Heads up on Brake fluids LOL

[jinks]

Well, I'm a dummy, LOL. A few days ago I cleaned out my front brake reservoir. Made it nice & clean , then refilled it and bled the front brakes. Well today I get ready to go for a ride and...........My front brake is TOTALY Spongy !! It was awful. What the heck is going on here !!! I just couldn't think of any explanation that would cause this. So I tried bleeding the brakes...again & again......still awful. ARRRGGG!!! I finally ran out of brake fluid so I went to the Parts Store to get some more. I casually explained my Dilemma to the counter guy . He says "you didn't mix DOT 3 with Dot 5 did you" ? Now he's got me thinking,..did I ? He explained that the Dot 5 is a silicone base & it WONT mix with dot 3 or 4. So I bought a Large container of dot 4,....went home and inspected the oil in my brake reservoir. YUP, you could tell the 2 different fluids were Not mixing. So Off with the brake hoses, and calipers ECT,....cleaned them all out,....installed the Dot 4 and my brakes have never been firmer !! You can mix 3 & 4 but not with 5. Hope this helps others out there.

 

[one2dmax]

You can with 5.1

If you added in DOT 5 you may have to end up replacing a lot of brake parts at some point as contamination between the two fluids causing swelling of the rubber parts.

 

[rzwanink]

Thats correct Sean. Dot 3 and 4 and 5.1 are the same. Only diffrent in temp/heat iperations.

Dot 5 is a whole other kind of fluid

 

[wildweasel_pt]

Like Sean mentioned better clean up before it can cause damage to the rubbers. Be careful with the paint as the dot 3,4 and 5.1 are glycol based and it eats the paint

 

[jinks]

Thanx for all the Advice & input guys. will use preventative measures.

 

[sdt354]

Thats correct Sean. Dot 3 and 4 and 5.1 are the same. Only diffrent in temp/heat iperations.

Dot 5 is a whole other kind of fluid

Great paint removers...lol. Except the 5.1. I always seem to have my masters looking like crap from the brake fluid. As an experiment I flushed out my rear master with alcohol, hardware store type. I did it until it came out clean. Then I put Dot 5 in.
It's been about two seasons now without an issue. I've got some nice FJR masters I don't want to get all F'd up and will now go with Dot 5 when I put them on. Hopefully no issues for the sake of vanity.
Steve-o

 

[radley]

Well, I'm a dummy, LOL. A few days ago I cleaned out my front brake reservoir. Made it nice & clean , then refilled it and bled the front brakes. Well today I get ready to go for a ride and...........My front brake is TOTALY Spongy !! It was awful. What the heck is going on here !!! I just couldn't think of any explanation that would cause this. So I tried bleeding the brakes...again & again......still awful. ARRRGGG!!! I finally ran out of brake fluid so I went to the Parts Store to get some more. I casually explained my Dilemma to the counter guy . He says "you didn't mix DOT 3 with Dot 5 did you" ? Now he's got me thinking,..did I ? He explained that the Dot 5 is a silicone base & it WONT mix with dot 3 or 4. So I bought a Large container of dot 4,....went home and inspected the oil in my brake reservoir. YUP, you could tell the 2 different fluids were Not mixing. So Off with the brake hoses, and calipers ECT,....cleaned them all out,....installed the Dot 4 and my brakes have never been firmer !! You can mix 3 & 4 but not with 5. Hope this helps others out there.

good to know, thanks for the info!

 

[maleko89]

I wouldn't even bother with 5.0. It's not worth the trouble and you really don't get a whole lot unless you're a die-hard racer lol.

Sent from my SM-G920P using Tapatalk

 

[sdt354]

You get fluid that won't eat your paint off. Other than that, agree, no real benifit.
Steve

 

[forestdaledave]

I wouldn't even bother with 5.0. It's not worth the trouble and you really don't get a whole lot unless you're a die-hard racer lol.

Sent from my SM-G920P using Tapatalk

Yup, better left to Racers. Silicon based brake fluid will not absolve moisture like regular brake fluid does.
Forestdaledave