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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1999 SL500
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.

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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

I'd certainly agree. The two year fixed "standard" interval surely doesn't take relative humidity into account during the interval.

I changed my fluid out about 200 miles ago when I redid my brakes (4 new rotors, pads all around, replaced left rear caliper, and rebuilt the other 3.)

I used the Official ATE fluid from Rusty.

My brake pedal still feels a little soft, maybe I'll have my dad help me bleed some more.

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-Matt

EPA Section 609 Certified MVAC Technician
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Oil Burner Kartel Member #10

Ahh the smell of Diesel Fuel, it's like coffee in the morning!

My Car:

1982 300SD Turbo Diesel (231,500 miles!) RIP

1984 300SD Turbo Diesel Custom (235,500 mi on driveline.) - On Road!!

www.icsrepair.com

I have used DOT 4 from ATE for years. I use the Typ 200 which is supposed to absorb much less water than DOT 3 . I would never use DOT 3 even if I changed it every 6 months !

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David McDonald
1981 240D
1985 300D (wrecked)
1985 300TD 365,000 miles
1969 Mustang Fastback

Don't forget to check your flex brake lines while you are under there.

They get old and cracked and can fail/swell resulting in weak brakes.

Also give your brakes a good SOLID press with both feet while the engine is running and the car is parked. It will help weed out weak brake lines by making them swell more and/or fail.

Inspect carefully

I have all 4 awaiting replacement. Just waiting for the rain to let up

I had my left rear flex line fail on my 300D during a hard stop in traffic (on I-70). Fortunately, I didn't hit anything. I noticed that the failed line runs only a few inches from the exhaust pipe. I suspect the heat from the exhaust shortens the life of that line. It appeared to be significantly more dried/cracked than the line on the other side.

Exactly.

You believe that a good strong pump while parked would have weeded out the bad line before the drive? I know it sure dusted the one on my friends VW. Too bad I was kneeling right next to it bleeding the caliper. I dislike brake fluid.

I'm sure it would have failed if I had put the same pressure on it while standing still. I jabbed the brakes pretty hard when it failed. I probably hadn't put that much pressure on the system in months. Your periodic "test" sounds like a good idea.

There is something that seems to be left out about the silicone controversy. It seems that earlier on in this thread, in someones ever-so helpfull links, I saw somewhere that silicone is not recomended for HIGH VIBRATION APPLICATIONS. As we all know this is the case with diesels. Just adding my piece

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1984 TDT Blue on Blue "Harriet"
314,143 9/29/05- Our first date
351,000 12/29/08- Oh, the places we have gone!

1991 SDL Black on Palomino "Winchester the III"
188,655 8/11/07
218,700 12/29/08

Work vehicles:
MCI-
D4500 125k
D4505 200k
102A-3 1.8Million! and my fav

This is from the Suburban forum I belong to, from another very knowledgeable guy there. It's how I did my Suburban a few weeks ago, and how I plan on doing the SD this winter.

C-clamp method for bleeding brakes...

One thing to point out is to NEVER compress the calipers on ABS vehicles without the bleeder valve on the caliper open. I have seen ABS valves/controllers damaged from forcing so much fluid back through them.