[Healeys] Brake Fluid -- Silicone vs. glycol

[Richard Collins]

I had one and it worked well. Lasted about 2 years.
My wrench has one and swears by it. But other than the Healey, I track my cars so change fluid frequently. DOT4 HiTemp for them, DOT4 regular for the Healey. No problems.  Never used silicone even though I completely rebuilt and or replaced the Healey system last year (calipers, drums, and lines)

Regards,
Richard C
BN7 440

On Jul 26, 2021, at 15:26, Roger Grace via Healeys <healeys at autox.team.net> wrote:


Does anyone have an opinion as to the accuracy of those cheepo pen style brake fluid moisture detectors ?
You dip the probes into the reservoir and they give led indication for range % moisture present.
Just wondering ... ??
rg

On Mon, Jul 26, 2021 at 4:55 AM bluehealey <bluehealey at gmail.com<mailto:bluehealey at gmail.com>> wrote:
Now that is a perfect checklist Simon. Captures everything you need to know.
In addition I work on the basis that glycol mixtures, if neglected (not flushed) for more than 3-4 years, can cause minor problems with the hardware.
Silicone, if neglected for a similar period, can cause major problems with the hardware.
Guess which I choose to use.

AlanB - iPhone message.

> On 26 Jul 2021, at 09:57, Simon Lachlan via Healeys <healeys at autox.team.net<mailto:healeys at autox.team.net>> wrote:
>
> 
>
> I was getting myself in a muddle over brake fluid once so I made myself some
> notes. Probably pinched from Google; I don't recall:-
>
> 1)    All brake fluid is "synthetic".it's not a "natural" product.
> 2)    Most synthetic fluids are NOT silicone. They are polyethylene glycol
> ether based.
> 3)    DOT 3 & 4, which can be mixed, are not silicone. They are glycol.
> 4)    DOT 5, which cannot be mixed with 3 or 4, is silicone. Can't be
> mixed with anything!
> 5)    DOT 5.1 is glycol based and cannot be mixed with DOT 5.
> 6)    DOT 5.1 can be mixed with DOT 3 or 4, as both are glycol based.
>
> The word "synthetic" began to appear when manufacturers worked out that it
> made regular brake fluid sound more special ie they could charge us more
> money for the same old stuff.
>
> DOT stands for Dept. Of Transport and relates to the fluids' boiling points.
> If a car brakes at high speed, the brakes get hot. Some heat is carried away
> from the brakes by the brake fluid. Bad news if the fluid boils! The faster
> you're going, the higher DOT you need. Higher DOT numbers indicate higher
> boiling points for "Dry" fluid (has not absorbed any water) and "Wet" fluids
> (has absorbed water). ie, the wetter it is, the more problematic it becomes.
> Mixing 3 with 4 lowers the boiling points and vice verca.
>
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