hot topic of the day....Brake fluid

[Mullet Man]

OK,

so i have never done much reading up on brake fluid, who has?

anyway, i have around the shee, some DOT3 and some DOT5. problem is the brake reservoir says DOT4 is to be used only.

 

why? what is the difference?

whats going to happen if i use DOT3 or DOT5?

[wesw]

nothing.

 

but work if you bleed them correctly

[nunyabinness]

Mullet, which res. says dot 4 only? my front res. says dot 3 or dot 4 and it is from a banshee. but like you i don't know what the difference is. maybe the viscosity or breakdown point? IDK. i would tend to agree with WESW that it ain't gonna hurt anything to run a different brake fluid.

[Mullet Man]

stock master on my '03 says dot4

 

i figured probably nothing

 

only reason i asked is all cars i have ever done brake jobs on, i used only what the master cap said to!

[HotCarl]

Dot 3 and 4 can be used together, because they are similar in their make up. They both will remove water that can get in lines, and they both have similar corrosive characteristics. Dot 5 however is a different make up, silicon I believe. Dot 5 can not be used in systems that contain dot 3 or 4. Dot 5 also needs to be used in systems that have tighter seals because it is thinner and does not absorb moisture like the others. So if you get water in your line with dot 5 it stays in little bb's and then boils when you heat up the fluid.

 

Basically use either 3 or 4 but not 5 unless you are running brakes designed for dot 5 and 5.1

[Mullet Man]

interesting.

 

hmmm, i will just go buy some dot4 to be on the safe side.

[jbooker82]

Dot 3 and 4 can be used together, because they are similar in their make up. They both will remove water that can get in lines, and they both have similar corrosive characteristics. Dot 5 however is a different make up, silicon I believe. Dot 5 can not be used in systems that contain dot 3 or 4. Dot 5 also needs to be used in systems that have tighter seals because it is thinner and does not absorb moisture like the others. So if you get water in your line with dot 5 it stays in little bb's and then boils when you heat up the fluid.

 

Basically use either 3 or 4 but not 5 unless you are running brakes designed for dot 5 and 5.1

 

Like he said. DOT 5 has a higher temp rating. It helps keep your brakes from fading caused by heat. Weather you need that or not you can chose. If you want to run DOT 5 you just have to make sure that you have all DOT 5. Just flush the system out. If you doing brake work you should flush the system out regardless of what DOT fluid you want to use. Brake fluid can get pretty nasty.

 

josh

[Mullet Man]