2 year service: Brake Flush???

Hello All, I'm taking my car into the dealer for the 2 year service. I have 11,000 miles on the car and they are going to flush the brake system. I can't find this anywhere in the manual for the 2 year service. Should I have this done? The car has PCCB 's and has seen a few auto-X days from a prior owner. I am planning on tracking the car this year as well. Thanks in advance. Mike

Uh, looking again I found an additional maintenance section that lists the brake flush every 2 years. It's not listed in the "minor maintenance at 20, 000" Looks like it is necessary.

Excellent use of the manual! There should be an award

You will be flushing the brakes alot more if you track the car. You should flush them everytime before each track event.

mpac: Instead of going to the dealer get a Motive power bleeder, it's very easy to use and you will be able to bleed your brakes (and clutch) quickly and efortlesly by yourself.

I agree with Gilles! However when I use my Motive Power Bleeder, I only fill the car's brake reservoir with fluid and just use the Motive Power Bleeder "dry" (as a pressure vessel ONLY!). You do have to keep an eye on your reservoir fluid level throughout the process but everything stays a lot cleaner and you are much less likely to introduce dirt and moisture into your system. Regards, Joe

Mike - Like you, everyone should take a look through the back of the maintenance manual - to see what else is required. And, you'll see several other items that need attention at different intervals. The brake flush is a minimum of every two years. If you track the car, depending how many events you do, you'll want to do it probably every few months, or at least two weeks before each track event, if you only do a few a year. If you autocross the car, once a year minimum, street driving only, at least the two year minimum. With the PCCBs, you have arguably some of the best brakes to be found on any car at any price in the world... why not pay the relatively small amount it takes to have them in top shape? It's really not that much, even if you have the dealer do it... brad

Probably a dumb question, but how does a sealed system (brakes) get contaminated or wear out if it stays sealed?

My car is a May 2006 build, and with the PCA DE at Road Atlanta in a few weeks, Kinetic is going to do my pre event inspection, reset the alignment to what they feel will be best, and do a brake fluid flush. In my old Dinan3 BMW , I always did ATE /Super Blue once a year (4-6 days on track a year), but Kinetic is recommending the new Castrol high temp fluid. It is very expensive ($125 for the quart to do the job), but in the big picture it's a drop in the bucket so I'm going to go that route, and they said it will be good for a year as well with moderate track use.......... For my other cars, 2 years on brake fluid and coolant. Cheap PM on a couple of fairly important components of any car............... Regards

Answer......and good read! Unbeknownst To Many Vehicle Owners, Brake Fluid Does Wear Out, Larry Carley, Brake & Front End, April 2001

lol thats a bit over the top once a year will be fine in most cases even if you track the car. unless you keep boiling it that is.

Thanks to all for the help. I don't have a problem spending the money to get the necessary maintenance done, I just couldn't find it in the 2 year list indicated in the manual, that is until you thumb through the next few pages to read about "additional" maintenance required. Really appreciate the heads up on bleeding the brakes more often due to track events. I'm a gearhead and will learn how to do this myself. Have a great year everyone! Mike

BE SURE THEY PUT YOUR ROTORS ON RIGHT! Ok I didn't mean to scare you but did you know that with PCCB 's there are "Left" and "Right" rotors? Yep, it has to do with the venting and how the paths are inside the rotor . They won't be taking your rotors off, but if they do, make sure they go back on the correct side!

Can anyone confirm. If Porsche finds High Temp brake fluid in your system will it void the warranty? Oops, maybe that was replacing the brake hoses with the braided stainless steel hoses, oh well I will let the question stand so we can all learn.

Your warranty can't be voided unless something breaks as a result of something untoward you did with or put on the car - in fact, they can't "void" your warranty as a whole anyway - they can deny you warranty coverage on a particular thing that breaks, if you've done something to modify that part of the car that they suspect caused or contributed to the problem... then you pay to repair it. Meanwhile, the rest of the car remains under warranty for 4 years and the maximum mileage. Not sure what the big mystery is about... Porsche OEM brake fluid is EXACTLY the same as Super Blue, it's just not blue, it's amber in color - same specs, same fluid. brad

for your guys using the motive power bleeder, is there an adaptor specific to the porsche resevoir? i have the adaptors for BMW & ford left over from previous cars, hoping one of those will fit. according to the website: Products Adapters the 1100 will fit P-cars, can you confirm? thanks

I thought the Porsche brake fluid was Pentosin. Super Blue is by ATE I believe.

Try ATE gold. It is Gold in color. They should just find better names for thier products. I have been told that ATE Super Blue and ATE Gold have the same formulation. For some reason Blue is more popular.

stueys: ATE (Super Blue or the amber colored 200) has higher boiling points than most OE brake fluids. Some who track need the higher boiling points to avoid brake fade. If Porsche dealers replace with either ATE , then they'll probably avoid boiling the fluid on track. Those who are really hard on brakes may need the even higher boiling points of Castrol SRF.

i went to an independent porsche repair shop today wanting to get a brake flush. they looked at my brake fluid reservoir and said it's still clean so it's ok. is this true?? they've been servicing porsches for 23 or 24 years

How old is your fluid? Can they tell you how much outside moisture the fluid has absorbed? If the fluid is two years old or more, then you should do a flush and bleed... thats what the manufacturer recommends... but f course, the choice is yours... brad