I doubt they are using a drastically different brake fluid. I saw that too, and was surprised also. But I try to change my brake fluid once a year regardless, so I wasn't concerned.
Brake Fluid Change Every 20,000 Miles/24 Months?
I was reviewing the maintenance schedule for my 2014 Note and noticed a requirement for brake fluid replacement every 20K miles or 24 months. I found this somewhat odd since I do not remember any of my previous cars having this requirement.
Is this something new for Nissan? I know that all brake fluids are naturally hydrophillic liquids and would attract water over time. Is Nissan using a drastically different brake fluid formulation (from everyone else) to require such a frequent schedule?
Is this something new for Nissan? I know that all brake fluids are naturally hydrophillic liquids and would attract water over time. Is Nissan using a drastically different brake fluid formulation (from everyone else) to require such a frequent schedule?
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I've owned 13 new cars and have never seen anything like this. Perhaps it's the only way to kilk some cash from a Nissan owner who doesn't bring much income to the dealerships.
I have noticed this in recent nissan manuals. This seems absolutely outrageous to me. I have never ever changed brake fluid in my life as a maintenance. I usually change it when I need to remove a caliper for whatever reason because you need to bleed the system anyway.
It appears, Nissan requires regular old DOT3 brake fluid. Just like on my 2008 and 2011 Jeeps, both of which do not require any brake fluid maintenance.
Maybe Nissan was previously sued for a brake contamination issue? I would think there would be a good reason for them to do it, as this action affects Overall Cost of Ownership, which most OEMs strive to keep as low as possible.
Maybe Nissan was previously sued for a brake contamination issue? I would think there would be a good reason for them to do it, as this action affects Overall Cost of Ownership, which most OEMs strive to keep as low as possible.
Hmmm interesting. Yet Nissan says the CVT is is good for life. :banghead: Thats far from the truth. Since brake fluid attracts moisture it is good to do once in a while. Like most people, I do a thorough flush when servicing the brakes. Thats more than most people, and I've never had issues. I do intend to do the CVT flush around 30k or so. I will keep an eye on how it looks.
good for life under LIGHT operating conditions, the service manual goes on to say that the CVT fluid should be changed every 60,000 miles under HARSH operating conditions i.e. stop and go traffic, extreme temperatures and the like. also, ever since i can remember it has always been a good idea to change out your brake fluid once a year as like someone said earlier, it attracts moisture and i feel that Nissan is including this in their manuals now because it would be a liability to them if they didn't...all that it takes is that one sue happy person to not change their brake fluid and have their brakes fail and blame it on NissanHmmm interesting. Yet Nissan says the CVT is is good for life. :banghead: Thats far from the truth. Since brake fluid attracts moisture it is good to do once in a while. Like most people, I do a thorough flush when servicing the brakes. Thats more than most people, and I've never had issues. I do intend to do the CVT flush around 30k or so. I will keep an eye on how it looks.
Sorry for the bump, but I was hoping someone could give me advice. Brought my car in for an oil change and Nissan wanted me to do the brake fluid change as stated in the manual. Passed on it since it seemed like 20k miles is overkill for replacing the brake fluid. What is the census for replacing brake fluid? Is it also worth getting these services done at the dealer and spend the extra amount or go to a smaller shop and hopefully save some cash?
I do it myself (I have a pressure bleeder so it's a 1 person job), but haven't done it on the Note yet. I think the answers depends on what the dlr charges vs your time/hassle. Since I bet the dlr is doing this while vehicle is on the lift and tire rotation is occurring should be sub $100. My guess 0.7 hours, plus three cans of brake fluid.
Every shop that does quality work should have brake fluid test strips. All they do is dunk the strip in the brake fluid to see how much water and copper content is in the fluid. Then it is compared to a color chart to see if it should be replaced or not.Sorry for the bump, but I was hoping someone could give me advice. Brought my car in for an oil change and Nissan wanted me to do the brake fluid change as stated in the manual. Passed on it since it seemed like 20k miles is overkill for replacing the brake fluid. What is the census for replacing brake fluid? Is it also worth getting these services done at the dealer and spend the extra amount or go to a smaller shop and hopefully save some cash?
I would ask your service person to perform this test is they can. Note, this should be a FREE test. At Firestone Complete Autocare we tested every vehicles brake fluid at no charge for pretty much any service they came in for.
So Nissan asked for and brake fluid change waaaaaaaaaaay earlier than 20,000 (car just turn 33,000 tonight and now just turned 15 months old), maybe they asked for the change before 15,000 but I don't remember correctly, but anyways, my question. What fluid does it use and how many quarts does it use?
For the 2014 Note, the maintenance requirement is replace the brake fluid every 20,000 miles or 2 years. The Note uses DOT3 fluid. No idea on how many quarts are needed.So Nissan asked for and brake fluid change waaaaaaaaaaay earlier than 20,000 (car just turn 33,000 tonight and now just turned 15 months old), maybe they asked for the change before 15,000 but I don't remember correctly, but anyways, my question. What fluid does it use and how many quarts does it use?
Yes there is a way to check for brake fluid contamination but the maintenance manual for the 2014 Note does not have a provision for checking the brake fluid. It requires brake fluid replacement every 20k Miles or 2 yrs.Every shop that does quality work should have brake fluid test strips. All they do is dunk the strip in the brake fluid to see how much water and copper content is in the fluid. Then it is compared to a color chart to see if it should be replaced or not.
