Dear friends, Front brake stopped working. Keep trying - pump, slow movement, hard grips - whatever I did - it was a case of nothing getting down to the brakes.
So decided to check things out myself. Fluid will have to change whatsoever - hence thought that first thing I need is a bottle of brake fluid. So went and bought a nicely sealed 100ml container of Castrol brake fluid (protector series) and after much hunting on the label, realised that it 'exceeds DOT3 specifications'. However, it does not clearly say 'DOT 3' on the label - as though they actually do not have a specification at all! (it is like products saying 'as per ISI' rather than giving the ISI mark on the label! Opened the master cylinder and pulled out the rubber thingy inside it (had seen a youtube video prior to this. Otherwise I would never have known that the rubber mat inside needs to be pulled out!) To my horror - there was NO FLUID IN THE RESERVOIR! Instead, there was some translucent jelly like stuff - a little bit of it - looking very mucky. Now how do I flush the thingy - I wondered. So picked up a bottle of some old brake fluid - that was left over when my car was last given a brake job by the mechanic. The fluid was new - but kept in its container. Obviously it can not be used for the brakes but thought that it can be used as a flushing fluid! I had dug out Venkat's 'how to' mail from the good old days. That was an excellent piece of information - and that thread is really valuable! I looked around for a syringe. I have managed to get the syringe but not been able to find a suitable piece of tubing from either a chemist or anyone else as yet - that can connect to the syringe and the drain bolt of the brakes. So I have poured the old fluid in the master cylinder reservoir, with the intention that it will dissolve all the jelly and then I will flush it out. The brake has started working! Anyhow - I will look around for the tubing and then in a day or two drain the fluid and put the new castrol fluid that is still lying with me. My questions are - have I done anything that I should not have done? Is it OK to use stored brake fluid as a flushing fluid - or will it damage the system? All the gurus - I am waiting for your take on the above! Ciao // Rajeev. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
