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At 57K, think i need to flush out the oem brake fluid. Does the brake light come on when you bleed the brakes? I remember on older F series trucks there was a centering switch and you had to bleed the wheel cylinders in a certain sequence to cut off the brake light. |
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Quote: You might want to read THIS along with the links in my post there. Larry |
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Thanks Larry, but the link won't work for me?? |
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Quote: Hmmmm  ... then try a search in this forum using "change their brake fluid" and you should get a thread back in Sept of this year. The title of the thread was "Anybody change their brake fluid?" started on 9/11/03 by diesellee.
Larry |
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Worked greaaaaaat for me! Even ordered a pressurized tank bleeder. Looks like a nice set up. So far, none of those fancy-shmancy systems that I have tried have beat Down. Hold. Up. Down. Hold. Up. Down. Hold. Up. Down. Hold. Up. Down. Hold. Up. Down. Hold. Up. Down. Hold. Up. Thinking about giving the system to wifey for Xmas.  
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Nothing trick with this system. First get yourself some DOT brake fluid, regular stuff, no special types. Recommend DOT 4 if you tow a lot or hang around in the mountains (or chase after RichS). If you can use a turkey baster to remove fluid out of M/C reservoir so you don't have to bleed as much. Keep the cap off, have someone push the pedal down when you call out (but they should only go half way), and bleed from the longest line to the shortest until you have clear fluid. Routine for those who don't know is to push on pedal to establish pressure, open bleeder to drain, when fluid stops or person says "half way", close bleed and allow person in cab to release pedal. Wait 15 seconds and repeat. The system does not use a pressure differential valve like you mentioned. And most important of all, don't let the reservoir run out of fluid and allow air into the system. When your all done, do a few stops on a gravel or grass area to activate the ABS system, then that fluid will dissipate into the rest of the fluid. Do this every 1 or two years. |
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Hank53, I would abosolutly flush with that many miles. I'm not sure how humid it is where you live, but here in GA, it's almost always over 80%. Brake fluid is hydrophilic and this lowers the boiling point causing a myriad of problems least of which is reduced stopping ability. I just bought a new tool to try for bleeding from Phoenix Systems. You can check them out Here, I did my truck with the cheapest one from Northern @ 99.00, I was hands down the best job any tool has ever done and it's a one man operation. I liked it so much I returned it for the cahona Maxi-Ject. My brake pedal is firmer than it's ever been. I flushed 64ozs through my truck with the synthetic Dot 4+ (Valvaleen I think) using the RFI. Can't go wrong with this one. 
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Pretty straight forward, as mentioned by others. I did mine a 40K and then again at 80K and both times the fluid comes out like the color of Pepsi for the first couple of pumps. I used a quart of Prestone heavy duty Dot 3 each time I did it, I don't think your supposed use synthetic or dot 4 or dot 5 in our system. Rich |
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For those of you who are interested, I got a tip from my restoration guy. Castrol makes a brake fluid called Castrol LMA. Very hard to find. The LMA stands for "Low Moisture Activity". It resists collecting moisture. The fluid will still collect moisture, but much less than regular brake fluid. Only a little more expensive. Read here: Castrol GTLMA Brake Fluid Quote: The manual specifies HD DOT Type 3 fluid. |
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You want the fluid to absorb the moister. Other wise the moister separates from the fluid and causes corrosion to the metal componates in the brake system.  Wayne B |
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DOT 3 and 4 are the same base stock, but 4 has a higher boiling point. Use only those. I will never use LMA again in my life. hy·gro·scop·ic Pronunciation: "hI-gr&-'skä-pik Function: adjective Etymology: hygroscope, an instrument showing changes in humidity + [1]-ic; from the use of such materials in the hygroscope Date: 1790 1 : readily taking up and retaining moisture 2 : taken up and retained under some conditions of humidity and temperature <hygroscopic water in clay> - hy·gro·scop·ic·i·ty /-(")skä-'pi-s&-tE/ noun. |
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Quote: OK. I give up. Why? Jack - I very much appreciate your opinions and you have changed my mind about a lot of things. I also realize that you put in a lot of time into answering at length, a great number of questions. I have seen some of your 2 page dissertations. But I have a professional auto restorer, one that has been in the business maybe 30 years and had cars featured in national magazines telling me that LMA is the only thing that they use. So, if you have had problems. I want to hear them so I can compare notes. |
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Quote: How does the fluid get in? My understanding is that it absorbs humidity from the air. If the fluid is resistant to fluid absorption, then it will not absorb as much fluid out of the air. So how could this be bad? |
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Jeff, I have seen the fluid turn into jelly in the calipers and wheel cylinders of my '66 GT-350's and motorcycle after some down time. I have never, never seen any brake fluid do that before. These were full cleaned, rebuild hardware where I used LMA as the assembly fluid as well as the brake fluid, so it was not a reaction between the LMA and normal assembly lube associated with the rebuild kits. It's possible I got a bad batch of fluid or something, but happy to just do flushes every year. If you don't road the vehicles, then my rec would be the silicone fluid. But for environmental exposure situations, I am staying with the DOT 3/4 materials. The systems are not sealed all that well. There still is some leakage around the M/C reservoir caps, and moisture seems to get sucked in around caliper and wheel cylinder seals. I have tried an the W/C's to seal the boots to the pushrod and bodies with sealant to no avail. It will still get in there with the heating and cooling of road use. Even the K/H (CT} guys will state there can be some absorption through the hoses. Haven't figured that one out, but so I'm told. |
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Quote: I tried silicone fluid in one of my cars. Stupid stuff gets all over and you can't clean it up. My restore guy doesn't like it either. Says that it is too thin and seeps around all the plunger and seals. With my limited experience, I have to agree. Hard to keep it from seeping at connections. I have had LMA is 2-3 of my cars for a couple of years now. Looks/smells/acts just like regular brake fluid. None of the gelling issues that you speak of. Apparently, the restore guy has not had these problems either. LMA is all he uses and he's got a pretty good-sized shop. |
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Bleeding brake fluid tips
Re: Bleeding brake fluid tips
