Ferrari Mailing List: Re: >anybody using silicon brake, , fluid? What is your experience of this?

[ferrarifixer (ferrarifixer]

Silicone brake fluid.
  I've used Silicone fluid longer than most of the guys on this list have been 
alive.........(no comment please Dennis or Charles).  Silicone fluid has it's 
purposes...that being in Classic cars that sit around and are mostly trailer 
queens.  It is NOT to be used for high performance or racing purposes.  It does 
not absorb water, which is good for cars that are not used much, but it does 
entrain air.  If you use the normal method of brake bleeding....pumping the 
pedal and opening and closing the bleeder.....you will be in for a very long 
day.  The fluid will be full of air bubbles from the thrashing of the pedal and 
you will have a very spongy brake pedal.
  I have Silicone fluid in my 57 Corvette and my Harley...(factory fill).  
Everyone knows Harley's don't go fast, so .... oh never mind...I'll get flamed 
for that I'm sure...;)
  I have had a bad experience with Silicone fluid a few years ago.  I bought a 
case from Stainless Brakes of NY. and used 3 quarts in 3 different classic 
cars...All 3 cars came back within a month with every rubber part in the system 
ruined.  I won't use it anymore.  And no, we don't use any petroleum products 
to clean brake parts, only brake clean or denatured alcohol.  And no, there 
wern't any old parts left on the car.  30 years of good results....and then...3 
cars in a row that cost me a ton of money to straighten out.  No more silicone 
fluid for me.
  As for moisture getting into the systems.  Most of it is pulled in past the 
caliper seals.  The seals keep fluid in, but won't keep air and moisture out.  
Think of them as one way seals.  Caliper gets hot, everything expands.  When it 
cools off, a slight vacuum is formed in the system, and air gets in past the 
seals.
  Now for my question...What happens to the purple color of Silicone fluid.  It 
seems to turn to amber after a few years?   Inquiring minds need to know....:)
Regards,
Michael Scaglione
Classic Auto
Windber, Pa.
 
 
-----Original Message-----
From: razpootin [at] in-control.us
To: ferrarifixer [at] aol.com
Cc: ferrari [at] ferrarilist.com
Sent: Tue, 22 Aug 2006 1:09 PM
Subject: [Ferrari] >anybody using silicon brake, , fluid? What is your 
experience of this?


First and foremost, WELCOME BACK F-LIST!!!

Dennis said,
"...DOT 5 (NOT DOT 5.1!) brake fluid is silicone-based, is not hygroscopic, and
should never be mixed with DOT 3, DOT 4 or DOT 5.1. DOT 5.1 has the same
boiling point as DOT 5, but is not silicone-based. (Interestingly, DOT 5
fluid will not damage paint.) Restoration shops like to use DOT 5 because
the show queens they produce usually just sit, or else are driven on and off
trailers, possibly on nice Sundays. DOT 5 does not need to be changed as
frequently, because it's not hygroscopic, so it's one less maintenance issue
for them.

...The number one reason NOT to use DOT 5 silicone is because
it can provide a slightly mushy pedal feeling..."

<snipped parts unrelated to my comments>

One point that I do not understand relating to DOT5, is that some people (not 
here) 
have claimed that because the silicone fluid is non-hygroscopic, moisture will 
collect,
at the bottom of calipers or slave cylinders, beneath the fluid.  I have a 
difficult 
time trying to imagine this, because:

1) Silicone fluids, at least AFIK, are heavier than water.
2) The only conceivable way for moisture to enter the system, would be through 
the 
master cylinder resevoir, then refer back to #1.   

I first started using the DOT5, for preservation of old cylinders (prevention 
of 
corrosion),
 and the lubrication/preservation of rubber seals.  I have never experienced 
any 
negative
 effects, (spongy pedal or premature boiling) but have never used my cars/bikes 
beyond a 
level of very spirited street driving.  I am, by no means, an expert in the 
field of brake 
fluids, so if anyone has any satisfactory explaination for the water being 
heavier than 
the silicone, I would surely like to hear it. 

Regards,
Bill Rosen

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