I saw this posted by TypeFD and it raised my curiosity.

I understand the SS brake lines, and I understand the idea of flushing brake fluid, but what about using alcohol to flush and silicone? Can anyone explain this to me?

 

I would just use a colored brake fluid like ATE.

 

Yeah, I did that when I flushed my brakes a month or so back. Seemed reasonable at the time, particularly since I should flush the brakes a lot more frequently than they had been.

 

Yeah just flush with brake fluid until you get nice clean fluid at each caliper. That guy was probably using alcohol to remove the previous DOT 3/4 fluid before switching to silicone (DOT 5) fluid. I wouldn't use silicone fluid, rather stick to a good DOT 4 fluid like ATE or Motul if you run on the track, otherwise cheaper fluids with lower boiling points are fine. Plenty of information on DOT 5 fluids out there if you want to learn more.

 

Thanks. That was the information I was looking for.

 

On my cars I alternate ATE Blue and Gold - easy to see when you done (color change) Do it once every year or two

On FD I rebuilt calipers. Mainly because I didn't know when fluid was flushed last time and wanted to get calipers clean. Yes, there was lot of crud there even after flush.

 

+1, I do this too . . .

:-) neil

 

Sounds like a winter project.

 

I know I'm late to the party but hey, I just came across this and they say it's better late than never. So...

Dhays - I'm sure you're probably done with this but if you're still interested here is what I did:

- Removed old brake fluid by introducing alcohol to the system and bleeding at all 4 wheels. I couldn't believe the grime that came out of my lines. If you look at my brake reservoir in some of those pictures on my thread you saw me talking about this topic, you will see that it's completely black!
- Flushed alcohol with Valvoline Dot 3 & 4 Synthetic making sure I introduced enough fluid to complete replace any alcohol that may be in the system.
- Topped it off and bled the system and off I went.

The reason I used Valvoline Dot 3 & 4 Synthetic was because it was easily available at a local auto store and is a good economic substitute to OEM fluid for a street driven FD. I was specific not to use DOT 5 as it is a lot more hassle than it's worth. Additionally, with annual fluid flush I just didn't think that investing in a higher end fluids was feasible for my street FD. I'd rather flush often than let it sit in there longer as some have suggested with higher end fluids.

Something to keep in mind, when you're doing this, if your master/slave is worn out it will probably give out shortly after (mine did) so if you can get at it, I'd recommend either rebuilding it or replacing it same time.

Hope this helps.