John,
Some on the list will tell you there is a real advantage to switching to
silicone brake fluid but in reality there is none. Silicone brake fluid was
developed for the military for extreme temperatures ie. artic and desert. The
silicone does not adsorb water and has a higher boiling temperature. The
silicone fluid will areate if you are not very careful when filing the system
and then you will still get air mixed in the fluid. If you do it is very hard
to remove. As with any change over you should start fresh if you are going to
change to silicone fluid. Replace all rubber cups, seals, brake hoses, clutch
hose any thing that had contact with DOT 3/4 brake fluid. Bleed system as per
the manual.
Regular brake fluid, DOT3/4, is fine but adsorbs water over time from
condensation and will mar paint if spilled. Both fluids should be flushed
every two to three years to clean out contaminants.
Whether you use silicone, DOT 5, or regular, DOT 3/4, is a matter of personal
opinion both are approved.
Jerry
BN2
John Peak <redbn7@yahoo.com> wrote:
Other than the paint thing (not an issue on my unrestored driver) are there any
real advantages to using silicone brake fluid in a Healey?
John Peak
'59 BN7
davidwjones wrote:
True the silicon costs a bit more, but not as much as paint.... I went to
silicon brake fluid after a complete restoration, mainly because if there is a
spill or a leak, it has the added benefit of not eating paint.
Dave J.
----- Original Message -----
From: Mark and Kathy
To: healeys@autox.team.net
Sent: Monday, May 30, 2005 9:05 AM
Subject: Re: Silicone Brk. Fluid
In my findings the consensus has been to replace ALL rubber seals. This is
a decision best done after a complete brake job, including rubber seals.
You can just flush the system and it may work for awhile, but chances are it
will create problems down the road.
My experience was that the silicone tended to cause the rubbers to swell
excessively when I just flushed the old system. The wheel cylinders became
too firm with VERY HARD brake peddle. Only the front disc brakes were
working. So instead of improving my braking it made things much worst.
I have run silicone in many of my cars and have had good results also. I
suggest that you use a well know companies product and change ALL your
rubbers and it should last for a long time. Remember that this stuff costs
twice as much as Dot 4 so one leaky seal is money down the drain.
And as I have mentioned on the list before, silicone will also swell the
seals in an Easy Bleed system over time and makes the seals unusable. I
learned that the hard , expensive way.
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