Brake Repair and How To Avoid It

Jan 27
08:38

2011

Ace Abbey

Ace Abbey

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Many common forms of brake repair can be avoided if you keep your brake fluid fresh and full. While this procedure is somewhat outside the scope of the average person, it's not impossible, and can help your car.

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Many common causes for brake repair can be avoided if you keep your brake fluid fresh and full. While this procedure is somewhat outside the scope of the average person,Brake Repair and How To Avoid It  Articles someone who likes working on their car and getting their hands dirty can accomplish quite a bit by doing a flush and replacement of their fluid. The fluid itself will accumulate a certain amount of moisture after a period of time. This moisture can affect the entire system and can lead to expensive repair work in the future.

Pop open the hood of your car and find the master cylinder. Once you’ve done this, you can make some simple observations about the state of your brake fluid. It should be clear. If it looks dirty and dark, it should probably be flushed and soon. This is the sort of thing you can have a local professional shop do, or you can do it yourself if you are so inclined. If you are going to do it yourself, make sure you have the equipment and knowledge to do it right, or you could be risking even more expensive repairs in the future. Repeat: if you have even the slightest doubts about whether you can do this work yourself, take it in to the shop. Not only could you be risking the life of your car and your safety, you could accidentally void your car’s warranty.

If you’ve chosen to move ahead with the flush, get a set of professional grade jack stand to lift your vehicle off the ground. From there, remove the wheels, which will give you an easier pathway to access some of the harder to reach screws. These screws, known as bleeder screws, will be your first destination. Find them and open them. You’ll see fluid begin to leak from them. Collect this fluid in a drain pan and dispose of it in the way that is required by your state. Remember that the master cylinder cap will need to be removed in order for the fluid to flow properly. Once this is done, clean out the reservoir and remove the cap, pouring in the new fluid. It will gradually replace the darker colored fluid by way of gravity. Don’t do one and then the other, it can damage the car to let the reservoir go completely empty. Repeat this process with each brake.

Keep in mind this is just a general guide to brake repair maintenance and that actually undertaking the process should include more detailed instructions, tailored to your particular vehicle. If it all sounds like too much work, take it in to your local shop and have them do it for you. It won’t cost a lot of money and it will certainly save you a great deal of time and energy.