Fluidplay

I need to add brake fluid due to leak (which has been found! YEEEHA) can I use any dot 3 or 4 fluid? Clark's mentions that you shouldn't mix. I don't now what the P-shop used....how critical is this?
Thanks guys!

ehall

You're going to have to bleed the system anyway. May as well push it all out and refill/bleed.

Fluidplay

that's not what I wanted to hear...

ehall

What we want to hear and what we need to hear are hardly ever the same.

Fluidplay

...as always, just a touch profound, but oh so true. Looks like I get a new tool for the garage...Motive "Power Bleeder".

2bridges

for street duty you could get away with mixing, but as Ehall brings up, this would be a fine time to flush with fresh fluid, and maybe a better fluid as well at least an ATE blue/gold. You will be glad you did for DE/track use

jmj951

I had no choice but to mix DOT3 and DOT4 at the track, and it worked out fine for four sessions, then started to get soft, but also, I was burning the fluid in the calipers (even with extra ducting for brake cooling). I had Pagid orange pads and was way too hard on the brakes trying to get the most out of my straight speeds. I now have a Motive bleeder and ATE Super Blue. Tip: I found the best price for a Motive bleeder on Amazon. Quite a bit cheaper than buying direct from Motive. Good luck.

ehall

paragon-products is also a good place to buy one.

2bridges

apex performance

http://www.apexperformance.net/
- Rennlist member discount, best price I found.

LOVE apex performance!

Many transactions and thousands $$ with them and Jamie and Linda are awsome!
My first choice for race equipment

LFA951

I use the Valvoline Brake fluid in a beige bottle

blodstrupmoen

Best tool you ever buy ..

jmj951

HELP. I finally had time to use my own new Motive bleeder last night, after replacing my front rotors and replacing the rubber brake lines with braided SS lines. It didn't go well, car is still on jack stands, I need help. It's my fault. I use spacers on the front and my normal routine for torqueing them down is to have my wife hold the brake while I torque. It was about 2am as I'm trying to finish this up and I forgot that I had leaked out a bunch of brake fluid when replacing the brake lines and hadn't yet refilled it. The pedal went straight to the floor, but my wife didn't stop there, she pumped the brake a few more times for good measure. Something is really screwed up now. I power-bled both sides of all calipers and can't get any air out of them, but the pedal is still VERY soft, not even safe to drive. What did I do to it? (I have used a Motive bleeder twice before and had no problems, but obviously something is different this time). Do I need to bleed the clutch cylinder now, or somehow bleed the brake master cylinder (and if so, how)?

Fluidplay

Sounds like you either got air in the line from an empty reservoir or something wasn't closed...
I'm sure you looked for fluid somewhere so I would suspect air in the lines. Go back to step 1...fill the reservoir and start with the right rear and re-bleed the lines. Sorry to hear that.

jmj951

The insides of both front calipers were the culprit, probably due to unusual pockets of air as a result of changing the brake lines - the rears are not a problem because the location of the rubber brake line is basically above the caliper, but with the fronts, you end up draining quite a bit of the calipers when the brake line is disconnected. I bled them twice on Sunday, all wheels in the right order and outside-to-in, but no luck. There's something about sitting for a few days that brought the air up to the top of the caliper and let it bleed out. I guess I need to get a rubber mallet so I can smack the air loose. I spent an hour Sunday trying to knock this out. Spent ten minutes this morning and it was done. Pedal is rock hard! Love it! SS-braided lines and ATE super blue, with Pagid pads on Cryogenics slotted rotors. Now if we can only train the driver to brake properly...

sawood12

When I installed my Big Black kit and SS hoses and used an 'easy bleed' kit (that attaches to your spare wheel valve) I found that once the old fluid had been purged and no visible air bubbles were in the line, if I hit the caliper with my fist a few times i'd get very tiny air bubbles. I repeated this process many times and the air kept on coming. Bleeding these things is definately a PITA. Maybe bleeding by the old fashioned manual two-person method is the way to go. It could be that these air-driven bleed kits are introducing air into the system as you bleed.

Do left had drive cars share the same hydraulic system with the clutch? If so shouldn't you have to bleed the clutch at the same time?