Motarix Automotive

Brakes

Check the Brake Fluid

Check the brake fluid level and colour in the reservoir under the bonnet, top up with the right type, and know when to see a workshop.

  • EasyMost owners can do this with basic tools.
  • 5 to 15 minutes
  • Updated

General guide; check your car's handbook.

Parts for Your Car

Safety first

  • Brake fluid harms paint and skin. Wipe up any spill at once with a damp cloth, and wash your hands.
  • Use only the type of fluid printed on the reservoir cap or in your handbook. Never use oil or any other fluid.
  • Keep dirt and water out of the reservoir. Use fluid from a sealed bottle and close the bottle at once.
  • Bleeding the brakes, to change the fluid or let air out, is a workshop job.

Steps

  1. Park on level ground with the engine off and the handbrake on. Open the bonnet.
  2. Find the reservoir. It is a small, see-through plastic tank, usually at the back of the engine bay on the driver's side, with a cap that names the fluid type (for example DOT 4). Your handbook shows where.
  3. Read the level against the MIN and MAX marks on the side of the tank. It should be between them.
  4. Think about the pads. The level falls slowly as the brake pads wear, so a level near MIN can mean worn pads. Have the pads checked before you add fluid.
  5. Look at the colour. New fluid is clear to light yellow. Dark brown fluid is old and has taken in water, which makes the brakes weaker when hot.
  6. Top up if it is low. Wipe the cap and the area around it clean, open the cap, and pour in the fluid type printed on the cap slowly, up to MAX and no higher.
  7. Close the cap firmly and wipe away any drop on the tank or the paint.
  8. Look for leaks if you had to add fluid: at the inside of each wheel, along the pipes under the car and behind the brake pedal inside the car.
  9. Know when the fluid is changed. Brake fluid takes in water over time, so most handbooks say to change it every one or two years. Changing it means bleeding the brakes: leave that to a workshop.

When to go to a workshop

Go to a workshop if the level drops again after a top up, if you see fluid on a wheel, under the car or behind the pedal, if the pedal feels soft or goes down further than before, if the brake warning light stays on, or if the fluid is due for its change. Changing the fluid means bleeding the brakes, and that is a workshop job.

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