Brake Fluid Replace every 2 Years? Regardless of Mileage?

[///M Traitor]

Am I reading the Audi 2013 Scheduled Maintenance Intervals recommendations wrong, or is Audi actually saying to flush the brake fluid every 2 years regardless of mileage? It's on the second page in the notes section.

[specialeyes]

Traitor....I believe you are interpreting this correctly, same recommendation on my '15 A4. Interestingly, on my wife's '12 Tiguan it states every 3 years regardless of mileage??

[///M Traitor]

Wow, that seems excessive to me across all models. R8 I can see, but cars like A4, A6? Even S6 in my case seems excessive.

[MLee]

Porsche's service interval also "recommends" that the brake flush needs to be done every 2 years, regardless of mileage. my local p-car dealer wants $800 to do it, which I declined because $30 worth of fluid doesn't cost $700+ in labor to do a brake fluid flush. I have audi care on the s6 and I don't think they ever did a brake flush on mine at the 2 year mark.

[///M Traitor]

I have audi care on the s6 and I don't think they ever did a brake flush on mine at the 2 year mark.

Good to know. I think I'm going to do it anyway, but myself. I would never pay $700 to have someone do it either!

For a brake flush, I typically just open the bleeder with a properly sized hose attached, and have someone pump the brakes while I keep an eye on the reservoir. Once the fluid color changes coming out of the bleeder, I do a couple of pump-and-release typical of a brake bleed, and then onto the next corner.

I'm expecting this process to work fine on my S6 also, however I don't think I can rely on the fluid color changing as it's probably still like new!

Does anyone have the brake fluid specs off-hand? Is it just DOT 4? Any recommendations?

[Brooklyn]

I have Audi Care and my dealer did a brake flush at my 25k service, but that may have just been a random act of kindness kind of deal.

[CoJoe]

I do new fluid the day before every track day, regardless of mileage. I go to track once or twice a year.

[MLee]

Good to know. I think I'm going to do it anyway, but myself. I would never pay $700 to have someone do it either!

For a brake flush, I typically just open the bleeder with a properly sized hose attached, and have someone pump the brakes while I keep an eye on the reservoir. Once the fluid color changes coming out of the bleeder, I do a couple of pump-and-release typical of a brake bleed, and then onto the next corner.

I'm expecting this process to work fine on my S6 also, however I don't think I can rely on the fluid color changing as it's probably still like new!

Does anyone have the brake fluid specs off-hand? Is it just DOT 4? Any recommendations?

I alternate between ATE super blue and the regular color ATE fluid. that way when the color of blue or yellow changes you know forsure that the fluid has all come out. I use a water/Gatorade bottle and I have the clear plastic hoses that came from an aftermarket brembo gt kit I bought for another car that I kept and use to bleed the brakes.

[JoeGie]

I have Audi Care and my dealer did a brake flush at my 25k service, but that may have just been a random act of kindness kind of deal.

+1, just picked up my '13 today for 25k and they did the same. he said it was part of 25k service.

[gk1]

Audi has recommended 2 year brake fluid flushes for years...maybe even decades. Since the fluid is hydroscopic it will absorb water regardless of mileage. I suppose it could be argued it is not "required" just "recommended".

[///M Traitor]

Thanks guys! Great info here....

[DeerHunter]

Audi has recommended 2 year brake fluid flushes for years...maybe even decades. Since the fluid is hydroscopic it will absorb water regardless of mileage. I suppose it could be argued it is not "required" just "recommended".

This, except I would make that "highly recommended". Years ago, I neglected to do timely brake flushes on my Ur-S6 and my rear calipers rusted from the inside-out. The repair was, shall we say, expen$ive.

[Vmax211]

I alternate between ATE super blue and the regular color ATE fluid. that way when the color of blue or yellow changes you know forsure that the fluid has all come out. I use a water/Gatorade bottle and I have the clear plastic hoses that came from an aftermarket brembo gt kit I bought for another car that I kept and use to bleed the brakes.

You can no longer get ATE, or any other make, in any color but amber. DOT has some ridiculous rule that says all brake fluid must be amber, and they made ATE recall all the blue.

That makes it much harder to know when you have actually purged all the old fluid out, of course. :(

[MLee]

You can no longer get ATE, or any other make, in any color but amber. DOT has some ridiculous rule that says all brake fluid must be amber, and they made ATE recall all the blue.

That makes it much harder to know when you have actually purged all the old fluid out, of course. :(

that sucks, I didn't realize that. I still have about 1 and 1/2 cans left from years ago.

[goliath1]

good insurance for these high priced machines. Thinking of painting my calipers and will be removing them from rotors to make it easier. So some fluid will leak out but not much if you have plugs/rubber nipples that you can use to to stem the slow drip-drip. Will ask dealer for proper fluid during my next Audi care @25k.

[Yeoman]

Audi has recommended 2 year brake fluid flushes for years...maybe even decades. Since the fluid is hydroscopic it will absorb water regardless of mileage. I suppose it could be argued it is not "required" just "recommended".

2 years is industry standard regardless of brand.

[EriCal]

I do believe it is prudent to replace brake fluid every two years especially in areas where it gets cold or wet. The issue is water absorption into the brake fluid. I have used many methods for bleeding/replacing brake fluid - manual pumping, vacuum bleeding etc - but the best method for my present cars seems to be pressure bleeding. I have made an adaptor that fits onto the master cylinder that allows me to apply air pressure. 10-15 psi is adequate. Then it is just a matter of opening the bleed valves and catching the brake fluid. Check the fluid level often - don't let it go below the ports. The process is very greatly expedited if you turkey-baster as much of the old fluid as possible from the MC before adding the new fluid. I can get this done before breakfast.

[MP4.2+6.0]

Audi has recommended 2 year brake fluid flushes for years...maybe even decades. Since the fluid is hydroscopic it will absorb water regardless of mileage. I suppose it could be argued it is not "required" just "recommended".

+1. Having owned them for literally decades, this is what the interval has been for as long as I can remember. For cars under AudiCare, it is covered. I have found you have to remind the service advisor sometimes, and also remind them to stamp it into the service book.

Given the spec changes, while I used to use the Ate Typ 2 (same as now banned SuperBlue but no blue dye), I now use the VW Audi type. The newer spec is more specialized for very low temp ESP performance. The VW/Audi spec is actually fairly robust.

For why good fluid matters, see this article. Car & Driver went out of its way to publish a story with the punch line of basically "not our fault" after they high speed stuffed the Nismo into the track wall. https://www.caranddriver.com/feature...-lightning-lap The VW/Audi spec stuff comes up briefly in the article.