Assuming that you are being serious, I must disagree.

Domestic manufacturers do not specify a brake fluid change interval because it would make their models appear to require more servicing than their competitors - it's got nothing to do with safety or reliability.

The reason we should not all choose for ourselves is because your poorly maintained car might kill me, so I have an interest in whether or not you choose to flush your brake fluid

It's interesting to me that American drivers have bought into the 3,000 mile oil change myth wholesale, yet will avoid safety related servicing such as this.

Kevin

__________________
'85 300SD

Brake fluid draws water, water in brake fluid lowers boiling point and promotes corrosion.

Explain why brake fluid shouldn't be changed.

__________________
Proud owner of ....
1971 280SE W108
1979 300SD W116
1983 300D W123
1975 Ironhead Sportster chopper
1987 GMC 3/4 ton 4X4 Diesel
1989 Honda Civic (Heavily modified)
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Section 609 MVAC Certified
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"He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you." - Friedrich Nietzsche

Thanks for the link.

The statements of AAA in regards to brake fluid change are misleading.
The domestic OEM's do recommend this service under severe service.
The OEM's consider any vehicle beyond 100K is scrap metal, and will not project service life recommendations past this point.

Vehicle manufacturers are cognizant of the fact that under normal driving = 23K per year or less, the DOT3 brake fluid will last 100K, but at the cost of junking the system (which they want) beyond OEM service life.

All OEM's have contamination warnings for brake fluid and call out flushing and replacement procedures.

All OEM's want you to be cheap on this maintenance; it helps them sell more cars.

All cars over 100K are severe service, by definition they have exceeded OEM service life and are on borrowed time.

If you want the SAFETY of GOOD brakes, a flush every two years is cheap insurance.

__________________
ASE Master Mechanic
https://whunter.carrd.co/

Prototype R&D/testing:
Thermal & Aerodynamic System Engineering (TASE) Senior vehicle instrumentation technician.
Noise Vibration and Harshness (NVH).
Dynamometer.
Heat exchanger durability.
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Technical Quality Auditor.
Automotive Technical Writer

1985 300SD
1983 300D
2003 Volvo V70

https://www.boldegoist.com/

Flushed mine tonight. Actually bought four rotors, front and rear pads, front and rear brake hoses. Front brakes were in excellent shape (and the warpped rotor pulse was coming from the rears), so I just changed the hoses on the fronts, the everything on the rears. Flushed the system and have excellent and smooth brakes. Also changed the tank screen (another thread ) and did some other work.

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85 300CD
83 300TD
78 240D (daughter)

Had mine flushed on my recent fluids change........didn't really think it was necessary but not expensive si went ahead and did it......now I'm glad I did after reading this.........

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Eric Boyles
1980 450SL

Flushed my system and rebuilt the front calipers in December 04.

I'll do mine every April when I change the air and fuel filters.

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2016 Corvette Stingray 2LT
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200

Would't the interval on brake flush be correlated to the relative humidity where you live? Desert dwellers would need it less than swamp dwellers.

__________________
1977 300d 70k--sold 08
1985 300TD 185k+
1984 307d 126k--sold 8/03
1985 409d 65k--sold 06
1984 300SD 315k--daughter's car
1979 300SD 122k--sold 2/11
1999 Fuso FG Expedition Camper
1993 GMC Sierra 6.5 TD 4x4
1982 Bluebird Wanderlodge CAT 3208--Sold 2/13

The Great DOT Brake Fluid Controversy

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Of my 7 cars, I only refresh the brake fluid in the 2 w/ ABS. That is because I use silicone fluid in the other 5, including my two 300D's. The fluid stays perfectly clear (w/ blue tinge) and no more rust. There is an amazing amount of mis-information about silicone fluid. Yes, I read WHunter's story of a friend who switched to silicone, and some time later crashed in a ditch when a brake hose failed. The failure theory was that silicone "allows" water drops in the fluid, which flashed to steam, raising the pressure in the system, which burst the hose. Interesting, but too many technical errors to even address. Did anyone suspect the hose might have just been old?

I have an MS in Mechanical Engineering, so figure I can decide for myself. Silicone is more benign than glycol. Indeed, some British sports cars in the 1950's required silicone since glycol attacked the seals. Glycol absorbs moisture from the air, which is why it needs regular flushing, especially if you live on the Gulf Coast. Look up "diffusion" for more info. There is no mechanism by which silicone would attract water. True, if water drops into it, it will stay as unmixed drops, but that might be good. Don't let water drip in your master cylinder (with any fluid). No problem if silicone touches left-over glycol. They don't mix. The only issue is that the bad glycol will be spots that can rust.

DOT 5 does not equate to silicone. It is a standard that only silicone could meet until recently. There are now glycol fluids that meet the DOT 5 standard, so the DOT made them label them 5.1 to distinguish, but I'm sure it still confuses people. The glycol will still cause rust.

Silicone is not qualified for use in ABS systems. I don't know if because they know it won't work as well or they just never tested it. It is slightly more compressible than new glycol. However, as glycol absorbs water vapor, its properties degrade, so the real question is would silicone be worse than typical old glycol? I don't have time to experiment, so I use glycol in my ABS cars. Despite what people claim (who never used it?), silicone does not cause a noticeably spongy pedal. My pedals are all hard. It takes very little effort to pour it in without getting air bubbles, you just pour it down the side of a funnel, don't splash it in like a fool. If you drop the bottle, let it sit a few hours before you pour it, so any air bubbles settle out. If still concerned, let it sit in the reservoir a few hours before you start bleeding (I have never seen a bubble). If working at home, I am sure there are other things to occupy you (yard, fix house). When I drain my oil, I pull the plug Friday after work and let it drain until maybe Sunday afternoon. A shop couldn't do that.

Finally, don't pay extra for "synthetic brake fluid". That is clever marketing hype. All brakes fluids, both glycol and silicone are "synthetic", i.e. man-made, not occuring in nature (mineral).