Interesting chatter about the silicone fluids. Go to the Mini Mania
web site and you'll find yet another article on the subject.
> In a message dated 6/19/01 6:52:17 AM Pacific Daylight Time,
> JWoesvra@aol.com
> writes:
>
> <<
> << There's millions of anecdotal failures all warning "it didn't work for
> me". What do you see as the failure point? I live in the desert and don't
> live with the common absorption problems but even out here I've heard the
> stories. Can you two enlighten us all? >>
> >>
>
> I think that the biggest problem is that first time users of silicone brake
> fluid pump the pedal vigorously to blead the brakes which is a problem with
> silicone. Silicone has a greater viscosity that DOT 3 and will capture air
> like a jar of honey when you shake it up. I use a vacume bleader (it hooks
> up to your compressor and sucks the brake fluid out of the bleader valve)
> and
> don't have a problem.
>
> To take full advantage of silicone, you should start with a completly
> rebuilt
> system. I think that many of the problems start here. I started with
> clean
> lines and fresh wheel cylinders on John Brookmans racing MGTD. I used a
> new
> master cylinder from Moss Motors. I couldn't get any fluid out of the
> wheel
> cylinders no mater how hard I tried. Finally I cracked the line on the
> master and couldn't get any fluid to pump out. Took off the master and
> took
> it apart and found that the check valve was in backwards. I think that
> this
> the kind of problem that gets blamed on silicone brake fluid: new or
> rebuilt
> parts that are not 100% spot on and adjusted properly (especially pedal
> pustrod length/adjustment, or old margenal brake hoses). The cost of
> silicone fluid makes many first time users upset when they have a problem
> and
> waste a quart or more of fluid to get a firm pedal and they give up and go
> back to DOT3 etc.
>
> I hope this helps,
>
> Rod Schweiger
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