Allen Bachelder writes:
>Just $0.02 worth more. Castrol GT LMA is classified as DOT #4. I do
>always use it (except on the car I'm converting to Silicone) but the main
>thing is to use DOT #4. A lot of the stuff you see in parts stores is DOT
>#3 - avoid it!
Okay, why avoid DOT 3? Most (if not all) car makers use it at the factory.
Autocrossers and road racers are recommending Ford Heavy Duty Brake Fluid
as the "hot ticket" (it's DOT 3). Remember, DOT ratings are the
minimum performance (will meet or exceed xxx), not a ceiling value.
Also, didn't all that rubber incompatibility stuff work itself out by the
60's? I know it was true early in automotive history, but with the Miracle of
Science(tm), wasn't the rubber used in hydraulics pretty much immune to
different fluids
by 1960 or so? (Or earlier?) I doubt BL was still using natural latex for seals
in 1980.
I know I've read somewhere that most of this fluid/seal voodoo is now more
old wive's tales than truth by now, especially for those of us who have rebuilt
hydraulics with current kits.
Dave -
It is entirely possible that, perhaps a victim of such old wive's tales, I
mispoke. All I know is that I've been told numerous times by numerous
individuals to avoid DOT 3. It may be just fine, but since I don't know
that for sure, the safest and easiest solution is to avoid it in favor of
DOT 4. No - I can't imagine that boiling point is very critical to clutch
hydraulics, but it would be rather a nuisance to use DOT 3 in the clutch MC
and DOT 4 in the brake MC. And, is the brake fluid boiling point critical
in the MGB? Do we have a resident hydraulics expert to resolve this?
Thanks for adding to my meagre understanding of this. I guess my "$0.02
worth" has devaluated along with the dollar!
Allen
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