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Think this explains my wet foot?

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tdskip

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Shake down run on the '74 TR6 w/freshly installed OD. My left foot started sliding around on the way home so I pulled clutch MC....

wetfeet.jpg
 
That would do it and also explain why I now have new hydraulics with DOT 5 fluid.
 
Me too. I am getting more sloppy in my old age -- recently redid the hydraulics on the TR3 and can't imagine what sort of mess I would have had if not for having DOT5 in there.
 
Ditto on the DOT 5. Absolutely no more of this:

DSCF0005_reduced.jpg
 
newguy said:
What about silicone brake fluid? Pro's and con's!
Click to expand...
Check out the article at:
https://www.buckeyetriumphs.org/technical/Brakes/Fluid/Fluid.htm

To me, the biggest pro is that it actually acts as a preservative to paint and hydraulic components; rather than actively removing paint and promoting corrosion (as seen in the photos above). I once made the mistake of filling some brand new rear brake cylinders with Castrol LMA and putting them back on the shelf ... when I finally got around to taking them down some 20 years later, they were totally ruined!

The only "cons" that I've experienced is that it is rather expensive and hard to find (TRF has the best price I've found); plus it can interefere with painting (causes "fish eyes"). It also is very slightly more compressible than conventional fluid, and so the brake pedal goes a bit lower under hard braking. I find that converting to 'Teflon' soft lines brings the pedal back up, though, so that hasn't been a problem for me.

Lots of other things that others have pointed out (see Nelson's article for a further discussion), but they have not been an issue for me.

But I do take a break (rather than a brake) after adding fluid to the MC; give the bubbles time to rise to the top.

PS, just for clarity, "DOT 5" is another name for "silicone brake fluid". The "synthetic" sold in many stores is NOT the same thing.
 
TR3driver said:
...it is rather expensive and hard to find...
Click to expand...

But getting easier. I saw the other day that O'Reilly (Checker/Kragen/Schucks) have it on the shelf. Same brand as sold by TRF (North American?) but only in a pint bottle. I did not compare price. Amazon also has it.
 
Believe it or not, JC Whitney was my source back in the early 1980's. Cheapest place to get it then and never had a problem. Looks like they are selling AGS brand now - $18.00 for the quart size.

Is it all still purple or was that just the brand they were selling back then?

Scott
 
HerronScott said:
Is it all still purple
Click to expand...
Still purple AFAIK. I think that's actually part of the DOT specification.

Interesting that other sources are starting to carry it; I've never seen it on Kragen/OReilly's shelf but I also haven't looked in a few years.
 
I have had the best results with Dot 5 when using TRF cylinders or rebuild kits.
 
So - if my clutch MC is has new seals but the slave still has DOT3 in it, can I flush the slave and then run DOT5 on everything?

How to flush correctly?
 
Was in Checker today and looked at their price on DOT5 -- $7.99 for a 12oz bottle. Not too bad.

IMO, you can just flush the clutch hydraulics until the new purple stuff comes out. That's what I did 10 years ago, no problemo. But others may have different opinions & experiences.
 
I would blow a little de-watered compressed air through at a relatively low pressure to get the existing stuff out of the lines and then bleed through. I would think traces of the old stuff would still exist but that's probably the best you can do under the circumstances.
 
I have done several vehicles now by just filling and bleeding until I get clean purple fluid at all the bleed valves. It does leave traces of the old stuff in the system, but as yet they have not been a problem for me.

Just one example: My 1980 Chevy had a caliper start leaking in 1988. I installed a rebuilt caliper and converted to DOT 5 by just bleeding as above. I finally junked the car in 2005, with some 250,000 miles on it without ever touching the hydraulics again!
 
<disclaimer> I throw around nickles like they are manhole covers. Compressed air is cheaper than expensive silicon fluid.
 
cheseroo said:
Compressed air is cheaper than expensive silicon fluid.
Click to expand...
Only if you know, without a doubt, that there is no water in it. Silicone fluid is a LOT cheaper than brake failure.
 
Bugger!

So started doing the rebuild - which is really easy BTW - and noticed that my spring was a bit funky. Hard to see in this picture but the spring wasn't entirely straight, it was bowed out on one side where the two coils were jammed together closer than the rest.

TR6clutchMC.jpg


So I tried to straighten it since it was bowed out far enough it would have gouged the bore and look what happened;

DSCN4709.jpg
 
well guys I hate to tell you but nothing last forever, and as I recall you should flush your hydrolic systems every 2 years, driven or not, brake fluid is hydroscopic, ie it absorbes moisture, so flush the breaks and the clutch every 2 years and most likely that wont happen. I do it on all my cars. old or new

Hondo
 
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