Anyone have suggestions on what a fair price is for a brake fluid flush and a shop in the Carrollton/farmers branch area they would recommend? It seems deceptively simple to do but the sealed system bit has me too doubtful of my ability to fix something going wrong, so I’d rather take it somewhere.
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Do not go to Chip’s Auto Repair.
Most recent: When I arrived with my vehicle I told them the fuel pump had failed and was visibly leaking. Two days later they called. They had finally figured out what was wrong. The fuel pump had failed and was leaking. They charged me six hours labor.
Previous: They incorrectly installed a defective used alternator in my wife’s vehicle.
I have had good luck with… http://timsautoservices.com/
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Brakes are deceptively simple, in fact. I don’t believe in fluid flushes in general, but brakes are the easiest system to completely flush out if you’re about that. All you have to do is crack open all 4 bleeder valves and let gravity do the rest, so long as you top up the master cylinder reservoir and keep it from falling under the Min line. If you go through the big $7 bottle of fluid, that’s more than most brake system volumes, so that’d be all the fluid you could reasonably get out of the system, done. Close the bleeders, top up to Max, and go about your business.
That all being said, I don’t think you’ll find an honest shop that would recommend or perform a brake fluid flush. Typically, at most, you’ll empty the reservoir and simply replace that volume of fluid. This can be accomplished with a $10 turkey baster and a $3 bottle of brake fluid. Any shop that recommends flushing out the fluid is probably looking to sell you a $150 service that costs them $2.
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Thanks for the warning and suggestion, family members have had issues with Tim’s before though.
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That’s a bit what I thought which is why I was tossing this up here. All I’ve worked is retail so I basically assume everyone is lying when they say something needs to be done. This was suggested to me at my oil change a month ago which was a red flag, but I did look into it and with my limited automotive knowledge it seemed like it did need to be flushed. If it was my own car I wouldn’t mind doing it myself but it’s my step moms and that’s what’s giving me pause.
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I have my work done at Sunday’s Alignment in Carrollton. Good people, good prices. Been using them for years and my 2000 Avalon is still running strong.
Don’t do it. I’ve put 200k on cars with no fluid flush. Pads and rotors are all you need unless you are having issues.
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If you have fluid issues they will come gradually and you’ll know it. It’s not like one day your brake fluid will quit and you’ll end up under a train.
If you don’t mind heading to N.W. Highway, I highly recommend Berlini’s. Have been using him for over 10 years. Only does what is needed and has recommended to wait on things that didn’t need to be done yet. His shop is a little tricky to find, he never advertises, and is always busy.
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Wow. Jaded folks.
I’ll say, I’m a fan of the brake fluid flush. Especially if you live in or travel to a region with mountains, where you WILL notice the lowered boiling point of the fluid. Or at least, I, and other acquaintances have. Of course, here in DFW, few mountains. Nevertheless, I do recommend doing it every other year or so for the health of the braking system. If nothing else, when pads are replaced and pistons retracted, let that fluid out trough the bleeder and replace. And it IS easy. @TLAR is generous with his time to show just HOW easy, and he’s damned good at it, so I’d check if your schedule can align with his.
If you insist on having a shop do it…well, you can see how jaded these folks are by that experience…
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I was about to page @TLAR as well. He is probably overly generous with his time and can be compensated with beer or the occasional car themed gift item.
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I’ve been on the other side of the shop-customer interaction, there’s a reason I’m jaded.
Though, I won’t cop to noticing significant brake fade during my stints with mountain driving. Most of my family is from Utah, and Colorado is a favored vacation destination. I might recommend downshifting instead of riding your brakes in the future.
That said, again, it won’t hurt to completely replace your brake fluid, but it’s a damn waste to pay a shop hundreds of dollars for the service- assuming they even go through all the motions, and don’t just suck out what’s in the reservoir and refill that much. Call me jaded, but a shop honest enough to do the work they say they will, isn’t going to recommend this kind of service unless it’s incredibly obvious that your brake fluid is just water.
Thanks for the suggestions, the fluid is basically black so I do think it needs to be changed, she doesn’t think it’s ever been changed and it’s an 08. If someone at DMS wants to take the time to help me out, I’m glad to do the work I’m just not confident doing it without a more experienced person nearby if I F up. If not was really just looking for what I should expect to pay or as some of yall have said a place that will tell me you don’t actually need this or hey you really do and be honest.
There’s surely more important projects the auto makers could be working on as well, I’d hate to take up their time on something like this.
Same… After a hard day at the track I’ll swap brake fluid. It’s hygroscopic and if you’ve ever flushed a system that is years old and never flushed you’d be surprised at the crap that comes out. Rubber hoses deteriorate and water in the fluid causes rust.
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A fair price for a “typical” car is about $100 at a typical dealership / garage.
It is a manufacturer’s recommended maintenance for most vehicles today - the fact is moisture in the brake fluid is never a good thing for braking nor for brake components.
Yes, it is “relatively easy” to do it yourself (as long as it is not a a Mbenz with SBC braking)
There are “some” that choose to ignore routine manufacturer’s maintenance, to those…good luck
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For the ignoramii (like me) this is NOT “Small Block Chevy”, which would be really weird in Mercedes Benz braking, but “Sensotronic Braking Control”.
To save you the search:
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Nate,
What year make and model ?
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For what it’s worth, it’s not a recommended service on the 2016 Jeep Wrangler or 2017 Ford Focus ST, which are the newest model vehicles I’ve owned personally. It’s also not recommended for any of the older vehicles I’ve owned. Or any late model Fords, or any Hondas made prior to 2015- couldn’t fairly speak to what they’re recommending now, I haven’t worked there since then. I don’t suppose you have any examples of cars where the manufacturer recommends flushing the brake fluid at a specific interval?
I’m all for minding one’s fluids, but my experience has been, going to the length of a full flush is, at best unnecessary. At worst, I’ve seen vehicles perform worse after having certain fluids completely flushed out. Obviously the fluid is hygroscopic, but if you have so much water in your brakes that reconcentrating the solution with a reservoir level fluid replacement isn’t enough to mitigate issues, you’ve got bigger problems that a flush won’t resolve.
Of course, I’m sure at this point I’m an outlier, as someone who pays attention to the fluids in his car and services them appropriately as maintenance, rather than waiting for them to become part of a repair- who knows what condition OP’s stepmom has let her car get into.
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It’s an 08 Chevy HHR. I believe all the valves are easily reached. My deal is I don’t know what to do if I screw up and let the reservoir go dry somehow.
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