Reader Question" I have a question, can I change my brake fluid myself, and if so how?
Thank you so much,
Tammy,

Tammy,

Thanks for your email. You CAN change the brake fluid yourself. The easiest and safest way to do it is to open the "brake bleeder screws" found behind each wheel (if in doubt ask your mechanic to point these out to you), or loosen the brake line behind each wheel which will allow the fluid to drip out slowly just with the power of gravity.

This might take an hour or two, so be patient. You need to remove the brake fluid reservoir cover on the brake master cylinder and DO NOT let the fluid level to so low that air will get in the lines!!!! Always keep the brake fluid reservoir cover off and filled with clean fluid until all the dirty fluid has drained out.

Once the old fluid has drained, re-tighten all the bleeder screws or brake lines that you loosened!

The other way to do this is to wait until your vehicle needs a brake job and have your mechanic do it while he is replacing the brake pads. There will be an additional charge, but it should not be very much as brake fluid "bleeding" is sometimes nessecary during a routine brake job.