I've got a car that's somehow got contamination in the brake lines. I replaced the front hoses when they pinched off inside and drug the brakes. The NEW lines are now doing it again. It's Not the calipers, they're New Too... Well, they aren't Now, but I'm hoping they can be salvaged after replacing the MC and hoses again... I've been told somewhere that to clean contamination from brake lines, you use Isopropyl Alcohol. SO I sent the wife for some, she came home with a 70% solution, in Water! The alcohol would evaporate sure enough after I'd flushed enough thru and left the ends open, but I don't want to go puttin ANY Water into my lines!!!! What is the TRUE way of flushing them that will clean out whatever is in there damaging my hoses and now seemingly damaged the MC? More and More brake fluid?
The best thing I've found is a pressure bleeder.The one I have is a Blue-Point I bought several years ago but I understand Snap-On sells the identical one.It is basically a tank that has a fitting to pressurize it with air(about 20-25psi)and a line that has an air coupling on it.There are various adapters(the one that comes with it is for a 2-circuit Ford style m/c)but making one is easy.Take an extra m/c cap,drill a hole in the top and thread a male air coupling into it(use teflon tape to seal it).Replace the original cap with the adapter and snap the coupler on to it.Pressurize the tank and bleed the cylinders starting with the one furthest away from the m/c.Crack the bleeder and let it run until clear.You can usually bleed all four wheels without recharging the tank.The tank holds nearly a gallon of fluid so you don't have to worry about running out and even if you do it's easy to bleed again. Should get any contamination out unless there are real big chunks in there.In that case,I'd remove each bleeder entirely(one at a time of course)and then connect the coupler and let it flow.Hope this helps. Ray
What are they being contaminated with? I'm going to assume water...(DOT 3) I've flushed the lines with more and more DOT 3 fluid using a Mity-Vac and this usually works. Watch for cloudiness (water) and shit floating in the canister (usually the hose breaking down inside). On my bikes I use DOT 5 (silicone based) but you have to be careful using this stuff...the good side is it REPELS water and works at higher temps...Bad side, It is not compatibale with certain seals and O rings in an automotive brake system.
I've been thinking it must be a petroleum product in the system because the seal got gooey. I believe that DOT 3 is a substance that(can't remember the term) will actually cause water to form from condensation if there's any air in the system. But water wouldn't cause the failure of 3-mo. old lines... I was actually hoping to hear of something that would clean while flushing. Kinda like, you wouldn't flush primer from the gun with More primer, you use thinner...
anybody have any ideas what the dot 5 won't work with exactly? i was thinking of running it in the pontiac...
first site up seemed pretty straight forward, and as long as the system is totally fresh with no other fluid types, it won't cause problems. they also said some of the problems associated with DOT 5 were present only in early formulas. damn, that was hard work. http://www.team.net/sol/tech/dot5.html
If the seal got goey, it doesn't sound like a problem with water in the lines, more of a compatability problem. You really need to determine the root cause of that situation before continuing. Are any of the parts of the system rebuilt, if so were they brake systems to start, not some high pressure hose laying around that "Should" work fine. Flush the system....Yes Find the incompatability....More important TZ
There isn't anything on the car that doesn't belong there. New Calipers and hoses from Advanced. I did use some good old rotors, but that aint hurtin nuttin. New DS front hard-line from NAPA. Original MC, as far as I know. And that's the seal that was gooey. YES determining the problem would be best. A respected rodder told me that a single shot of PB Blaster on the hardline/hose junction (for helping remove the rusty things) could cause the contamination. That it only takes a Very small PPM of contaminant to somehow float through the system and destroy stuff. I was more of the opinion that fluid would stay relatively where it was, and flow a little back and forth with pedal application. If I understand the Penetrating Oil contaminant theory correctly, the rogue element will travel through the system independantly and excessively of the brake fluid travel, thereby damaging EVERY conceivable rubber part in the system.(?) Still don't quite unnerstan that ... And PB doesn't attack rubber out in the oxygen environment we use it in either!( ) The damage to the seal, AND having blocked off BOTH front hoses till they're dragging again says "there seems to be" WAY MORE Crap in this car than what I originally figured for age collapse or could have screwed up personally with a little PB(tho I May be ENTIRELY wrong). For all I know, the hilljacks I got it offa dumped the wrong stuff in the MC before I bought it and just kept goin like that. It was an in-town car, and it takes getting out on the hiway for a coupla miles to really heat up the brakes. ANY cleaning ideas? I thought about Using the Alcohol, then compressed air to blow the water out while evaporating the remaining alcohol. Was worried about the alcohol leaving some residue.(?) Then follow with a thorough flush of brake fluid to insure it's clean.
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