As per topic, how frequent you change your car brake fluid?
As in manual book for most new toyota is every 40k km or once in 2 years.. some of my friends change it every year, some change it every 20k km..

Follow the recommend interval is good enough. If you have the time and money then changing it more frequent is better. No problem.

Follow the book, whichever come first.

Worse thing that can happen, is the brake fluid is saturated with moisture due to leak, and at high temperature the brake fluid boils and bursts the brake lines. See table below, on the effects of moisture to the brake fluids' boiling point.



This post has been edited by alexei: Mar 19 2020, 01:50 PM

Every 40-50k km is good enough.

Depends on brake usage as well. Gentle drivers can follow stated interval, aggressive drivers or Genting employees should consider checking and changing earlier

Brake fluid they not expensive you can just change it every year
Same to your coolant and power steering fluid unless your are electric power steering

Now back to brake fluid all brake fluid with boiling point after period of time will have very thin layer sort of water , here start creating air bubbles can travel to your brake horse and stay between the brake line and creating loose brake feeling when you use brake , always happen on truck and lorry when accident saying no brake

Brake hose won't easily Burst even the rubber one can hold minimum 800 psi burst around 1500 psi for normal everyday car won't be able reaching the limit or the minimum

In long term this not good condition brake fluid can causing brake cylinder rust and rouch surface and causing those oring become harder and causing leaking

The feeling are very similar when you use water hose on bathroom when you use your thumb hold the end when the hose not fully fill with water the empty gap no pressure then when filling up you can feel the pressure and the power keep pushing your thumb away

This post has been edited by zuozi: Mar 19 2020, 02:35 PM

There's a study suggest that DOT3 does not lose its boiling point as much as DOT4 after absorbing same amount of moisture. Probably this tell us that DOT4 fluid require more frequent change than DOT3 fluid.

if you're doing it at SC, high chance they never even change it...only topup if they see it decreases

Well if using high performance brake fluids then can be more expensive, for example Motul 5.1 is about rm50-60/500cc btl. Some more exotic ones can cost even over rm100/500cc. So if you don't drive 40-50k km per year then no reason to waste money changing it yearly.

as per manual recommendation

im doing it every year.

This

I did remember they change it at 40k km.. quite strict toyota nowadays, even the aircon service is at 30k km interval..
Now i already did service outside due to budget constraint.. so i will change in this few days..
Thanks to all reply here..

2 things u need to know abt SC
1. how to know if they have change is by looking at the receipt at how they charge u...they will charge u few L of brake oil and labour charges to flush it and bleed it
2. even if they charge u, that doesn't mean they got change it for u
yes, it's true...happen many case already...they charge u doesn't mean they did the job the charge u for

The manual said every 40k, means every 2 years. My experience, even 4 years also no problem.

I see that people said top up when level dropped. This is not a good advise. If there is no leak, it is normal for the fluid level to go down. The reason is the brake pads get thinner and thinner, thus causing the level dropped. Just make sure there is no leak though.

Once the level go to L (Low), it is about time you want to change brake pad. It serves as indicator for me. DO not let the SC top up the brake fluid because you will lose your indicator.

How on Earth you need a aka high performance brake fluid on everyday normal car? Kek......

If your car already equipped with the specifications aka high performance brake fluid which means are sports cars or luxury cars already right? If you already can afford the sports cars or luxury cars the brake fluid RM 50 to 60 for them 60 cent's only right?

how frequently can you exceed the 300c red hot on disc rotor XD always jam break after 160km ? Heh.

After brake fluid drop should top up no matter how since engine vibration, road vibration etc when the fluid not enough can causing creating air bubbles

Well i did hear about some SC didnt do as they written in the resit.. but its kinda rare case for toyota where i hardly heard about it..

I use them on mine coz sometimes on spirited driving or downhill, normal fluid can fade.

Then maybe upgrade ceramic brake system?4 port or 6 port?ceramic 380mm disc rotor? Since spirited driving can be so dangerous normal brake or mid range still can causing brake fade once over heating

Brake fluid should not drop for other reason except for thinning brake pad. No, it will not cause air bubble whatever. That level you see in in brake fluid reservoir, not in the system. It will never go lower than L unless it is time for brake pad change.

I have used 4 pot calipers with upgraded stainless braided hoses too. Using performance pads from Project Mu and Endless.

My mechanic thought me how to flush and change brake fluid without needing to dissemble anything. Just open the reservoir pump out as much as you can from the reservoir. Then top it up with the same type of brake fluid. Drive for few thousand km or next oil change and do it again.

I'm doing this for 1975 corolla and also a 2006 myvi.

Not a need, good to have especially the latest DOT5.1

anyways more OT: red hot rotors are 500 to 700c
It also doesn't need >160kmh jam brakes to reach that temperatures.
And even that your fluids are probably going between 70 to 90c under that condition.

Maybe different with motorcycles having much lesser capacity.

Open reservoir pump? You mean brake bleeder valve on all four wheels?

Bro, if you dont know how is your brake fluid condition just buy a brake fluid tester pen! So damn cheap nowadays in Lazada or Shoppee! FYI, if your brake fluid reservoir cover list only Dot3 or Dot4 only just change as per it.
Dont pandai pandai go change to Dot5 or what, as certain brake fluid will damage the rubber seal due to chemical reaction. Those race car which usually upgraded to Dot5 above already change most of the rubber hose to metal type and upgrade the brake servo/cylinder seals.

