Replacing Brake Fluid In Essential Major Service

[RXJasonRX]

hello

i am considering which Essential service to go for on my 07 RX400h and i can see on the Essential Major service sheet on the website, it says they change the brake fluid which on the Minor service they dont.

I was wondering, as in all the cars i have ever owned through the years i have never had the brake fluid changed. Not even in the old Lexus IS200 that i had for 8 years was it ever changed.

Is it worth having the extra level of service for this?

many thanks

Jason

[steve2006]

It is generally recommended to have the brake fluid replaced every 2-3 years, the stuff absorbs water over time which leads to a lower boiling point which in turn could lead to a reduction in braking effect during periods of sustained heavy braking.

Most garages have a special brake fluid checker which can check the water content of the fluid so providing a guide as to whether it needs replacing.

[RXJasonRX]

thank you for your reply. You say after periods of heavy sustain breaking, well i don't do all that much mileage maybe 5 to 7 thousand miles a year.i don't drive fast or use heavy braking really, so would that be a reason for not going for the full service?

Thank you for your time

[lurch]

What about one of these, I might get myself one and then you can check it yourself to see if needs changing http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/301443794642?ru=http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_sacat=0&_nkw=301443794642&_rdc=1

[tom123]

hello

i am considering which Essential service to go for on my 07 RX400h and i can see on the Essential Major service sheet on the website, it says they change the brake fluid which on the Minor service they dont.

I was wondering, as in all the cars i have ever owned through the years i have never had the brake fluid changed. Not even in the old Lexus IS200 that i had for 8 years was it ever changed.

Is it worth having the extra level of service for this?

many thanks

Jason

I would have thought that you don't really have a choice which service to get. The dealer will do major/minor services in alternate years. If the last service was a major one, the technician will do a minor one this time around.

I'm not sure that a main Lexus dealer would agree to doing a minor service if it was the major one that was due as he might feel there is a danger he could be held liable if there was a problem with the car later on that stemmed from not servicing the car as specified by Lexus.

[ColinBarber]

The main reason Toyota change the brake fluid as part of their service schedule is because the absorbed water can corrode (rust) the brake pipes from the inside, leading to a brake failure if all the fluid escapes

It is rare that a lexus dealer will test the condition of the fluid, they will just replace it according to the schedule.

Unless you explicitly asked the dealer not to change the brake fluid it should have been changed on your old IS200?

[PhilipK]

thank you for your reply. You say after periods of heavy sustain breaking, well i don't do all that much mileage maybe 5 to 7 thousand miles a year.i don't drive fast or use heavy braking really, so would that be a reason for not going for the full service?

Just because you habitually don't brake hard doesn't mean that you won't have to do so in an emergency tomorrow, and that's when you really don't want your brakes to fail on you!

Because brake fluid is hygroscopic (it absorbs water), as others have said its boiling point will decrease over time, and it is more likely to corrode the components of your braking system.

I treat it as a consumable that has to be replaced every two years in all my cars - I normally pay somewhere between £50 and £100 at a BMW main dealer, though independents would probably be cheaper, and you can do it yourself for the cost of the fluid if you're happy bleeding your brake system.

Not replacing it on schedule could be a very false economy!

[Boxbrownie]

My local specialist recently changed my brake fluid for me on my Mk1 RX300 using Toyota/Lexus fluid and only charged me £15 while I waited....it literally took about 10 minutes on the vac bleeding machine.