Brake & Steering Fluid Flushing?

[Shawon]

I recently had my car in the dealer and they told me my brake fluid and steering fluid were looking dirty and they would have to flush it and refill it, but they were charging like $300 just for that I told them I'll do it myself.

I can't really tell if it's dirty or not I'm not sure. They are both near the MIN mark though, so I had a question, do I need to flush/drain the fluids and refill it back up? Or can I just add new fluid with the existing without draining or flushing or anything?

I went to a local mechanic and he said you don't have to flush/drain it out just add in new fluid to it. He said you only drain it when you change the brakes and get a new system and stuff.

I had my brakes changed a little over a year ago, but I'm not sure if they did renew my brake fluid, is it standard for shops to flush/drain out and renew the brake fluid whenever they change brakes?

[Disco Mike]

Two people can bleed apx. 3 pints of brake fluid from your brakes in 15 minutes and at cost of $15.
The power steering can be done in 10 minutes at a cost of under $20.
PM me your tele number and I will walk you thru this.
Mike

[Shawon]

Yea I know it's a simple procedure, I'm just wondering if it's necessary to drain/flush out the old fluid or can you just add on new fluid with the existing fluids?

[Disco Mike]

Replace the fluid completely or look for to some failures cause you were to lazy to do what is required every 20,000 to 30,000 miles.
Mike

[Shawon]

Well this was my uncle's car so I'm not sure how he maintained it he gave it to me about a year ago. And I wouldn't say I was lazy to do it lol, I'm not that car saavy so I can't do it myself and I'm just learning about cars and stuff now so I just found out about the brake fluid and stuff.

[petty]

that was quite confusing, ask for a second opinion with other. Either the brake fluid nor power steering fluid flush service shows up in maintenance guides, and yet that doesn’t mean they are trying to sock it with you. Over time, each of these fluids could become contaminated and require servicing.

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[yieldsign2]

Anytime you bleed the brakes, you should just replace all the fluid. You do not need to drain the fluid persay. You just start at the right rear caliper (unless manual states otherwise (not sure which vehicle you have), put a rubber vacuum line or other tight enough hose over the bleed nipple and into a glass jar and open it. begin pumping the brake pedal, watch the resevoir to make sure you keep topping it up so it does not go low. Eventually you should see clean fluid coming out of the hose into the jar. The last few times, have someone close the bleed nipple each time you have the brake pedal down, and hten open it after you have let up, do this until there are no bubbles coming out. This process is repeated for each wheel/bleed valve and should get quicker with each one as there is less line to cover!