Message text written by "Alan"
>i have been thinking about changing to silicone bake fluid, but was told i
would have to replace my whole brake system, which seemed like a bit much.
Is it possible to flush out dot 3 with silicone or dot 5.
thanks
<
Al,
This is just my opinion but ...
If you are rebuilding the braking system anyway it woud be a good time to
consider converting over to DOT5. If you have a perfectly functioning
system, changing to DOT5 is a royal pain and not worth the effort.
(remember, this is just my opinion)
When I rebuilt my TR6 I converted to DOT 5 but then I had a brand new
master, new rear cylinders and rebuilt calipers. And new hoses and
thuroughly flushed steel lines. The performance, as far as I can tell, is
indistiguishable from DOT4. So much so that when I rebuilt my TR8 (same
thing, new master, rebuilt calipers, etc) I stayed with DOT4. The reason?
My primary concern with DOT5 is that some third party doing a service on
the car might top up the brake reservoir with DOT4 fluid. Then I would
have a mix of DOT4 and DOT5.
And since the TR7/8 master cylinder has, molded into the plastic
reservoir, the words "Use DOT3 Fliud only" (or something to that effect)
and not having any tags or lables in large, contrasting letters stating to
use DOT5 only I elected to not swim up that stream.
Again, this is just my opinion. But then all three of my cars are on the
road, the TR6 went 1,600 miles to Hudson WI in 1998, 4,000 miles to Maine
in 1999 and the TR8 covered 6,000 miles to Oregon and back this year. In
other words, they are drivers.
Dave Massey
57 TR3
71 TR6
80 TR8
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