All I have to do is look at all the damage done to my TR3 over the 'DPO'
years by leaking brake fluid, to convince me there _is_ a reason to
switch to DOT 5 even in a healthy system. If you use glycol in a LBC,
it _will_ eventually leak, and it _will_ eat the paint in places that
are not easily accessible.
I saw a car at Triumphest that simply had "DOT 5 ONLY" written with
Magic Marker on the plastic MC cover. Not exactly concours, but quite
effective. Of course, the same idiot who wouldn't notice you had DOT 5
might well think that was the windshield washer reservoir and put water
in it ...
BTW, DOT 5 mixed with DOT 3/4 is no worse than DOT 3/4 by itself. They
are completely compatible, although the DOT 5 stays separate. It does
tend to make the gradual deterioration of the DOT 3/4 more obvious,
though.
Randall
59 TR3A daily driver
David Massey wrote:
>
> 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.
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