Brake Fluid code 7 after only 33k highway miles?

[TimberWolf]

Well then why not change it every 6 months. Two years is a guideline but I can guarantee you there is way different moisture content between Arizona and Pennsylvania after 2 years but the sheep of this world will continue to get fooled into blind following of arbitrary dates that mean nothing

Then don't change it. Nobody else cares (except possibly the family you run into because your brakes failed). If you don't think the fluid is bad enough to change, skip it.

BTW, I've heard of people who track their vehicles regularly that change the fluid at the beginning and end of every track season. So yes, some people change brake fluid much more frequently.

Do you send in your oil for analysis in order to determine when to change it, rather than follow the MM?

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[boosted180sx]

Bottle of brake fluid is like $8, and takes me 30 mins of my time to bleed it out. I can do that every 1 year / 2 years.

 

[baldheadracing]

Well then why not change it every 6 months. Two years is a guideline but I can guarantee you there is way different moisture content between Arizona and Pennsylvania after 2 years but the sheep of this world will continue to get fooled into blind following of arbitrary dates that mean nothing

Why not indeed? Perhaps the better question is why isn't the system sealed like they used to be in cars years ago?

The answer to both questions boils down to owner ignorance and/or stupidity. That's also why the entirely arbitrary limit of two years was invented. You can read up on brake fluid degradation curves, and then come to an understanding why Honda went with DOT3-spec fluid instead of higher specs, and then understand why the industry arrived at two years instead of six months or three years or whatever. Then you can make an informed decision as to when to change fluid dependent on prevailing climate and how you drive and other factors - but you may find yourself preferring to change fluid more (or maybe less) often - or changing to a different spec brake fluid ...

 

[fjrman]

Just remove the cap on the reservoir at the master cylinder and siphon out all the fluid you can with a squeeze bulb suction device. Replace with new fluid.

This won't remove all the system fluid but it will remove a large portion of it. You'll be removing a lot of the water in the system as well. The water in the remaining old fluid will be redistributed throughout the entire system resulting in a lower percent of water than before.

This isn't as good as removing all the old fluid but it's quite effective at lowering the water content in the system. That's the goal of changing the fluid -- removing the water.

 

[hunter44102]

Thanks everyone for the great dialog and input.

 

[hunter44102]

Just an FYI the dealers want $110 to do the brake fluid replacement

 

[davidgostbo]

Just an FYI the dealers want $110 to do the brake fluid replacement

Do it yourself it’s easy. One man bleeder systems are around 20$.

 

[hunter44102]

Do it yourself it’s easy. One man bleeder systems are around 20$.

Is there one on Amazon that anyone can recommend?

 

[boosted180sx]

you can always buy speed bleeders if you don't want to bug another person to pump the brakes for you

 

[baldheadracing]

you can always buy speed bleeders if you don't want to bug another person to pump the brakes for you

The factory-recommended procedure is two-man and won't work with speedbleeders because the brakes are pumped repeatedly first, then held, then the bleeder opened, etc. Honda's other recommended methods are (one-man) pressure and vacuum bleeding. There are only the three approved methods. My guess (guess!) is that the parking brake system inside the rear calipers is the reason.

FYI, the bleed order is non-standard: FL, FR, RR, LR, apply and release parking brakes five times, RR, LR.

As an aside, you can use a speedbleeder on the clutch.

 

[boosted180sx]

The factory-recommended procedure is two-man and won't work with speedbleeders because the brakes are pumped repeatedly first, then held, then the bleeder opened, etc. Honda's other recommended methods are (one-man) pressure and vacuum bleeding. There are only the three approved methods. My guess (guess!) is that the parking brake system inside the rear calipers is the reason.

FYI, the bleed order is non-standard: FL, FR, RR, LR, apply and release parking brakes five times, RR, LR.

As an aside, you can use a speedbleeder on the clutch.

really? That's weird. Never heard of a car not being able to use speed bleeders.

 

[TimberWolf]

Of course you can use speed bleeders on the Civic.

 

[baldheadracing]

Of course you can use speed bleeders on the Civic.

Of course you can use them. It is just that the factory procedure is a two-man procedure, so the big advantage of speed bleeders is moot.

In any case, a quick search shows no listing for any CivicX. Not sure why.

 

[TimberWolf]

Of course you can use them. It is just that the factory procedure is a two-man procedure, so the big advantage of speed bleeders is moot.

In any case, a quick search shows no listing for any CivicX. Not sure why.

The entire point of speed bleeders is that you can do it with one person.

 

[hunter44102]

OK I had the dealer do it this time since it's under warranty and winter. Looks like they actually drain it completely and run a solvent flush before they put new fluid. See attached.

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