Hi!
I have a 2005 Mazda 3, 2.0L with about 18,000 km on it right now. When i took it in to get an oil change recently (not at the dealership) they told me that i needed some additional brake fluid. They put some in and everything seems fine. My Dad has told me that this shouldnt happen in a new car (about a year old now-mostly high way driving). Shoule I be worried? Should I bring it to the dealer (i have the 7 year extended warrenty)?

Thanks

 

Quick note....they only needed to put about a third of a bottle in (so about 125ml's)

 

As your brake pads wear, the pistons compress to keep the pads in touch with the rotor. As the pistons compress, oil will be fed into the system and the reservior level will lower. Take a look around all of the bleed valves (@ each wheel caliper) and the brake lines for any sign of fluid...If all is dry, don't sweat it.

Watch out when you go to replace the brake pads...when you compress the piston back into the caliper, it will feed this oil back up towards the reservior. You don't want to get brake fluid on your paint...It will eat it up.

 

thanks a lot. I was thinking something along those lines but wanted some sort of independant confirmation. The first scheduled mainance on my baby is in a couple thousand k's (and im moving back to school so those will add up soon). I think ill mention it to the dealer then just to be sure though.

As for the brake fluid screwing with my paint, thanks, i'll look out for it. I'm trying to keep er looking good for the longest possible time (bi-weekly hand washing-claying and waxing once in a while). Do you have any other suggestions for keeping it looking good?

(i learned about clay from this site-who knew silly putty would make my car look better)

 

i havent heard about the clay...explain

 

clay may have been tghe best thing ever invented!!! lol...what it basiclly is used for is to remove hard contaminants and other particulate matter that isnt easy to get off (pollen, brake dust, rail dust, bugs in some cases-in my experiance paint too-from a minor fender bender). It's not the cheapest cleaning item for your car (kit costs ~15-20 CAD). It comes with some quick detailer as a lubricant and automotive clay. For better instructions google. In my experiance It has almost restored the look of my car to new.

FYI. You use clay after you wash and before you wax.

 

I've actually never used a clay bar on my vehicle before... i just slap on a little Goo Gone and use a little elbow grease and the car looks fine to me... then it's on to waxing my car when needed!

 

that always works...but if you ever have a few free hours to wash your car (3ish), try to giver the whole treatment, I promise you that you'll notice the difference.


btw. Just to see how big a deal it is first, Put your hand in a ziploc bag and run it over the surface of the car. Then feel the difference between each of the paint throught the ziploic at each step. Careful if you have OCD, you'll never sleep again

 

Claybar is definitely the way to go for a deep cleaning.

When you're doing your brakes, just sling a towel or something under the reservior to catch anything that might get pushed back. you can also dip a paper towel into the reservior (only slightly) to suck up a little fluid if it's too high.

 

where can you get claybar?