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The only things i need to change is oil and coolant? No other fluids?

JEDI

JEDI

Lifer
2005 Mazda3i automatic, 175k miles

went for an oil change today.
got the same upsell spiel.. recommend change coolant, transmission fluid, and power steering

my manual says the only fluids I need to change are oil (7.5k) and coolant (every 2 yrs???).

what could happen if I don't change either the transmission or power steering fluids?

also, I noticed in the manual it says change the coolant at either 60k miles or 4 yrs, then EVERY 2 YRS after that?! (page 233)
https://www.mymazda.com/MusaWeb/pdf/manuals/2005Mazda3OM.pdf

is that regardless of milage after first coolant flush?
if so, why?
 
JEDI said:
2005 Mazda3i automatic, 175k miles

went for an oil change today.
got the same upsell spiel.. recommend change coolant, transmission fluid, and power steering

my manual says the only fluids I need to change are oil (7.5k) and coolant (every 2 yrs???).

what could happen if I don't change either the transmission or power steering fluids?

also, I noticed in the manual it says change the coolant at either 60k miles or 4 yrs, then EVERY 2 YRS after that?! (page 233)
https://www.mymazda.com/MusaWeb/pdf/manuals/2005Mazda3OM.pdf

is that regardless of milage after first coolant flush?
if so, why?
Click to expand...

I'd change the coolant, transmission fluid, and oil. Power steering fluid does not usually need to be changed, and if you want to change it, it is very easy to do yourself.

When was the transmission fluid last changed? If more than 30-40k miles ago, I'd recommend changing it. Don't get a flush...just a drain and refill. A single drain and fill will only give you about 30-50% new fluid, since a lot of the old stuff will be stuck in the torque converter. If you want to do an extra complete job, you can do 3 drain and refills which will replace most of the old fluid with new fluid. But it costs 3x as much and probably isn't necessary unless you have a car known for transmission failures (e.g. some V6 Hondas).
 
JEDI said:
2005 Mazda3i automatic, 175k miles

went for an oil change today.
got the same upsell spiel.. recommend change coolant, transmission fluid, and power steering

my manual says the only fluids I need to change are oil (7.5k) and coolant (every 2 yrs???).

what could happen if I don't change either the transmission or power steering fluids?

also, I noticed in the manual it says change the coolant at either 60k miles or 4 yrs, then EVERY 2 YRS after that?! (page 233)
https://www.mymazda.com/MusaWeb/pdf/manuals/2005Mazda3OM.pdf

is that regardless of milage after first coolant flush?
if so, why?
Click to expand...

coolant has additives that wear out over time and changing the coolant is a good idea. Oil and filter every so often according to mileage. power steering maybe 1 time in the life of the car. what transmission, auto or manual?
 
bamx2 said:
Flush brake fluid every few years too.
Click to expand...

lol.. owned the car 9 yrs... have yet to touch the brake or power steering fluids.

so like brakes, powersteering fluid is just for hydraulics?
I can use water if I wanted?
 
JEDI said:
lol.. owned the car 9 yrs... have yet to touch the brake or power steering fluids.

so like brakes, powersteering fluid is just for hydraulics?
I can use water if I wanted?
Click to expand...

same here..never changed the brake fluid. its a closed system so contaminants cannot get into the system.
 
silicon said:
same here..never changed the brake fluid. its a closed system so contaminants cannot get into the system.
Click to expand...

Not true. Brake fluid is hygroscopic (absorbs water). This is good for keeping water out of your brake system, but eventually you exceed the capacity of the fluid to absorb water and it will cause rust inside the brake lines. Also, the boiling point of brake fluid goes down as moisture gets absorbed, which decreases its performance. That's why most manufacturers recommend replacing brake fluid every 3 years.
 
996GT2 said:
Not true. Brake fluid is hygroscopic (absorbs water). This is good for keeping water out of your brake system, but eventually you exceed the capacity of the fluid to absorb water and it will cause rust inside the brake lines. Also, the boiling point of brake fluid goes down as moisture gets absorbed, which decreases its performance. That's why most manufacturers recommend replacing brake fluid every 3 years.
Click to expand...

so how does the water get in is my point?
 
Power steering fluid does end up with bits from the hydraulic system in it too, cars with sensitive racks can benefit from the odd change.

The super easy way to do it is a turkey baster, suck out the reservoir, fill up with new, drive for a while, and repeat. The one time but more work method is to find the return line and pipe it into a bottle, and keep working the rack and pouring new stuff in. I did that recently to my Lexus, took about 20 min inclusing getting wheels off and jacked up.

The partial drain/refill/drive/repeat works well for transmissions too (as long as you have a car that you can top off yourself, some cars have no dipstick or are very sensitive to level and shouldn't be done yourself.

