Recommendations for a brake shop

[Oz]

In all that time with all those vehicles I have never nor have I ever seen anyone flush brake fluid. If we did maintenance and we needed to bleed the brakes we refilled the resevior after bleeding, but never flushed it.

I have also changed pads on disk and drum brakes and on vehicles with ABS and I have never had any trouble pushing back the piston.

I guess I should have equated my statement of "brake failure" to brake fade in a panic situation. By leaving water contaminated brake fluid in a system it gradually loses its performance characteristics as water is absorbed. So when you go to stop and your brakes fade because the brake fluid is a high percentage of water, your stopping distance is greater, and BAM! That guys trailer hitch is lodged in your radiator. That was the brake failure I was referring to. Better to service and replace the fluid than to hope you're not in a panic situation with expired brake fluid.

On vehicles with 4 wheel disc, you're probably going to have to rotate the piston back into the caliper with a brake cube tool. But otherwise you should be able to push the piston in using a C Clamp, on most cars and trucks.

Ricky was the one with the bleeder screw reference. It's a good idea if your master cylinder is full and/or you're concerned about dirty brake fluid.

 

[willie]

Brake failure, be it brake fade (full pedal but no friction because of heat) or loss of pedal, is caused by exceeding the limits of your vehicle. If you will be towing a trailer without trailer brakes through the mountains with a small (½ ton) truck, you MIGHT expect some brake fade with the standard brake pads and if you don't give it a rest, the next thing you will experience is loss of pedal. How soon the fluid will boil causing the loss of pedal is dependant on the moisture in the brake fluid. 10 or more years of absorbing water (DOT 3 will not pool at the caliper) will lower the boiling point somewhat but unless you drive like a fool, so what? When you operate your vehicle to the point of brake fade, the temperatures get so high that even DOT 5 will boil.

 

[Oz]

Brake failure, be it brake fade (full pedal but no friction because of heat) or loss of pedal, is caused by exceeding the limits of your vehicle. If you will be towing a trailer without trailer brakes through the mountains with a small (½ ton) truck, you MIGHT expect some brake fade with the standard brake pads and if you don't give it a rest, the next thing you will experience is loss of pedal. How soon the fluid will boil causing the loss of pedal is dependant on the moisture in the brake fluid. 10 or more years of absorbing water (DOT 3 will not pool at the caliper) will lower the boiling point somewhat but unless you drive like a fool, so what? When you operate your vehicle to the point of brake fade, the temperatures get so high that even DOT 5 will boil.

What you are saying is old school, and applies to non-ABS vehicles.

We can agree to disagree.

PS. NEVER use DOT5 Silicone Brake Fluid in an ABS system... Yikes!

 

[willie]

What you are saying is old school, and applies to non-ABS vehicles.
.
Why would you think it does not apply to ABS? If you believe the auto parts retailers mantra that normal accumulation of water will harm the ABS unit then we will have to agree to disagree.

We can agree to disagree.

PS. NEVER use DOT5 Silicone Brake Fluid in an ABS system... Yikes!

Unless you like bubbles

 

[dustin]

I had the master cylinder go out on my jetta once. I was like...AHHHHHHHHH....and then OHHHHHHHHHH...and then AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH....and then #$%@#&%$^@#$%@.....and then oh yeah I have an e-brake...and then I was like AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH....and then oh yeah I can downshift.........and then AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH......then I stopped.


It was really cool.

 

[bresamil]

I had the master cylinder go out on my jetta once. I was like...AHHHHHHHHH....and then OHHHHHHHHHH...and then AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH....and then #$%@#&%$^@#$%@.....and then oh yeah I have an e-brake...and then I was like AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH....and then oh yeah I can downshift.........and then AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH......then I stopped.


It was really cool.

 

[Oz]

I had the master cylinder go out on my jetta once. I was like...AHHHHHHHHH....and then OHHHHHHHHHH...and then AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH....and then #$%@#&%$^@#$%@.....and then oh yeah I have an e-brake...and then I was like AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH....and then oh yeah I can downshift.........and then AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH......then I stopped.


It was really cool.

You shouldn't be doing while you're driving dude...

 

[dustin]

You shouldn't be doing while you're driving dude...

i was like 20. what do you expect?