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When To Change Brake Fluid And Steering Fluid For 2005 Corolla?

By PQSFB, February 15, 2012



When I read my 2005 Corolla "Scheduled Maintenance Guide" carefully, I found that it didn't mention when to change the brake fluid and steering fluid. I search the internet, and found that some suggested to change the brake fluid every 30,000 miles. Some said the brake fluid can last longer than the life-span of the car itself, unless moisture gets into it.

So, what's the real situation? Why Toyota leave these out of the maintenance guide?

In even the best cases, moisture will get into the system, as they are not completely closed. The right way to do it, is via chemical testing - but given the added expense and work - better off just changing the fluid on regular intervals. Myself, I like to change them every other year or every 30K miles.

Power steering - just siphon out as much of the old fluid as possible, refill with fresh fluid. If the old fluid was heavily oxidized or neglected - I will follow that up by jacking up the front end, starting the car up, and work the steering from lock to lock. Shut it down, drop it and repeat the siphoning/refilling procedure. Done a couple of times, you'll exchange a fair amount of the old fluid with fresh fluid. Probably 30 minutes to complete from start to finish.

Brake fluid - easiest way to do this is to bleed the brakes. Even after 30K miles/2 years - you'll be shocked by the difference in the color of the fluid. If every other year / 30K miles doesn't work for you - you can time it when you do brake pad replacements. As a DIY project, a little more involved, but should be well within the range of the DIYer - especially if you have help. Tip is to start from the furthest corner of the car from the master brake cylinder and work your way inward - stick with quality DOT 3/4/4.1 brake fluids - not DOT 5 fluids. Top off the master cylinder with fresh fluid, loosen the wheel, jack that corner up, remove wheel, add a length of clear plastic hose to the brake bleeder running to a clear drain bottle, have assistant stand on the brakes, crack open bleeder - pedal will sink, have assistant keep pedal on floor while your tighten bleeder. Repeat until fluid runs clear, periodically top of brake reservoir. Repeat for other corners - be 30 minutes to an hour job tops.

Bad_dude

I did what Fish suggested for my 90 Accord yesterday. Of course it costed me more b/c I had to use Honda's fluid. It did it about 4 or 5 times. The fluid goes in clear but dark after running the car. I noticed the color is nicer at the last one but still dark. I used about 4 bottles total but still dark. I notice that the tiny spill on my white paper towels turned yellow as exposed to air. So even though the new fluid is clear out of the bottle, I suspect it turns light yellow as soon as exposed to air and heat. I don't feel a difference in steering but I know it's pretty clean. I sucked all of the fluid out of the reservoir and noticed the little screen on the bottom seems clean and no junk in it. I guess my steering system is in good shape. I didn't want to do it the way of removing the return hose as the car is 21 years old and the hose might not give a tight seal after removing.



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