Brake fluid?
Hi hi
Does the it really matter what kind of brake fluid I use for my ge230 93 model g class?
No .. as long as it is not Silicone based (DOT 5).
I buy a fresh litre of DOT 5.1 .. and use it on ALL on a vehicle .. £12-13 and that grade is the best normal stuff that lasts the longest with the highest temperatures. Flush thrhough with 10 pumps to each circuits just to clean it through..then you can start to bleed it. TRW is Lucas by a new name .. so a good quality... they will get rebranded soon as they have just been bought over by the Germans.
I got some Pagid stuff only dot 4, but a fiver delivered from ECP, I think the important thing is to change it, Eazibleed makes this much easier. Did boil brakefluid in Spanish mountains, luckily not going fast and G handbrake is fantastic, but that was old fluid!!
I presume your G has ABS? For some reason ignition must be off when pressure bleeding
If it has ABS be very careful not to allow the fluid to drain out.. cap the hoses as soon as you split them and put cling flim over the reservoir to keep it in the hoses. I would probably let the fluid run out of a new pipe before the ABS, then quickly jam it into the ABS.
I used to bleed cars for a living with pedal stroke/force sensors in a car and brake factory. We would do a factory vacuum pull and bleed on a dry factory system and get a great pedal/bleed. If we broke into the system and let the air into the ABS we never got as good a pedal.. maybe 20% longer pedal stroke for the same pressure. This is because the ABS has so many crevices that were never designed to be bleed so they hold pockets of air.
By thrashing the pedal hard up and down you can entrains some of this air into foam .. and then pull the foam out with fast low pressure bleeding. In fact we could improve factory pedals by about 3-4% by doing this. So ABS can be recovered over a few bleeds..but there is no reason to risk it if you know and are careful.
Use only a mineral based brake fluid; commonly available in DOT 4 and as one most used in the Motor Industry therefore at the cheapest market price respectively. Higher spec mineral base fluids are available as due to their specialty will be that much more expensive - not necessary and over engineered for the vehicle and its daily use. For get converting to silicone; again an over engineered requirement for your use.
It is recommended that if possible renew brake fluid in spring and this should be done every two years. Should you be in the high land exposed to humid atmosphere and, or fording a lot then I would suggest an annual renewal.
NOTE: Brake fluid testing is available and offered by garages but remember these are commercially motivated to earn and generate money therefore will persuade you to renew regardless. Although the cost is more, pedantically a test sample should be drawn at the wheel caliper or cylinder for testing. All testing garages test with a sample drawn from the reservoir directly. One may argue that the reservoir end has more of a chance of absorbing moisture from the atmosphere as the cap has a tiny vent to allow for equilibrium of pressure acting within and externally of brake reservoir.
There are various methods of bleeding which involve pressure or vacuum bleeding, Each has its operational advantages and tooling costs. If a frequent renewal is conducted the disadvantage iron out and are a small consideration.
The sequence of bleeding is work from the furthest circuit away form the brake reservoir and work your way to the closest. Do not reuse old or freshly expended brake fluid and do dispose in drains. These can be mixed with antifreeze and , or old coolant. I do not know if recycling centers accept old coolant disposal as they do with old oil; if not ask a friendly garage if this can be disposed at there collection reservoirs. If they do not have a coolant collection reservoir; undoubtedly, they are in environmentally in breach of regulations, it does cost them money to meet this requirement.
Use DOT 4 as stated. I have nothing good to say about DOT5 on older cars. It has eaten seals in 2 master cylinders and caused NO brakes on a few classics so stick to DOT 4 and change it each year or 2. I use a Mityvac (the metal body one). Its very quick.
DOT 5 is silicone based and should not be used. It is not hygroscopic and will damage incompatible seals.
( I used to think that being hygroscopic (absorbing water moisture from the atmosphere) was a bad thing for brake fluids, but actually it's good in that it keeps water in the fluid rather than letting it settle at the lowest points in the braking system, such as in the calipers corroding the parts an waiting to turn into steam during heavy braking. This is why it is recommended to change brake-fluid every two years, before it absorbers too much water/moisture, reducing its boiling point. too far)
DOT 4 and DOT 5.1 are both fine.
DOT 5.1. should have slightly higher boiling point, but I see that these days there is also DOT 4 plus and similar brews, which are pretty much the same in properties as DOT 5.1. I think that with the confusion between DOT 5 and DOT 5.1 manufacturers are reverting to DOT 4 labeling. The higher-performance ones are based on synthetic formulas. Then you also have DOT 4 ESP fluids which are less viscous to work better with ESP stability and traction-control type systems.
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