I would ask your service person to perform this test is they can. Note, this should be a FREE test. At Firestone Complete Autocare we tested every vehicles brake fluid at no charge for pretty much any service they came in for.
Does somebody know how much brake fluid it needs?
I have looked through every damn guide I can find and not a single one says how much is needed for brakes. If anyone finds this information please let us know!
Had mine changed out not to long ago to a much higher temperature threshold DOT 4 fluid and bought 2 pints of it which seemed to do the job as the service techs that changed it said they would notify me if they needed me to purchase another bottle and they informed me at the end of it all that the 2 pints was more than enough.
It's commonly pushed by dealers as a high proffit margin service. With their flushing machine it should take no longer than half an hour from hoist set to hoist kick out if you have an efficient tech. Copper content can be analyzed and used as a gauge for moisture content since they are usually a linear correlation with each other, and it is a simpler, shorter, cheaper way of doing it. 2 years is a good rule of thumb, and for the record on a flush and fill (old fluid sucked out of resevoir, new fluid in, and sucked through all lines to the bleeders ie flushed) it usually takes at least 500ml so if you'd like to do it yourself, dealer parts counters sell it in 350ml containers, get 3 of those to be safe.
Do you get the original Nissan dot 3 brakes fluid
I am glad I found this forum to help manage my expectations with my daughter's 2014 Nissan Versa.
She bought the car used at 33,000 miles a year ago in March 2016 from a new car Nissan dealer. I suspect the brakes were still in good shape so the dealer did not flush the fluid at the time.
Question 1:
She has added 9000 miles in one year to the 33,000 miles, bringing it to 42,000 miles. In Oct 2016 and Mar 2017, the dealer did the oil and safety check and said the brakes are okay. Do Nissan Versa brakes last 50-60,000 miles???
Question 2:
As others have said, the dealer this time (Mar 2017 oil change) said $105.00 brake fluid flush is recommended, even though the 20,000 mark is well past. Should I ask my daughter to take it to a local national shop (like Firestone) and see if they can check the condition of the brake fluid for free? Or, should I just buy a dip kit off Amazon?
Thanks for all your help.
She bought the car used at 33,000 miles a year ago in March 2016 from a new car Nissan dealer. I suspect the brakes were still in good shape so the dealer did not flush the fluid at the time.
Question 1:
She has added 9000 miles in one year to the 33,000 miles, bringing it to 42,000 miles. In Oct 2016 and Mar 2017, the dealer did the oil and safety check and said the brakes are okay. Do Nissan Versa brakes last 50-60,000 miles???
Question 2:
As others have said, the dealer this time (Mar 2017 oil change) said $105.00 brake fluid flush is recommended, even though the 20,000 mark is well past. Should I ask my daughter to take it to a local national shop (like Firestone) and see if they can check the condition of the brake fluid for free? Or, should I just buy a dip kit off Amazon?
Thanks for all your help.
I would have to ask where the copper comes from as there is generally no copper in brake systems other than possibly sealing washers. Aluminum mostly with small amounts of steel and the fluid going opaque to not be clear as well as gray to black from water/aluminum damage is all you need to see. The brake system is 'sealed' but not 100%, seals rolling with on and off action can aspirate very minute amounts of water into it while driving in the rain. One reason why calipers show more fluid damage than higher up in the fluid circuit.
Not a bad idea to do it every couple years. Having said that I work on all my own cars and I'm bad about not doing it on a regular basis. I've seen it recommended in other places but this may just be one of those things the OEM plays games with, like say an automatic trans that never needs fluid changes then suddenly they say the same trans needs it regular out of the blue, i.e., simply looking for more shop throughput cash as well as reacting to current liability concerns. The brake fluid thing could be in reaction to lawsuits. How the company gets out of the brake failure lawsuit.
It's like the first cars that began to be computer controlled, at the time all makers were trying to show the new systems made the cars go way longer on the oil changes until they realized all the dealer work they lost and quickly lowered the oil change number back down to get that work back. The general public misses that give and take all day long, all they care about is where the next party is at.
You will find NO exact amount of fluid needed listed anywhere as the system internal volume changes due to pad and/or shoe wear can vary the amount by close to 100%.
Not a bad idea to do it every couple years. Having said that I work on all my own cars and I'm bad about not doing it on a regular basis. I've seen it recommended in other places but this may just be one of those things the OEM plays games with, like say an automatic trans that never needs fluid changes then suddenly they say the same trans needs it regular out of the blue, i.e., simply looking for more shop throughput cash as well as reacting to current liability concerns. The brake fluid thing could be in reaction to lawsuits. How the company gets out of the brake failure lawsuit.
It's like the first cars that began to be computer controlled, at the time all makers were trying to show the new systems made the cars go way longer on the oil changes until they realized all the dealer work they lost and quickly lowered the oil change number back down to get that work back. The general public misses that give and take all day long, all they care about is where the next party is at.
You will find NO exact amount of fluid needed listed anywhere as the system internal volume changes due to pad and/or shoe wear can vary the amount by close to 100%.
1 - 20 of 27 Posts
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