Maintenance: When do we change brake fluid, power steering, coolant - Toyota 4Runner Forum

Mabuse · 08-25-2009, 02:41 PM

The Toyota maintenance schedule is very good and tells you exaclty what to do when, but what about brake fluid, power steering fluid, and coolant? I see no mention of them.

CJ3Flyr · 08-25-2009, 04:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mabuse

The Toyota maintenance schedule is very good and tells you exaclty what to do when, but what about brake fluid, power steering fluid, and coolant? I see no mention of them.

The coolant is supposed to last 5years or 100k I think, maybe it's 7yrs. It's in the 'long-life' classification. The V8 guys who do the timing belt and opt for a water pump get it done "automatically" then. I will change mine before the 5yr/100k mark but not a lot earlier...

Brake fluid, IMHO, should be change every 3 years or so due to moisture absorbtion. Most complete, thorough, brake jobs will bleed the whole system through and that'll get you new fluid. The calipers on the front aren't known for being great. IMHO two things can help prevent a stuck piston: 1) Occasionally bleeding the brakes through to clean fluid. 2)Periodically pushing the pistons back in all the way. Every other tire rotation I crack the bleeder, push the pads back. (Re-tighten bleeder as the flow slows to a trickle, before it stops all together.) After I'm done I crank it up, pump up the brakes and top off the master cylinder. Only time will tell if that keeps my pistons from getting stuck. I am pretty sure it won't hurt and it keeps my calipers 'excersised' and my fluid fairly fresh.

I would flush the power steering fluid at 90k or maybe earlier. I take a very small diameter piece of vinyl tubing and syphon mine every other (or 3rd) oil change and then top it off. If you DIY oil changes that's a quick, easy, cheap way to handle that issue.

Good luck

SubSonic · 08-25-2009, 05:02 PM

I agree 100% with CJ3, all solid advice.:rocker:

I would only add that if you do any appreciable amount of towing that I'd look at the brake system a little more often than the standard intervals suggest. I change my brake fluid a tad more often than the normal guy (on my Tundra) primarily because if it ain't towing a race car to the race track on Friday nights, it is towing a bass boat down to the local lake on Saturdays...I'm already feeding it pads and rotors at an above average rate so I look after the fluid a little closer as well.

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