Various people mumble about DOT3 and DOT4, and Akkana asks "how clean is clean":
When Sarah (my TR-4A) was "new" (that is, last September), the owner
told me "the clutch master cylinder leaks a bit -- I have to top it up
every week". A week or so later, while I'd been topping it up daily, I
found the container of DOT3 fluid she'd been using. I figured as much,
because instead of being nice and clear, the clutch reservoir was
cloudy gray. Brake fluid was pooling around the pedal housing and
dripping onto my feet. The brake master cylinder wasn't looking all
that dry, either.
When the clutch stopped operating altogether a few days later, I got a
friend (hi Scott!) to help me rebuild the master and slave cylinders
and flush both systems with Castrol LMA. The rubber bits that I took
out of the clutch hydraulics were basically in tatters.
We knew when to stop flushing the brakes because the difference was so
obvious -- transparent fluid in the bleed instead of gray particulates.
Apparently the DOT3 crap had never gotten to the wheel cylinders; it
all kept leaking out the master. The master now leaks a tablespoon a
week (it's close to the top of the list of things to be fixed), and the
slaves don't leak at all.
I won't use anything but Castrol LMA. I can't prove it was the DOT3,
either, but I don't take chances with brakes (either).
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