages, the water content in the fluid lowers the boiling point of the fluid. If your brake fluid starts boiling the bubbles make the fluid compressible and you lose braking effectiveness. That is why the various grades of Glycol based brake fluids have a new and "wet" boiling point specification.

In addition to the lowering boiling point, the water that is absorbed over time into the fluid is corrosive to the components and will accelerate the decay of those components.

It has been this way since Glycol based brake fluids were invented. It is also why they came up with DOT 5 originally, to eliminate the need to change the fluid due to water absorption. Unfortunately, silicone based brake fluids are also slightly compressible, so they never deliver a nice firm brake peddle.
 

mtsoxfan

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I have read that on here somewhere before.
What are the warning signs? How do you tell by looking at fluid? How common is it?
 

deleriumtremor

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Don't forget, our vehicles require a low viscosity brake fluid, using the same old DOT 4 from NAPA is not acceptable. Even most mechanics don't realize that this is the case for all Ford vehicles going back 10+ years. Easiest way to get the right fluid is to go straight to the dealer for it. I bought Motorcraft LV fluid from Rock Auto and it was very inexpensive.
Unless you live in a place where you can get very low temps and you are parking your truck outside for extended periods of time, the LV really doesn't do much. It is really an anti lock braking effectiveness thing when first starting out with the brake system cold soaked.

Most of the DOT 4LV products do contain better lubricity and corrosion protect additives over straight DOT 3 or 4 fluids, so not a bad thing for anyone to consider from those perspectives.

Personally, I think the deal of the century is the Bosch brake fluid RockAuto sells. It exceeds DOT 4LV and 5.1 specs and sells for about $8 a qt.
 


rpeterson53

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Unless you live in a place where you can get very low temps and you are parking your truck outside for extended periods of time, the LV really doesn't do much. It is really an anti lock braking effectiveness thing when first starting out with the brake system cold soaked.

Most of the DOT 4LV products do contain better lubricity and corrosion protect additives over straight DOT 3 or 4 fluids, so not a bad thing for anyone to consider from those perspectives.

Personally, I think the deal of the century is the Bosch brake fluid RockAuto sells. It exceeds DOT 4LV and 5.1 specs and sells for about $8 a qt.
Prior to replacing the brake fluid on my 2019 Ranger, I looked at the reservoir cap to see the fluid type since manufacturers do identify the fluid requirement on the cap. My cap states DOT4 with no mention of the LV requirement as the shop manual requires. Lazyness on my part not to check the FSM specification. For my climate, I doubt the non LV fluid would be an issue. However, as punishment for not checking the manual, I will change the fluid to DOT4 LV. Not that big a deal actually other than cost. $26 at NAPA for Pentosin 1 litre DOT4 LV fluid.
 

deleriumtremor

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Prior to replacing the brake fluid on my 2019 Ranger, I looked at the reservoir cap to see the fluid type since manufacturers do identify the fluid requirement on the cap. My cap states DOT4 with no mention of the LV requirement as the shop manual requires. Lazyness on my part not to check the FSM specification. For my climate, I doubt the non LV fluid would be an issue. However, as punishment for not checking the manual, I will change the fluid to DOT4 LV. Not that big a deal actually other than cost. $26 at NAPA for Pentosin 1 litre DOT4 LV fluid.
Give that Bosch brake fluid Rockauto sells a try, at under $8 a qt for 5.1+ specs, pretty hard to beat.
 

halligan1201

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I have never seen black brake fluid. I have never changed/flushed brake fluid. Not sure I will change it until I see/hear of a valid reason to, and not because someone was scared into it.
The manufacturer of the vehicle and that designed the system telling me it should be done seems valid enough to me.
 

deleriumtremor

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I use a simple pressure bleeder. It makes very short work of the procedure. Make sure you start with the caliper farthest from the master cylinder (by hard line run, with ABS systems that can be deceiving without a shop manual to tell you which one and what sequence to use when bleeding).

Mine came with a GM MC cap (which I used on my GM truck). I still have to buy the Ford MC cap for my Ranger (won't need it for a few years :)).

https://www.amazon.com/Motive-Products-MP-0107-MP-1810-Bleeder/dp/B0924ZYDTY
 

rpeterson53

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I use a simple pressure bleeder. It makes very short work of the procedure. Make sure you start with the caliper farthest from the master cylinder (by hard line run, with ABS systems that can be deceiving without a shop manual to tell you which one and what sequence to use when bleeding).

Mine came with a GM MC cap (which I used on my GM truck). I still have to buy the Ford MC cap for my Ranger (won't need it for a few years :)).

https://www.amazon.com/Motive-Products-MP-0107-MP-1810-Bleeder/dp/B0924ZYDTY
Shop manual sequence is RR, LR, RF, LF
 

rpeterson53

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Give that Bosch brake fluid Rockauto sells a try, at under $8 a qt for 5.1+ specs, pretty hard to beat.
Went to local NAPA and bought the Pentosin DOT4 LV. Just finished up replacing the new DOT4 fluid from yesterday with the LV fluid. Time maybe 1.5 hours to do. I got time. I’m retired ?
 

Wytchdctr

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Shop manual sequence is RR, LR, RF, LF
Thank you for confirming that. I like to do the over the top bleed to flush out the system. Just keeping an eye on the level so it doesn't drop below the min mark.
 

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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$
You should never do a flush. When that is done you are putting other peoples issues in your cooling system. Do I think your antifreeze needs to be changed at 30,000 miles? Absolutely. Simply open the drain on the radiator drain the coolant into a bucket get a garden hose fill expansion bottle up leaving the drain open on the radiator. Once the water is completely clear full the system / expansion bottle to the fill line and close the drain on the radiator. Start the engine for about three minutes turn the heat on full blast once you have lukewarm heat shut it off. Open the drain back up and run the water until it's clear. You should buy the coolant from Ford and refill. DO NOT use "any color all brans". Use Fords coolant. Breaks are just as easy obviously no water is involved. You definitely will want to have your transmission fluid changed. Again doing a flush on a transmission is way worse than doing a flush on a coolant system. Unless you have the tools I would let the dealer do that but tell them to just drop the pan change the filter and pan gasket and refill the transmission with Mercon LV. NO NO NO NO to trans Flush. Mercon LV breaks down much quicker than other conventional automatic transmission fluids and that is one maintenance item that you will never want to follow what the dealer says. Transmission and transfer case should always be changed every 30,000 miles
 

Kemo Sabe

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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$
If you go buy dealer service recommendations, take Vaseline with you, for you gonna get screwed.
 

svogt302

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Get test strips.... Mine test fine
In my experience, you can drain some coolant & replace with new too

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