Weekend Science Project...

[Slick61]

I had HOPED to drive out to Malibu this weekend, but first wanted to get my brakes sorted out. They had pretty much sucked since I bought the car & I decided to see what I could do about it. When I pulled the fitting out of the grommet on the booster, I discovered that the grommet had split approximately 75% of its circumference. Replaced that with a new grommet & it was somewhat better but still a ways to go.

Decided to install a reservoir can. Wanted to place it as inconspicuously as possible, but did not like the idea of placing it above the header onthe passenger side (also didn't want to drill the wheelwell. Decided to use the location for the windshield wiper reservoir. Ended up using the same holes & hardware... just took the bottle & cleat off. Plumbing it was another matter... wanted to keep the engine compartment as clean as possible. Made a fairly good compromise, running it along the frame rail, then up the back to the intake. Had an available bolt hole on the bellhousing that worked great for zip-tying it in place. Ran the hose to the booster under the crossbar holding the puke tank then around & up behind the master cylinder.

THEN, it was time to bleed the brakes. When I replaced the pressure switch last fall, I wasn't sure what type brake fluid was in it, so topped off the reservoir with sythetic dot 4. At the time, I had heard that all dot 5 fluid was purple (NOT the case), & that some cars had dot 3, others had dot 5.

So... drew some fluid off of one of the calipers & poured it into water... it separated quickly, so knew I had dot 5 in the system. Bummer. (just to re-assure myself, I poured some dot 3 into water & it mixed easily & turned cloudy) Vacuum pumped as much fluid as I could out of the reservoir (to try & get as much of the dot 4 out as possible), then filled it with dot 5 & started bleeding wheel by wheel. Funny aside, I had no metric wrenches, so had to make a tool run (for a 7 mm wrench) before I started. Was pretty easy to tell when I'd removed most of the old fluid as the new stuff was purple (the old was not)... so I just continued to draw fluid til it ran purple. Cracked my vacuum can lid on the 3rd wheel, so was time for another last-minute run to the parts store before they closed. Luckily, they had a cheesy plastic bottle in stock for $10. I think I ended up going through approx. 1.5 pints.

Man, dot 5 fluid is not cheap ($28.95/qt.). I also ended up buying 20 feet of high pressure power booster hose at $3 per foot. YOW.

Will find out tonight if I did it right or not. (was too late to fire it up last night... it rattles my neighbor's houses)

wish me luck...

[Rwillia4]

Slick,

I think you will be happy. I retroed my fluid and it was night and day difference. I had DOT 5 in the system and went for DOT 4 (since the master was not designed for DOT 5). It took a bit to get it all out, there was A LOT of crap that came out and with only 500 miles on the car... where did it come from??? I think I went thru 2 qts. I also changed out the lines to SS for a little extra feel and changed pads to Axxium for less brake dust.

[Slick61]

took it out for a spin tonight... better, but still not what I was hoping for. Am wondering if I still have a few bubbles in the calipers or something. Have heard that the dot 5 can result in a spongy pedal. Hmmm...

I vacuum bled the system... which did not go as well as I had hoped. The tubing did not seal around the bleeder screw as well as I had hoped. It was sucking some air & therefore bubbling the fluid so was hard to tell if I was getting all the air bubbles out of the system or not. I made sure that I maintained some vacuum whenever I had the bleeder screw open, but that's the best I could do. I was nervous about pulling the bleeder screws & using one of the fittings... seemed like it would be more likely to get air back into the caliper... am I wrong?

May try bleeding it again next weekend & see what happens. Geez, that reservoir is hard to get to... much less to try to keep filled.

[Rwillia4]

Islick,

Sounds like you tried some of the same things I tried. I also tried to vacuum bleed the brakes and had the same results, for me air was coming in around the threads and I was never able to get it to work well enought to get all the air out. I ended up training the wife, which was easier than I thought.

I didnt like my system with DOT 5 in it but I thought that was because of air in the system. Now I'm thinking that it was the DOT 5. I'm happy with DOT4 and my problems of one (front) tire locking and generally not stopping fast have TOTALLY gone away.

[doctodd]

what years/model#'s are your cars? I just received #611 and the brake fluid light started to light up, and it uses DOT 5 which hasnt been easy to find. Frank is kindly sending me a bottle in the mail, but now im wondering if i even want DOT 5?

So where did the fluid go?

T

[uncltodd]

doctodd, just an aside, I took delivery of #139 in August, 2004. BDR started the build in December, 2003.

I had brake pedal fading problems, but my fix was easy, the fitting at the bottom of the brake fluid reservoir was slightly loose!

Unfortunately, a well-meaning friend later checked the brake fluid level and left the cap/sending unit on the intake manifold. It promptly melted.

I have not been able to locate a replacement, but a baggie and a rubber band seem to work just fine. (3 years)

[Smokingcobra2]

I also have an early model bdr and find the braking to be less than i would like. I'm having Brian at Vintage replace the booster. I can hear it leaking. Maybe you have a bad booster.
joeg

[Rwillia4]

doctodd,

Mine also had the brake light coming on when I would leave down my steep driveway, it was short a few on delivery. Ended up draining and replaceing with DOT4 problem solved. (yes, I could have just topped it off but I made some other changes also).

I believe the booster and master are from a VW 78-84 Rabbit

[acmjg]

I have a '67 Mustang and my Cobra filled with Dot 5 (purple stuff) and braking is not a problem at all. Very good pedal feel in both cars.

Anthony

[Speedysnake]

I've had no problems with DOT 5 brake fluid in BDR 291. I recently had a front caliper apart to replace the dust cover (unrelated) and found the fluid was clean. I figure "if it ain't broke, don't fix it."

[doctodd]

where do u guys get your DOT 5 fluid? Ive been to 3 places and no luck.

T

[Speedysnake]

NAPA or Summitt

[JUS BIT]

If you notice that the brake fluid lght comes on from sudden hard braking or turning, it is most likely a little low. The sensor is picking up when the fluid moves around. Just add a little and it should go away. We normally get our DOT5 from Oreilly or Advanced Auto Parts.

Also, if you are having problems braking, it may be water separated in the caliper. Try bleeding the system good starting with the furthest caliper to the closest.

These are great brakes. I use the stock calipers and rotors on my car and it has proven itself time and time again on the track. I upgraded my pads recently to EBC Red stuff, and I love them, no fade at all.

Bests, James

[Slick61]

my brake fluid indicator light is not hooked up. But at least now, with the fresh, purple dot 5 fluid, I can see the reservoir level much easier. I still have a few more items to check... need to make sure the pads are not glazed... will be a good time to clean the rotors as well. Will keep y'all posted.

[Murphy]

I have a case 12 bottles of DOT5 fluid. I bought it thinking I would use it but could not due to brake system parts requiring DOT 4. Anyone interested in it can have it for a song.