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Re: Brake Fluid DOT 4 or 5?

To: "Tony Rhodes" <ARhodes@compuserve.com>, <musson@chekhov.arts.usf.edu>, "Triumph List" <triumphs@autox.team.net>
Subject: Re: Brake Fluid DOT 4 or 5?
From: "Irv Korey" <emanteno@attglobal.net>
Date: Mon, 21 Aug 2000 21:47:08 -0500charset="iso-8859-1"
References: <200008212240_MC2-B07D-8479@compuserve.com>

----- Original Message -----
From: Tony Rhodes <ARhodes@compuserve.com>
> Carl,
> One other issue.  I have found the DOT 5 to be "spongier" even after
proper bleeding.
> On the brakes, this was not an issue for me, but it seemed to make it
harder to get crisp
> clutch engagement.
>
> I still vote for DOT 5 on the "show" car, and maybe even on the daily
driver.
> The issue about paint is a real one.  Some brands are worse on paint than
others
> in my experience.  Castrol LMA seems particularly harsh on paint.

DOT 5 IS difficult to bleed. Just the act of pouring it into the master
cylinder causes it to form many, many minute bubbles. However, if you bleed
it, let the car sit for a day or 2, bleed again, let it sit and bleed again,
you will be rewarded with a good solid pedal as well as the piece of mind
from knowing that if your master cylinders leak, your paint will not be
destroyed, and since it doesn't absorb water like glycol based fluids, your
brake and clutch hydraulics internal bits will not rust. The reason it
improves after sitting is that the bubbles tend to find each other and
combine, making them easier to bleed.

Irv Korey
74 TR6 CF22767U with A type o/d since 1983 and DOT 5 since 1988.
TR4 VSDCA Group 2 #58 (Look for me near the back of the pack)
Highland Park, IL


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