On Fri, 16 May 2008 18:39:41 -0700, jim beam wrote:

> hachiroku ãƒ�ãƒ�ãƒ*ク wrote:
>> On Thu, 15 May 2008 20:08:51 -0700, jim beam wrote:
>>
>>> 1. how often do you change your engine coolant?
>>>
>>> 2. how often do you change your brake fluid?
>>
>> LOL! I'm pobably baiting myself here, but I'll bite:
>>
>> I change the coolant when it needs it. When it stops looking 'green'
>> enough. One car I ran 120,000 miles before changing it, and didn't
>> change it again after that. I traded it at 244,000 and saw it around 4
>> more years after that.
>>
>> The car that replaced it had a coolant change at 150,000 miles, That
>> one currently has 259,000 and is sitting in my back yard.
>>
>> Brake fluid gets changed the moment I notice a difference in pedal
>> pressure. If I start to lose 'modulation' I check the fluid and chenge
>> it. This usually happens around 150,000 or so when the fluid is dark
>> brown, but not black. The place I used to have do my brakes would bleed
>> or flush accordingly, and brakes last me ~60,000 miles.
>
> <snip irrelevance>
>
> so not only do you disregard the owners manual with too frequent oil
> changes, you disregard it with too infrequent coolant or brake fluid
> changes. the latter being a material factor in vehicle safety.
>
> would you fly an airline that disregarded the airplane service manuals?
>
> what would it take to get you with the factory vehicle service program?

Too frequent coolant changes? Toyota recommends 60,000 miles to replace
coolant. If you read waht I wrote, I go double that. I wait until it
starts to look cloudy or the temp guage doesn't sit in one position
anymore. Toyotas have very good cooling systems and will almost always be
just below the center of the guage. If it fluctuates from that, it's time
for a change, 120~150,000 miles.

There is no recommendation for brake fluid. I figured, like I said, you
would be baiting me, so I checked all the Toyota maintenance schedules I
could find, and none of them had a brake fluid flush or change. The best
mention was, "Top off all fliud levels."

So, according to you, my changing the brake fluid occasionally goes
*against* the manufacturer's recommendation, so I guess I'll have to stop
doing it...

However, I did learn something else: differential gear oil should be
changed every 30,000 miles. Guess I know what I'll be doing with my Supra
this afternoon!