Brake and Clutch Fluid Maintenance

Any merit in replacing the Brake/Clutch fluid on my 2013 Tacoma TRD Off-Road (Manual), I have had it since new, have 93,000 miles on it, and went to check the fluids and they are both clear, clutch fluid is in the reservoir on the right.

I know it can't hurt to replace, but should I wait until it gets dirty?


UPDATE: Thanks everyone for all the responses. I ended up replacing both fluids, and some takeaways for myself + anyone that comes to this forum in the future.

It might be specific to the Off-Road trim, but to bleed the brakes you need to have the key in the ON position, as there is a pump that engages and forces the bleed, thanks to this thread: https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/rear-brakes-will-not-bleed.629764/

The brake fluid in the lines only slightly tinted yellow when I flushed it out, which I feel is pretty good for a 11 year old truck with 93,000 miles.

One thing to note for the rear brakes, when you depress the pedal the pump engages and stays on until you take your foot off the pedal, it takes approx. 60 seconds to fill a 500ml bottle.

For the fronts the pump only engages for a few seconds during a pedal press, and the travel of the pedal for the fronts is nearly double than bleeding the rears. FYI it took 47 pumps to pump through 500ml out of each front.

A couple other take aways, and I feel like such a noob for this:

• I struggled with the tubing I got to stay on the bleeder, I might have been able to zip tie it, but I feel like I have the wrong size (I followed a size suggestion from a YouTube video), when I was trying to get the tubing above the valve, it kept popping off, needless to say I have a puddle of brake fluid at each wheel, and all over the back of all my tires + calipers.
• Seems like probably a good idea to use a bigger water bottle than 500ml.
• Almost 5 hours start to finish (setup and putting everything away). A lot of that time was fiddling with the tubing/troubleshooting why the rears weren't bleeding, and trying to get the wrench in a good position to open the valves.

 

Recommended to change every 2 years or 30,000 miles. I recently did a gravity feed exchange of the brake fluid on my truck and right away noticed the truck had better stopping.

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/toyota-tacoma-maintenance-schedule.435604/

 

Yeah good call, I should just do it, considering I already bot the bottles of DOT3, then went and checked the fluids assuming they were going to be black! haha.

 

I'm a firm believer if it ain't broke don't fix it. Clean and full why waste time and money 160K untouched. I would be willing to bet most Tacoma owners don't keep it long enough to be a problem.

 

Change it early. It absorbs moisture and has a finite life. Changing it early is never a bad idea. Quick answer was to do.

 

At 160K that fluid is done. It's not working as well as it once did and it's holding moisture. Corrosion is an issue but so is performance and pedal feel.

 

Change it. This is basic maintenance. The fluid you'll flush through down by the calipers is guaranteed to be dirtier than what you see in the reservoir. Brake fluid is hygroscopic meaning it absorbs water from the atmosphere and becomes less effective and corrodes over time. Just do it, replace both.

 

Most vehicles probably go to the crusher still having the fluids they came with from the factory. The only true exception would be engine oil since most people do tend to change their oil at some point.

 

Doesn't make it right or a good idea...old brake fluid is fine until it boils and your pedal goes to the floor. It's cheap and easy. Zero reason not to change it other than just being lazy.

 

Theres a $7 fluid tester on Amazon that tests the water level of the fluid

 

It tests the fluid deep in the lines? Spend a few bucks more and get fluid and just change it. Take 20 minutes. I gotta say I am surprised to see people arguing against changing brake fluid after X years. It's cheap and easy.

 

I agree. I'm just making a point.

 

Fair enough!

 

dirty from what

 

When bleeding the brakes the 2-person method, wedge a block behind the brake pedal to prevent further master cylinder travel which may damage the internal seal. This MC unit is very expensive to replace - just the part is $1K.

 

Air

 

Thanks for all the comments everyone! Did the transmission reservoir, and the fluid was actually dirtier in the line as it was mentioned here, not super dirty just a couple tints darker than clear. Been on the brakes for a few hours now and I think I might have messed something up, I am pumping the brakes (1-person method and nothing is coming out the bleeder, so I might have introduced air somewhere in the lines? Not from the reservoir though, as I wasn't able to empty that out with a syringe, since I can't get and/or there is no filter in the reservoir neck, so I have a 3/4 full reservoir. Just hopped on here to troubleshoot while everything is taken apart in the drive and it's pitch dark out now! Got to love learning, kind of wish I had taken it into the stealership to get this serviced instead.

 

Potential answer to the issue to on first search: https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/rear-brakes-will-not-bleed.629764/ Going to give this a try!

 

Bingo, that was the issue - now the problem is knowing how much to bleed, since the fluid is actually completely clear from the get-go!

 

Just keep bleeding until you have a little bit left in your new bottle.of brake fluid. Once you do that you will be good to go.

I did mine at 100k mile intervals and immediately notice that it makes a difference! I also did mine when I had to replace my clutch master cylinder.