Mechanic & Brake Hydraulics for Beverley

This page is about the one brake item almost nobody books in for: the fluid.

Brake pads wear out through use. Brake fluid degrades through time, and it does it whether you drive or not.

The fluid is hygroscopic, meaning it pulls moisture out of the air. It comes in through the flexible hoses and past the reservoir seal, slowly and continuously. After two years a typical system holds enough water to matter.

Two things then go wrong.

Water lowers the boiling point. Fresh fluid boils well above 200 degrees. Fluid with three percent water content boils far lower, and boiling fluid turns to vapour. Vapour compresses. That is a pedal going to the floor at the exact moment you needed it not to.

Water also corrodes the system from inside. Master cylinder bores, caliper pistons and the ABS module are all steel and alloy in constant contact with the fluid. The ABS unit is the expensive one.

This is what makes fluid different from pads. Worn pads squeal and give you warning. Old fluid gives you nothing at all under normal driving, because normal driving never gets the fluid hot enough to boil.

You find out on a long descent, or during one hard stop after several others in quick succession. A mechanic Beverley drivers rely on should be testing moisture content rather than looking at the colour, because colour tells you very little.

Two years, regardless of kilometres. That is the manufacturer figure for most makes, and it is the most frequently ignored item on any service schedule.

If you tow, or drive in the hills, treat it as firm rather than a guideline.

Because it runs on time rather than distance, it is easy to lose track of. Ask whoever services the car to record the date, or ask a mechanic Beverley drivers use locally to check the moisture reading at the next service and tell you where it sits.

2/208 Grange Rd, Flinders Park, roughly five minutes from Beverley.

Call (08) 8443 7900.

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