why does nobody talk about brake fluid boiling points

Last summer I took my 2008 Civic up this mountain pass near Asheville and the pedal went soft halfway down, scared me pretty bad. I looked it up after and found out old brake fluid absorbs water and boils way under its rating, so I flushed it with fresh DOT 4 for like $15 in fluid and a turkey baster. Has anyone else had a scary fade moment that turned out to be just old fluid instead of a mechanical problem?

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leo_lopez1mo ago

Whoa, wait. You used a turkey baster to flush your brakes? That's wild, I gotta hear how that even worked out. I mean, I get the logic, but my brain short-circuited picturing that thing hooked up to a bleeder valve. But yeah, the water absorption thing is sneaky as hell, I had the same soft pedal scare coming down from a ski trip once and thought my caliper was toast. Turned out it was just three-year-old fluid that looked fine but was basically full of mountain moisture. Glad you caught it cheap, because that could've been a real bad day on that pass.