Re: Dot 3, 4, close the door

[Tom Jennings <tomj@xxxxxxx>]

I agree there is no reason to run silicone (DOT 5) fluid in any
ordinary street car. I do, but it's a waste of time. I wouldn't do
it again.

But I have had zero problems in 15 years of running DOT5.  I bleed
the system annually, enough to change the fluid.  New hoses, but
original steel lines (I think I did alcohol-flush when I put in
the new calipers and master cyl and rear wheel cyls).

If it ate butyl rubber, I'd know it by now. Brake system remains
perfect to this day, and I'm sure it's due to the regular
bleeding, and not the DOT5 like I originally thought.

I've read about air absorbtion, I'm sure it's true, but annual
fluid changes/bleeding appears to solve it.

I'm not recommending DOT5; I'm sure it's a waste of time [and
money, at $7/pint!] in a street/strip car. Agressive maintenance
is the path to a long-lived brake system, but DOT5 has not caused
me any problems whatsoever.




On Wed, 8 Jun 2005, lynn peterson wrote:

> Subject: Re: Dot 3, 4, close the door
>
> The use of silicone fluid should be avoided for
> several reasons. Among them, it is virtually
> impossible to completely bleed the system of air, as
> well as the fact that the fluid WILL attack seals. I
> prefer a dot 4 low mositure absorbing fluid,
> especially Castrol LMA. This fluid is especially good
> for vehicles in damp climates or ones that are not
> driven regularly. The reason is your cast iron brake
> parts are pourous, and WILL absorb water to the extent
> that the system will have problems that could lead to
> failure at the most inopertune time.
>
> regards,
>
> L. Peterson,
> KustomKemps, Portland, Or.
>
> --- Armand Eshleman <aje1@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>
> > Dot 3 and 4 brake fluids apparently are compatible.
> > Dot 5 is not compatible
> > with 3 and 4. Dot 5 is synthetic. The Dot 5 cans I
> > looked at said something
> > about not for antilock brakes unless equipped with
> > synthetic from the
> > factory. The curious thing was that the Dot 3 had a
> > higher boiling point
> > that the Dot 4, but if one is not road racing the
> > car or going down hill all
> > the time, it shouldn't matter.
> >
> > The NAPA guy sold me a big can of Dot 4 for my
> > Javelin. It has Low Moisture
> > Absorption written on the container. I know it isn't
> > Castrol LMA but it is a
> > good quality fluid.  The NAPA guy said the stuff
> > that's available at the
> > super variety stores is usually of low quality and
> > will absorb moisture more
> > readily that the Dot 4 bottle I got from him.  I
> > think the Dot 4 is the way
> > to go for AMCs that are not used every day and spend
> > much of their time
> > relaxing in the car-shed, versus flexing their
> > muscle whooping the doors off
> > of the off brands on the street.   Any opinions on
> > this?
> >
> > Thanks,
> >
> > Armand
>
>
>
>
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