PontiacBonnevilleClub.com

I'm sitting at car-x getting a tire seal fix and the manager comes to me and says I should get the brake system flushed for 50 buck because the test strip show purple and it should read white. His first price quote was 70 buck when I said no. He sounds like he is jackin with me. What do you think???

He talked about copper tube breakdown and clogging the master cylinder. Etc....

These quicky-lube-tire-fixer-upper places scare the crap out of people. While I am sure it's not a bad idea to flush/bleed the brake system with new fluid after 2 or 3 years, I don't trust anyone that drops in this "test strip" that "proves" the fluid is bad. And tells you that this is going to cause your arteries to harden which will lead to heart failure. So walk/run away after your tires are inflated. But I would change the brake fluid the next time you replace the brake pads/shoes.

good answer, thanks

If you decide to do it, $50 is a pretty good price.

$50 for a master cylinder reservoir's worth of new fluid isn't a good price.

If you really want to flush the brakes, get the car up on stands and do it the old-fashioned way, with a shoe or a big block of wood underneath the pedal so it doesn't rip the master cylinder to shreds.

$50 for a resevior of fluid? No, not a good price. $50 for fluid and labor to flush the brake system? Yes, that is a good price. If you can do it yourself for $5 worth of fluid, thats great. Not everyone owns a floor jack and jack stands.

Brake fluid absorbs moisture. The test strip shows the moisture content of the brake fluid. When the strip changes color it indicates that there is moisture in the brake fluid. Just how much moisture is in the fluid depends on what color the test strip turns. There is a scale on the container that the strips come in telling you the moisture content vs color. Too high of moisture content can cause the system to corrode from the inside out.

Brake fluid can also pick up copper from the lines, calipers, etc. That's what the strips show, and what he was saying. I still need to do a vacuum bleed of my brake lines after doing my brakes...