PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum - View Single Post - Brake flush every two years?! U'r kidding right?

MB-Dude · #11 08-03-2007, 07:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lkchris

Statments like "speaking from my experience," "I don't feel it is necessary," "fluid looks murky," etc. are meaningless.

What counts is scientific study and reporting. There are chemical and mechanical engineers with degrees that understand these things thoroughly. "Experience" means nothing in comparison.

Read this:
http://www.babcox.com/editorial/bf/bf50412.htm

Throughout history, it has been the human experience that fine tunes, supports and substantiates scientific study and reporting. Science is not the end-all... and neither is experience. Both must be used together, in logical thought. Neither can exist without the other.

If it were not for the experiences we each 'experienced' in our lives, forums such as this would have no meaning. We simply would do a Google search and look up what some faceless engineer had discovered and wrote on the subject. But in virtually all cases, engineers cannot evaluate or foresee all possible scenarios, nor can they take into account all possibilities. Thus, we must fall-back to what others have experienced in similar situations.

Same is true for opinions, which actually are the idea seeds of great revelations. Just because someone has a difference of opinion does not mean that person is ignorant. It only means he or she has a different viewpoint. Some call it 'thinking outside the box'.

So experiences and opinions are very important. The argument that there are engineers that know more than us on a particular subject is certainly true. But as our beloved Mercedes has proven over the last decade, engineers are a tool of corporate financials. Examples I have lived through - have personal experience, if you will - include synthetic oil (when it was first introduced), mid-90's wiring harnesses, the ML (W163) et.al., etc., etc.

In addition , my experience is half the recalls or ‘campaigns’ (as MB likes to call them) are for engineering design flaws - science that has failed. As a result of science not being perfect, we must fall-back on what we each believe makes sense, given the data we have. Science + experience + opinion = success. No, experience and feeling do have meaning and are necessary.

BTW, for the record, I change my brake fluid every 2 years, regardless of mileage. I do it not because some MB Engineer tells me to, but because of my experience of the subject. If you’re interested, I'll share my experiences on the subject, but they are not very scientific.