This post has been edited by littlefire: Mar 24 2020, 09:45 AM

He meant to pump suck out brake oil in the reservoir pump and fill in fresh fluid without bleeding all 4 calipers.

Eventually the new fluid will mix with the old fluid along the lines. Repeat this step after a couple thousand km to continue mixing the new and old fluid. Eventually, those old fluid will be replaced out.

Anyway, I prefer to bleed out the old fluid and replace it all with fresh fluid. Mechanics doesn't charge much for this service anyway.

This post has been edited by Thrust: Mar 24 2020, 10:42 AM

Yes this is the technique.

So how frequent you did this? Once a year?

As for normal car yes can stick with manual book.. but for fun to drive car i think need to do everytime before you enter any event or TTs.. hehe
So for grab car which has high melage? Every 40k km like manual book?

I don't use this method. I'll just send the car to a mechanic and ask him to do a complete flush and bleed the caliper.

Probably should do it once every two years.

Just did for my Axia. Fully DIY.
Mileage? 87K, never changed before since new hehe.
And I did it one person.

My cost
* Brake oil - Bendix 1L Dot4 - cost me Rm 22 (bought fr spare part shop). Shopee sell cheaper..
* Aquarium hose pipe (about 1 Meter length) - RM 2
* Empty hand soap bottle - with hand pump, to suck out the old fluid.
* Empty 500ml plastic bottle - For bleeding and storing the old fluid.
* 9mm spanner - To unscrew bleeding screw.

I only bleed the front disc brake as I have no brake issue, just the fluid dirty so might as well change.
Easy job.

Did you take out the wheels? Some cars hard to reach the bleeder valve without taking out the wheel.

Nah.. Mine was easy to reach with the steering turned fully to the max. The back is also easy to reach but I didn't wanna do.
So didn't need to remove the wheels.
Next round I will try my Exora. Probably harder due to wider tyres.

Wta I just noticed my car is 9 years old, all my service was done at main SC and they have never changed my brake fluid??? Why they do this??

This post has been edited by RiriRuruRara: Jul 3 2025, 12:59 AM

material is not hi cost but workmanship is. skill needed.

normal sc inspect level, color & water %
unnecessary to replace unless pijak pedal not feeling right

Normally after the service book are all filled up and car is no longer under warranty, any scheduled service is based on owner instruction because the owner is the one tracking what has or has not been serviced

If during warranty they never change I don't know why but it depends on car manufacturer standard service. Maybe it was just Inspection involved. I just changed the brake fluid when I think maybe it is time to change since I don't feel any degradation of braking performance. Maybe there is some but not to my notice.

Yes, brake fluid is hydroscopic which means it absorbs moisture. It also has rust inhibitor to prevent rust in braking system. I believe brake is not really a closed system because there is tiny hole in reservoir cap to prevent brake system become vacuum when brake pad worn off over time. Many article recommend that you change brake fluid once a year or so. Brake fluid is not expensive and changing and flushing brake fluid is not difficult and take less than an hour. All can be dome with less than RM100 I think. I have not change the brake fluid recently

Did you check your bill/receipt? A lot of time they charge for the brake oil but actually in behind already masuk pocket and sell, my mechanic time to time got a lot of these cheap stock selling outside by those SC personnel as extra income.

Mine 9 years never change wonder could there be problem with the braking system like you mention rust?? Bcs recently I do notice I have to press brake more and it doesn’t stop as fast as before, that’s why I read up about brakes and found out need to change the fluids at least once in 2 years.. wtf

Nope I just went through the receipts last night, no break fluids or brake flushing done for 9 years.

I got write before, get a brake fluid tester. It is very cheap in shoppee/lazada.
I even buy and give to my mechanic to answer those customer concern when to change the fluids.
Modern cars with ABS dont play play, my mechanic already met few cars with poor maintenance until the brake fluid mix with rust water and ABS module gone case.

Spongy brake means water too much in brake fluid already.

Me, every 30 000km brake oil flush ( brake bleeding ), using dot 4 mitsubishi motors malaysia brake oil for my toyota camry acv30

Not sure about your car. But Honda SC, they don't even flush, just add so its a waste of money. Also, not sure what happened, but mine didn't even get added to the service list by SC so 90K didn't even touch brake fluid. LOL


This is what my brake fluid looks like after 90K.

Brake fluid is cheap. Just do flushing when you see it turning dark yellow. No harm.

This post has been edited by JON97: Jul 3 2025, 05:42 PM

I don’t play play send to SC even after warranty ended but seem like they the want play a fool with me. How much repair for abs module?

You guys change the oil yourself,SC or outside mechanics?

If ABS module rusted from inner area you can only change, depending on car model if lucky can get cheap units from half-cut or accident unit, if rare you can only buy new and it will cost a lot of money or final straw modify off the ABS module (bypass) and left only the normal brake function.

One of the workshop that I'm used to send my car for repair and service 🚙🚗🚙🚗🚙

SC only know how to replace things when its broken.. Preventive maintenance is not needed. Your money is more important for them.


You guys change the oil yourself,SC or outside mechanics?
- Wise words from SC, not required / serviceable item.
- Another recent one is, Not recommended to change later chang it will cause problem. (This is related to CVT Filter)

TLDR;
If only doing engine oil and gearbox oil = SC
If others, a trusted outside mechanic

Thanks, I open the thing to see inside the fluids is like Coca Cola colour, the SC really putting my life in danger such important things like brakes never service in 9 years..