Brake fluid, more of a general question
 

Last autocross I was ate, the tech inspector pointed out my brake fluid and said " Has it always been this dark?"

Looks like I need to add new brake fluid for as far as I know, teh previous owner never changed brake fluid nor brakepads.

Just wondering what brand, and dot # everyone is using on the SVX. any preference?

Re: Brake fluid, more of a general question
 

The manual, I believe states Dot III, but, I think Dot IV is fine. Here's a pretty good tutorial on Brake Fluids, brands and Dot #'s:

http://www.shotimes.com/SHO3brakefluid.html

Oh, and make sure you have the entire system flushed. I had the same deal when I bought my car. Had the system flushed and MAN, what a difference.

bleeding and flushing
 

Excuse this question, but

Whats the difference between bleeding the brakes and flushing the brakes (procedure wise?)

I was going to bleed the brakes myself, but this flushing sounds like it may need equipment I dont have. (unless of course they are one and the same)

Bleeding the brakes is pumping them til you get air out of the lines and may mean leaving some of the existing fluid. Flushing the system simply means that you make sure you "bleed" the brakes until all the existing fluid is gone from both the lines and the reservoir and you are "bleeding" nothing but clean fluid -- keeping a close eye on the reservoir to make sure it never gets empty.

makes sense
 

ah thanks! can you flush the brakes one wheel at a time? Th is to say bleed one til its clear, put the wheel back, jack downt he car, jack it up again, repeat 4 times...

Or will the new brake fluid mix with the old?

Re: makes sense
 

Henry, sorry to leave you hanging. WHen you completely flush the system, it is just like a bleed job, with one exception. You remove ALL the fluid from the reservoir. Use a syringe or turkey baster to suck all the fluid out and replace with fresh Dot 3 or 4. Then, bleed each line as usual until you get clear fluid, being sure to keep a close eye on the reservoir level.

On a normal bleed job, you don't worry about emptying the reservoir to get rid of contaminated fluid. If your fluid is brown, it's definitely contaminated.