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Ok, replacing the broken break line.. What break fluid do you put in? Is it your typical dot3? Or whatever its called? Any idea how much fluid it will take to reblead the system?
The fluid is Dot 3. How much I do not know. I do know after you repair the leak, fill res. in tonge and make sure you keep fluid in it during the process. Helps to have 2 people to bleed unless you have some kind of pressure tank for that. I think you can rent one from Auto Zones or NAPA parts tsores. Good luck. pant 2 Bob
I believe dot-3 is obsolete. dot-4 is the best for boats. Still a glycol-based material that will absorb some moisture rather than letting it puddle up and cause corrosion. Dot-5 is silicone-based and is problematic for boats in that it does not absorb moisture at all. Dot-4 was created with a somewhat higher temp rating because of the disc brake temps being seen. Either should work well in a boat (3 or 4). Avoid dot-5 unless you drive a BMW or something similar which requires it.2008 Pantera Classic2014 Mercury Pro XS 200
OT57 is correct, though DOT3 is the one. You probably have some DOT3 fluid on the shelf. It does age and absorb the moisture from humidity in the air. Not like it does in the system, though it still does. DOT3 is still available and we do use it. To use DOT5 the system would have to only have had the silicone fluids used in it. You can not add DOT5 to a system that has 3 or 4 in it. It must start new with DOT5 for using that one. BCB
Friend of my son has a Mazda with hydraulics that can make the truck do crazy things. He can lower it to the ground when parked, or drive down the road with a huge tilt to either side or front-to-back. (I know, who on earth… but thats a different issue altogether). In any case, about a year ago he did something to his brake system, and added dot-5 to refill it. A couple of months ago he came over leaking brake fluid on the front two wheels. The flexible rubber lines were brittle and had developed cracks. Yet he had put them in when he added the fluid. He did the hydraulics himself, and paid no attention to how far the brake lines had to “move” as he changed the attitude. This led to brake line failure which is why he added the dot-5 after replacing them. We helped him order some longer ones to solve this and thats where the dot-5 was added, on top of dot-3. Whether the silicone-based fluid was directly causing the problem, or whether it was a result of mixing the two, I have no idea. But a new set of good-quality brake lines didnt like it. It is very similar to the R12 / R134a issues. They will mix ok but the oils used in each are different and do not mix well at all. Many of the R12-R134a conversions fail within a year because of this.2008 Pantera Classic2014 Mercury Pro XS 200
How do we know if the system was started with DOT3,4,or5? In case we need to add a little.
I dont think any boat trailer will have dot-5 in it. If so it would be clearly marked at the master cylinder. I believe BCB has said they only use dot-3 although dot-4 will work just fine and might be easier to find. BTW dot-3 and dot-4 are compatible and can be mixed with no problems. The only difference is that dot-4 will stand higher temps before boiling. Dot-5 is a different animal completely.2008 Pantera Classic2014 Mercury Pro XS 200
You guys always amaze me.. Full of information!.. Thanks!
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