Brake fluid moister tester at Lidl

[MikeNash]

What ho, chums!
Over the last week Lidl have been selling the above at £6.99 each. Anyone got one? I've not seen them but am strongly tempted. MikeN.

[Sleeper]

Plenty over the road from me..

John

Manchester M34

[geoberni]

They're not particularly expensive. While the High St like Halford will charge £30 or more for brands like Laser or Sealey, ebay and Amazon have unbranded/unknown brands for £6 or £7 upwards.

I guess it depends on if you trust the Lidl own label compared to other names like Bergen or US Pro (actually the same company) which are about £10-£11 online.

[rocco]

I've never known anyone in my family to ever seriously consider regular brake fluid changes. I reckon my Dad probably drove his cars for 10-years without ever changing it.

It can make such a difference to brake feel and stopping power that it's quite incredible how often it's overlooked when servicing time comes around. I suppose the feel degrades so slowly over time that most don't notice it.

These testers are a good idea, as long as you are willing to act upon a poor test result.

[Myrtles Man]

I've never known anyone in my family to ever seriously consider regular brake fluid changes. I reckon my Dad probably drove his cars for 10-years without ever changing it.

Wow! You only need to know that brake fluid is hygroscopic (unless it's DOT 5) to realise that it inevitably collects water from the atmosphere. The water content then sets up rusting of any steel components of the braking system (hence the brown appearance of brake fluid that's long overdue for replacement) causing pistons to seize in wheel cylinders for example. Another interesting side effect of water in brake fluid is its tendency to turn to steam during prolonged heavy braking, the steam, unlike brake fluid, being compressible, then causes a loss of brake pedal - exactly what you don't need in emergency braking situations! The industry-wide recommendation to change brake fluid every two years really is worth heeding.

[MikeNash]

Well, I bought one today and dipped the probes into the brake fluid in my Trav's master cylinder. All the LEDs lit up indicating over 4% moisture content; the instructions recommend the immediate replacement of the fluid. Hmm; and then I remembered the brake fluid was last changed well before the Covid onslaught. Next I tried the plastic bottle of Halfords Dot4 on the shelf that's even older - and showed over 4% moisture too. (The cap was on tight but do the plastics allow permeation of moisture?) Finally I bought (from Halfords) a brand new plastic bottle of Comma synthetic Dot4 and I'm pleased to say that the tester indicated less than 1% moisture content.
Well, there yer go, MikeN.

[arjay]

Mm. Not for sale in my local Lidl and nor is the chain lift mentioned in another thread. Ho hum...

[daveejhitchins]

Mm. Not for sale in my local Lidl and nor is the chain lift mentioned in another thread. Ho hum...

I managed to bag both at my nearest Lidl in Darlington - they had lots left . . .

Dave H.

[don58van]

Are you happy with your moisture testers? For example, can they show a clear difference between old and fresh brake fluid?
Don

[jagnut66]

Hi,
I have silicon Dot 5 in both my Minors, which is a bit a pain to bleed through and get decent pedal pressure but once done it's almost fit and forget, unless you need to change something. Air is the enemy of Dot 5, so you need to ensure everything seals up well, which I found meant renewing everything.
With Dot 4 I agree with the above in that it needs changing on a semi-regular basis (although I thought it was every three years but I stand corrected), however (in the past) I found bleeding through Dot 4 and obtaining good pedal pressure to be a doddle on a Minor.
So no excuse not to change it as and when required really.
Best wishes,
Mike.

[olonas]

"I have silicon Dot 5 in both my Minors, which is a bit a pain to bleed through and get decent pedal pressure but once done it's almost fit and forget, unless you need to change something."
As do I, in my one Minor (Automec). When necessary I use a Gunsons EeziBleed pressurised by tyre air pressure (18psi max.).Works like a charm, very easy and successful. I did have to make up a connection using a separate master cyl. cap.

[geoberni]

I thought I'd add something to this.
I decided, after years of occasionality considering it, to get a tester but as my modern has the filler cap in a bit of an awkward place, I brought one of the phone size ones with the bendy probe, rather than the Pen type with just LEDs.

The Bottle I'd used to completely replace Basil's fluid last year, about 1.0%.

My wife's 2014 Corsa, which we brought in 2016, read 3%, which is telling, since the dealership which serviced it in 2017 told us then it needed changing as it was over 2%! Ummm, yet only 3% now.
So I changed the Corsa's fluid, doing each extremity of the system until 1% reading was obtained.
There was some interesting cloudy fluid that came out at each wheel and settled to the bottom of the jam jar that I use...
Heck of an improvement in braking effect when I road tested the Corsa, a light touch was quite abrupt the first time out.

I now need to get some more fluid as my 2010 Kuga needs doing, showing 3.5% but has never been changed. Same Reservoir does the Clutch on the Kuga.
The meter does read full scale as I tested it on a container of old fluid awaiting disposal from changing Basil's last year.
.

Brake tester.JPG (60.73 KiB) Viewed 3561 times

[alanworland]

I've seen them in Lidl, will have to have another look!
How many times do you hear about a 'full Main Dealer service history ' but the brake fluid had never been changed?
I bought an Escort years back with full history from the supplying dealer and regardless I would always replace timing belt - it was one tooth out!
Not impressed.

Alan