Hey fellas, I tried searching and couldn't find my exact situation so I was just looking for your input. I had a friend of mine change my brake pads on my '08 RL and he topped off my brake fluid with a generic DOT 3/4 fluid. We then bled the brakes and were supposedly good to go. That was about 6 months ago.

Fast forward to May, a 'Low Brake Fluid' indicator came on intermittently (like when I make a turn or go up/down a hill) like a week ago. Now my VSA light goes off right after. I want to add the Honda Dot 3 fluid this time, but should I do a flush since there was a different brand of fluid (forgive the noob question)? A second friend of mine was saying to just top the brake fluid off first to see if that takes care of the indicator and flush it only if it doesn't. Is that a wise thing to do? My dealer charges $110 for a brake fluid flush and I'm sure he would take 10% customer loyalty discount off of it.

Lastly, do you think it would take care of my VSA light going off (if the brake system and VSA are closely related with each other)? Once again the VSA light doesn't come on all the time. Thanks in advance for the help guys.

 

have you physically looked at the brake fluid reservoir to see if it is indeed low?
if it is low, you can add any brand of DOT3 fluid.
report back when you have done this

 

If the top of the reservoir is the max, then I am definitely running low. I don't know if you can see it as well as I could in person, but the fluid level is a bit below the base of the dispenser. Is the level low enough where it would warrant a 'Low Brake Fluid' indicator coming on?

 

 

fill it.

 

thanks guys. Just wanted to know your take. Specwise, I know my stuff about cars. but when it comes to doing the actual work, I'm a noob lol. I just wanted to know if you thought I should simply just fill it or do a full blown flush/bleed. I'll keep you guys posted.

 

well, if you wanted to get technical...
the OEM brake fluid is rated for three years..after the third year, it's supposed to get changed yearly.

 

Brought it off of Curry Acura's ebay account for the free shipping. It arrived earlier today and I topped it off but I haven't gotten a chance to drive it yet. I'll let you guys know how things turn out tomorrow. Thanks again and hopefully the issue ends here.

 

 

If I am not mistaken there is a TSB either for VSA module or brake master cylinder (can't remember exactly which one) leaking fluid do to "improper use of NON Honda DOT3 fluid".

According to my RL service history the car actually has the brake master cylinder replaced twice since 2010 to now. It paranoid me to the point now I have to stock couple big bottle of Acura DOT3 just for the RL.

 

So far so good fellas, atleast through Friday. I drove about 100 miles on it so far and the level has not moved. I have ~51k on my RL so I'll probably get a flush as part of my 60K maintenance. I'll definitely let you guys know if anything pops up between now and then. Thanks once again for the advice!