Restore worn out brake fluid
1 of 1Replace brake fluid
Suck the fluid from the reservoir and refill with fresh fluid.
Some carmakers recommend replacing
brake fluid every two years or 24,000
miles. Others don’t mention it at all.
But it’s easy to test your brake fluid.
Just dip a test strip into the fluid and
compare the color to the chart on the
packaging.
You can’t do a complete brake fluid
flush yourself, but you can do the next
best thing—a fluid swap. This procedure
won’t replace all the old fluid
with fresh, but you’ll introduce enough
new fluid to make a difference.
Use a baster to suck out the dark
brown brake fluid (brake and power
steering fluids are incompatible, so use
a different baster for each). Squirt it
into a recycling bottle. Refill the reservoir
with fresh brake fluid as shown.
Then drive the vehicle for a week to
mix the new fluid with the old. Repeat
the procedure several times over the
next few weeks until the fluid in the
reservoir retains its light honey color.
Note: The brake fluid may damage the
baster’s rubber bulb, so don’t suck the
fluid all the way into the bulb.
