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What do you do with the left over1/2 quart?

Discussion in 'Fred's House of Pancakes' started by Robmoo, Jul 15, 2017.

  1. frodoz737

    frodoz737 Top Wrench

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    Never worked on Alphas, but interesting to here they used DOT 5. The only vehicle I have, or ever had, that uses DOT 5 is my work buggy which is a 2006 Club Car Carryall 295.
     
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  2. HPrimeAdvanced

    HPrimeAdvanced Senior Member

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    When I upgraded my brakelines and other brake hardware on my '69 GTV Turbo, I had mechanic install silicon brake fluid rated at DOT 5, due to it's not being hygroscopic like regular brake fluid. Everything in that car was built to extreme standards, including an Ak Miller custom-fabricated airbox for the fuel injection, and alcohol injection for high turbo pressure!! It was my favorite car ever!!

    .
     
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  3. Stevewoods

    Stevewoods Senior Member

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    If it is the same Ak Miller, and I assume it was, he's my uncle....of course long dead now.

    I worked for a short time as a teen in the MIller Bros. Garage.

    Ak Miller History - Hot Rod Network

    Some wild "boys." The stories I could tell, but can't. The family would disown me. LOL!
     
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  4. Trollbait

    Trollbait It's a D&D thing

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    Yes, it isn't hygroscopic. That just means the moisture that gets into the system just works its way down to the brakes and pools there. Which then boils under hard braking.
    DOT 5 is used in performance and racing cars because of its higher boiling point, but those cars see more regular maintenance in terms of fluid changes and tear downs than daily drivers.
     
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  5. a_gray_prius

    a_gray_prius Rare Non-Old-Blowhard Priuschat Member

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    I buy 5qt jugs @ Walmart. I keep a remnants jug to collect the remaining oil. IIRC Mobil technically recommends usage within a year, but there's really no use limit (I probably wouldn't want to use super old oil though).
     
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  6. HPrimeAdvanced

    HPrimeAdvanced Senior Member

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    Trust me, that car was 23 years old with 260,000+ miles when I had to sell it (divorce, etc.) and was maintained by the book. The ATE brakes on Alfa Romeos of that era are legendary with the twin Bonaldi boosters. My brother-in-law in Texas still has his 1969 1750 Spider Veloce which I had conned him into buying. With daily-use cars that old, you see rust in the slave cylinders etc., which the silicone brake fluid stopped for the 7 years or so that I used it. It was a lot of work for the mechanic who had to carefully remove all traces of the old/standard brake fluid.
    Alfas approach a religious experience for us Alfaholics ! Though it was my daily driver, I even time-trialed it at Riverside before they destroyed that wonderful track for condos (condoms ) and apartments!
    Those were the days!

    .
     
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  7. Trollbait

    Trollbait It's a D&D thing

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    Just wanted to point out that the DOT 5 doesn't keep water out of the system, and for people that don't bleed their brakes regularly, which is most, the water gets concentrated down in the brakes where it causes problems.
     
  8. HPrimeAdvanced

    HPrimeAdvanced Senior Member

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    Just askin', how do you get water into a closed brake system? If you flush and bleed brakes when pads are changed, aren't you ahead of the game with DOT 5 silicone?

    .
     
  9. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    The reservoir is not air-tight, fwiw.
     
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  10. Trollbait

    Trollbait It's a D&D thing

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    The same way it does with glycerol; the system isn't hermatically sealed. Yes, the glycerol will have some water in it before being added, but more gets in over time. I don't mean to imply that DOT 5 fluid will see as much water in the system than DOT 3 or 4; it will see much less, but that does not make it immune to the risks of water. DOT 5 does mean you just have to get the fluid out by the brakes, and not all of it, to remove any excess water.

    Whenever I replaced brake pads, I just just pushed the caliper in. I know not best practice, but bleeding can be messy, and the valves in the brake system may not allow bleeding with the wheel off the ground.
     
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  11. HPrimeAdvanced

    HPrimeAdvanced Senior Member

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    On my old Alfas, routinely bled brakes at wheels, when changed pads. Never turned a single rotor on those 3 '69s; no need!! All had over 260,000 miles on them. The rust at the wheels was discovered on my 1958 1300 spider, which turned me into a bleeding brake liberal!!

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  12. ETC(SS)

    ETC(SS) The OTHER One Percenter.....

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    That was my point way back when.....

    Somehow, brake fluid magically lasts for a year or three in the reservoir but in the jug that the manufacturer uses.....that IS air tight, it goes bad almost as soon as you open the top........

    ....things that make you go hmmmmmmmm.....
     
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  13. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    I'm not sure what's going on there. I do know I've left a half-open bottle of brake fluid, capped obviously, sitting for maybe a year, and the plastic of the bottle went through some sort of metamorphosis, went rock-hard, just from the brake fluid level down. The stuff is $7 a pint, and I need it every three years: I'll dump it and start with fresh.
     
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  14. Trollbait

    Trollbait It's a D&D thing

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    For those that stay on top of a brake bleeding schedule, DOT 5 fluid is a performance enhancer with the higher boiling point.

    The vast majority do not keep up with the maintenance though. It is best for all of us that they stick with glycerol. The water that gets into DOT 3 or 4 will lower the fluids boiling point, but it will still be high enough that the brakes will work in daily use. If they had DOT 5 fluid, the water won't effect the fluid's boiling point, but the lower amount will concentrate at the wheels. Then it is almost as bad as using water for the fluid, because it will boil, and braking be lost.

    I got an open bottle that'll I'll use this year for the Sonic. I might give it some though if the plastic of the bottle has undergone a change, but I'll likely still use it.
    Hard plastic sounds like something dissolved out of it. That something should not harm the fluid, because a little bit is going to dissolve out of the plastic of an unopened bottle, and if it was problem, they'd use a different plastic for the bottle.
     
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  15. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    I wonder though, if something happens when you crack open the bottle the first time. It'd be interesting: leave one unopened bottle, and a used half-full one, side-by-side on a shelf for a year.

    Bottom line though, with it being cheap, and a tri-yearly exercise, I'm recycling unused and buying fresh.
     
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  16. HPrimeAdvanced

    HPrimeAdvanced Senior Member

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    Maybe that's why the Castrol and Lockheed brake fluids I bought (way back then!), were in metal containers.
    My mechanic had told me to dump remainder of DOT 4 brake fluid if it was older than a few months....

    .
     
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  17. Trollbait

    Trollbait It's a D&D thing

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    Motor oil used to come in metal containers. I even used to have metal toys.
     
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  18. ETC(SS)

    ETC(SS) The OTHER One Percenter.....

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    Cars used to have metal in them.....
     
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  19. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    And bumpers that could take a bump.
     
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  20. RCO

    RCO Senior Member

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    Like all modern designs these days, form take precedent over function; notwithstanding the Gen 4 bodywork!