Brake fluid?

[Michelle_eriw]

The Tesla DIY maintenance guide (Do It Yourself - Model 3) says that windshield wiper fluid is the only fluid you have to add to the vehicle.

But the car has friction brakes in addition to regenerative braking; doesn't that require brake fluid?

 

[Perscitus]

Seems you havent seen all the threads on brake fluid changes, bleeding the system or race track / auto-x junkies changing it to Castrol SRF

 

[camalaio]

It does require changing occassionally, yes. As much as any gas car. Brakes should also be serviced (lubricated etc., not replaced) especially in areas that salt the roads.

Like most of the "low/no maintenance" claims, they're not the full story.

To be fair, that's not a super DIY thing for most people.

 

[Michelle_eriw]

Seems you havent seen all the threads on brake fluid changes, bleeding the system or race track / auto-x junkies changing it to Castrol SRF

Not being interested in racing, performance, etc., I haven't looked for those.

 

[Michelle_eriw]

It does require changing occassionally, yes. As much as any gas car. Brakes should also be serviced (lubricated etc., not replaced) especially in areas that salt the roads.

Like most of the "low/no maintenance" claims, they're not the full story.

To be fair, that's not a super DIY thing for most people.

Well, most people do (or at least should) check the brake fluid's dip stick and add fluid if low. Does the M3 even have a dip stick for brake fluid?

 

[RayK]

Tesla recommends that you do NOT top off the fluid yourself. It is supposed to be checked when you bring it in for "regular servicing", which I take it to mean every two years. There's instructions in the owners manual for reference. There does not appear to be any dipstick; a MAX mark is embedded into the reservoir.

ref: Fluid Reservoirs; Checking Brake Fluid - Tesla Model 3 Owner's Manual [Page 127] | ManualsLib

 

[Michelle_eriw]

Thanks.

 

[RayK]

I highly recommend getting a copy of the latest Model 3 owner's manual and reading through it before getting the car. I did. It helped cover some basic, and not so basic, things. You can find a copy here:

https://www.tesla.com/sites/default/files/model_3_owners_manual_north_america_en.pdf

edit: Note that since the car is constantly being updated, the owner's manual should be kept fairly well up-to-date so check the site referenced above for the latest online copy.

 

[jjrandorin]

It does require changing occassionally, yes. As much as any gas car. Brakes should also be serviced (lubricated etc., not replaced) especially in areas that salt the roads.

Like most of the "low/no maintenance" claims, they're not the full story.

To be fair, that's not a super DIY thing for most people.

I think its a "lot" less than "any gas car" because unless you are performance driving, you use the brakes a lot less than "most" gas cars. I have 23k miles on my car, and based on current (lack of) wear, I expect to get at least 100k miles out of mine.

 

[kbecks13]

Modern brake fluid is fairly good at not absorbing moisture (the main reason that it will go bad with daily driving) and can last a few years before needing to be replaced. Tesla uses a moisture meter to measure the water content in the fluid and will replace it if necessary to maintain proper boiling point.

 

[camalaio]

I think its a "lot" less than "any gas car" because unless you are performance driving, you use the brakes a lot less than "most" gas cars. I have 23k miles on my car, and based on current (lack of) wear, I expect to get at least 100k miles out of mine.

The brake fluid on my 2014 Honda Crosstour was still perfectly fine at 160,000km FWIW. I don't mean to imply it's a frequent thing to change, just that I don't expect it to be any different than an ICE vehicle (especially given it already lasts pretty long, like @kbecks13 pointed out). Living in a relatively dry area may have helped with that as well.

 

[Perscitus]

Not being interested in racing, performance, etc., I haven't looked for those.

That makes most of us, but sadly they litter all the subfora and are hard to miss. Live in the wild side and peek inside since you have brake fluid questions.

Model 3/Y - think standard issue automotive brake system, suspension (lots of parts for various Mercedes Benz cars), 12v subsystem, HVAC system (the Supercooler gimmick and dual function as cabin and HV battery temp control don't really make it too different from vanilla setup), coolant, various filters, glass, sheet-metal, plastic, paint.

The owners manual barely scratches the surface - try the service manual.

 

[SlimJim]

Mine is a 3 yr lease....

 

[RayK]

The owners manual barely scratches the surface - try the service manual.

I don't believe that the service manual is freely available. I bought a version for my car last year and I believe it was something like $70. As far as I know, it does not include free updates. Frankly, it is kind of a mess; a jumble of HTML, PDF and JPG files that's only really visible when you launch the index.html file in your browser.

And I hope you are not referring to the online service manual here: Welcome | Tesla Service

At $100/day, $350/mo or $3000/yr it seems kind of steep.

 

[jjrandorin]

The brake fluid on my 2014 Honda Crosstour was still perfectly fine at 160,000km FWIW. I don't mean to imply it's a frequent thing to change, just that I don't expect it to be any different than an ICE vehicle (especially given it already lasts pretty long, like @kbecks13 pointed out). Living in a relatively dry area may have helped with that as well.

For some reason, my eyes (and brain) saw this thread, and removed the word "fluid" from it. I was thinking about "brakes" not "brake fluid", even though everything in this thread is referencing brake FLUID, not brakes.

 

[Michelle_eriw]

That makes most of us, but sadly they litter all the subfora and are hard to miss. Live in the wild side and peek inside since you have brake fluid questions.

Model 3/Y - think standard issue automotive brake system, suspension (lots of parts for various Mercedes Benz cars), 12v subsystem, HVAC system (the Supercooler gimmick and dual function as cabin and HV battery temp control don't really make it too different from vanilla setup), coolant, various filters, glass, sheet-metal, plastic, paint.

The owners manual barely scratches the surface - try the service manual.

Well, I was only questioning Tesla's statement that the windshield wiper fluid was the only one for DIY maintenance. The responses here answered that question.

 

[texas_star_TM3]

brake fluid should last at least 3 yrs (that's the interval most ICE cars recommend before flushing brake fluid) ... I'd be shocked if your brake fluid needs replacement after just 2 yrs. My 2015 F150 had brakefluid still good after 4yrs ...