I did it, Put DOT 5 silicone fluid in my new brakes Options

[worn]

The car is pretty much a lot of new. Rebuilt engine and transmission, a lot of reddish steel replaced by grey galvaneal. New rotors, calipers, shocks, master cylinder, new windscreen. New silver paint. So, this was the perfect opportunity. As background, my TR6 has run silicone hydraulics, brake and clutch for almost twenty years. That is simply the accepted way of doing things in the LBC world. The TR6 was a sales and sometimes race competitor with the 914, so why not? I have enough toy cars that annual brake bleeding is a PITA, yet since I am the person rebuilding cylinders the idea that rust doesn’t sleep comes to mind.

So I put in DOT 5 silicone in the completely new system. Pedal went straight to the floor. Belly pan off to find that a grommet had come loose and all the fluid leaked out.

My normal 914 practice is to bleed the breaks and drive a bit and then bleed them again. That produced a very firm pedal and spraying gravel. Yeah, I still haven’t taken the car out on the freeway in traffic, but now I am not afraid to try. So far, so good. That will leave only four toys for annual testing moisture content and bleeding through new fluid. Time after time.

I will keep you posted.

[Jack Standz]

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We are with you. The bigger your fleet or the number of other projects you have makes flushing normal brake fluid more of a pain. DOT5 brake fluid lets you flush and bleed much less often, unless you're doing it wrong.

I've run DOT5 in one of our other mid-engined cars for years (can't remember how many). When the entire suspension front and back, as well as all brake components, including master cylinder, Iines, calipers were replaced on the '74 914 a few years ago, we used DOT5.

Higher Boiling point, doesn't attract water (and resulting corrosion), doesn't destroy paint if you get any drips and doesn't require as frequent flushing/ bleeding, etc. Good stuff and don't believe the naysayers about a spongy pedal. It works really good.