[DeTomaso] Brake fluid Dot 5

[MICHAEL DREW]

Rich,

When it comes to brake fluid you need to pick a lane. DOT5 and DOT3/4 are completely incompatible. 

DOT5 is intended for museum cars that won’t be driven. It lasts forever and allows the brakes to work and will prevent corrosion. But the brakes won’t work very well and the pedal will be squishy. 

If you intend to actually drive the car you need DOT4. When 4 and 5 are combined the chemicals react and it turns into a horrible mess. So you can’t just think you can pour DOT4 in the system and bleed the brakes until the DOT5 is all gone. It will
Completely plug up the brake system. 

You need to completely drain the whole system of DOT5, then run multiple cans of brake cleaner through the whole system to ensure there is not one drop of DOT5 remaining.  I would remove the supply line from each caliper to the hard lines, open the caliper bleeders fully, and blow a whole can of brake cleaner through each flex hose, into and through the caliper and out the bleeder into a catch bottle. 

DOT5 is really bad news….

Mike

Sent from my iPhone

> On Nov 17, 2021, at 07:25, Rich Hoppe <richbhoppe at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
>    I am restoring my car to original.
>   So I have the rebuilt original brake calipers on the car.
>   I wanted to individually bleed the calipers as I connected them.
>   Then in the next step change the master/booster over to original after
>   rebuild.
>   It turns out I currently have Dot 5 fluid in the system.
>   Can I continue to use Dot 5 in the system?
>   Or do I need to flush and go to Dot 4?
>   Thanks
>   Rich Hoppe
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