I have a 2016 Toyota Rav4 automatic transmission with 43000 miles. Some say you should take off master cylinder reservoir cap when pushing piston back into caliper after changing brake pads. Is this really necessary? Would you change brake fluid at this time?
I've just done my pads, front and back but I've not removed the cap when I did it with no problems. Your service schedule in your manual should indicate when to replace the brake fluid, but it's usually every 2-3 years regardless of mileage due to the its hydroscopic nature. I bled and replaced with fresh brake fluid this time when I did the pads because it's convenient to do so when you have the wheels off. I hope this helps!
I posed a similar question to Scotty a while back about not removing the cap to the reservoir. He responded that as long as you compress the piston very slowly it is not necessary.
Well, if the master is full of brake fluid, it may overflow when you compress the calipers.
That may be the only reason to remove the cap.
Too early to bleed the brake fluid. But personally, I bleed the fluid out every pad change, if only because it's cheap and gives me something else to do.
