Changing Brake Fluid

[NeilV]

The Ford Dealer should be going by the book and the Ford book for many years has stated brake fluid along with coolant in the F53 needs to be flushed and replaced with fresh every 2 years. Any dealer who would tell you otherwise should be reported to Ford and the dealer/service license reviewed.

[mel s]

Originally Posted by HotMech

Brake fluid breaks down for a number of reasons, heat, water, age, just to name a few.
If your fluid looks like the photos in mhbell's post, it's junk. I do change the brake fluid in my coach at least every four years. once with the brake pad replace and once in between. just remove the wheels, get a small pry bar in between the rotor and caliper, and depress the pistons to start. all 4 wheels now. then suck out the old fluid from the master cyl, with what ever you have, mightyvac, shop vac, whatever. fill the reservoir with new fluid, be careful of Dot4, Dot 4 is not compatible with Dot3. pump up your brakes to fill all the calipers and cylinders, and then just open each one around the chassis, gravity will do the rest. let it run till clear, making sure to check on the level in the master. Then you're good to go. Wash it all down with water, and the mess goes down the drain. After all, it is only glycol, like the pink stuff some of you use. K

HotMech
I beleave Dot 3 and Dot 4 brake fluids ARE compatible.. (but DOT 5 is not compatible with either one).
See: What is the Difference between DOT 4 and DOT 5.1 Brake Fluid? | Epic Bleed Solutions
Mel
'96 Safari

[sheepofblue]

Brake fluid will absorb water with time and it is easy to spot the color change. If the color is OK it is likely good enough for an RV. On my race motorcycles I change it a couple of times a year but the heat and punishment the motorcycle system takes on a track is very extreme compared to any street vehicle. If you do not change it once a year there is brake fade under hard braking. But again the punishment/heat is many times an RV despite the lighter weight. On my previous RV ('92 Pinnacle) I was getting an extremely spongy pedal that improved drastically when I replaced the fluid by pushing it through all the lines. YMV

[NeilV]

In an RV or any vehicle with ABS for that matter if you wait for there to be visible signs of fluid degradation they your too late and there has already been damage started in your ABS pump and valve assembly.


By the time cooked brake fluid has migrated from the wheels to the master cylinder and visibly discolored what in the resevoir, especially considering the lengths of the brake lines in an RV, there is the potential for a lot of damages to have accumulated throughout the system.