Brake fluid is also really easy, and should be done at least a couple times in the life of the vehicle, more if you do a lot of hard braking because as said it degrades due to heat.

I would probably do the coolant too.

All this stuff is cheap if you can do it yourself... a bit worse to pay someone but not bad preventative maintanence on a car you plan on keeping.
 
silicon said:
same here..never changed the brake fluid. its a closed system so contaminants cannot get into the system.
Click to expand...

And yet, somehow, every time I flush mine the old fluid is significantly darker than the new fluid.

The seals are not perfect and the fluid actively attracts water. Over time water will leach in no matter how "sealed" it is.

ZV
 
Changing fluids are the cheapest preventative maintenance you can do for any motor....brake fluid, power steering and tranny fluids, LIKE COOLANT, contain LUBRICANTS and SEALANTS that do chemically break down and lose their effectiveness after years and not just miles.
 
silicon said:
same here..never changed the brake fluid. its a closed system so contaminants cannot get into the system.
Click to expand...

Suck out some old brake fluid and have a look at it, it is nasty. I am a landing gear and hydraulic engineer for aircraft. The brakes on aircraft are also a dead-ended system, just like in cars. The worst hydraulic fluid by far in the entire airplane is generally the stuff right at the brake pistons. Since it never circulates, it never runs through a filter, doesn't get new fluid as old fluid slowly leaks out, gets heat damage, and particles like to float down there since it is also at the bottom of the system.

Commercial aircraft hydraulic fluid starts purple and clear, on the A300 we bled the brakes every 18 months and the fluid would come out piss yellow and completely cloudy.
 
JEDI said:
so like brakes, powersteering fluid is just for hydraulics?
I can use water if I wanted?
Click to expand...

Yes, they are both hydraulic systems, but using water as the working fluid would be a very bad idea. The systems were designed for a very specific type of fluid. True hydraulic fluids will provide lubrication and corrosion protection, may have other additives to provide various benefits. They can also handle higher and colder temperatures than water.
 
WackyDan said:
Indeed. Most people never do but should every few or at least once while they own the car.
Click to expand...

Yea my car says every two years regardless of mileage for brake fluid, though the clutch and brakes use the same fluid so that's probably why so often.

I've done it twice since owning my car, the hard part is bleeding the clutch slave cylinder because of course it's tight in there and uses a plastic (!!!!) bleeder nipple. However, doing the brakes are easy once you install speed bleeders, they turn it into a one man job.

Of course I never notice a difference in brake feel when doing this, even though the fluid is clearly old and dirty.
 
basslover1 said:
Yea my car says every two years regardless of mileage for brake fluid, though the clutch and brakes use the same fluid so that's probably why so often.

I've done it twice since owning my car, the hard part is bleeding the clutch slave cylinder because of course it's tight in there and uses a plastic (!!!!) bleeder nipple. However, doing the brakes are easy once you install speed bleeders, they turn it into a one man job.

Of course I never notice a difference in brake feel when doing this, even though the fluid is clearly old and dirty.
Click to expand...

2 years is often?
 
bb650385_o.jpeg


That's from some pictures I snapped earlier this week. I think that was a 2002 Chevy truck. 60,000 miles. After twelve years, I was putting it's first replacement set of rear pads on it. Hydraulic system never opened.

Pistons were somewhat difficult to compress. Trucks often are; I didn't think much of it.

When the brakes got hot, the calipers started sticking. Ended up having to replace both sides. I found the above when I popped the pistons out to see what was going on. Combo of dirt/grime/debris and swollen, petrified piston seals.

Yeah, you should probably change brake fluid every once in a while.
 
basslover1 said:
Yea my car says every two years regardless of mileage for brake fluid, though the clutch and brakes use the same fluid so that's probably why so often.

I've done it twice since owning my car, the hard part is bleeding the clutch slave cylinder because of course it's tight in there and uses a plastic (!!!!) bleeder nipple. However, doing the brakes are easy once you install speed bleeders, they turn it into a one man job.

Of course I never notice a difference in brake feel when doing this, even though the fluid is clearly old and dirty.
Click to expand...

You probably won't notice any difference unless a situation arises where you need to stop in a hurry from high-speed, old contaminated fluid can "boil" due to the intense heat generated and the fact it has some water in it, this can cause significant brake fade. Also think of it as preventive maintenance, replacing seized calipers or rusted brake lines gets expensive, quick. I change fluid every 3 yrs, here in FL the humidity is so high for most of the year the fluid, as Zenmervolt noted is always dark.
 
silicon said:
same here..never changed the brake fluid. its a closed system so contaminants cannot get into the system.
Click to expand...

I have to change the brake fluid in my motorcycle every 2 years at the most. More like 18 months for the rear brake. It turns black and attracts moisture so the rear brake will become almost useless, very spongy and ineffective.
 
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