Recommended Brake Fluid? Flush?

[Adam Smith]

2004 XLT V6 Sport Trac. Brake light coming on - not sure why, don't see any leakage. Just replaced rotors/pads a year ago. Anyway I need to buy some more to top off, maybe the fluid I used to top off last time had some water in it, which has now vaporized. Are there any real differences? Looking for brand / supplier recommendation, don't see anything on the boards here. If it's not a good idea to just add some more, and I need to flush system, please LMK if that's easy to do on my own.

Thanks!

 

[swshawaii]

Valvoline DOT 3 & 4. Full synthetic, $8 per quart, and available almost anywhere. If alone, search "gravity bleeding", very effective but takes time.

 

[Vic Sorlie]

I use and recommend AMSOIL. Compare the Dry and Wet ERBP (available from the linked product description below) to other competing products. Brake fluid is one of the most neglected automobile fluids; changing whatever you use every two years is good practice for safety and component longevity.

 

[Blac Trac]

Just use the brake fluid from your Ford Dealer. It has a reasonable boiling point and unless your entering your Trac in a F1 Race you should be fine flushing your system with that.

 

[Doctor CAD]

Also, please don't drive around with the brake idiot light on. Your life or the life of the person you kill by driving with bad brakes is not worth it.

 

[Richard L]

You should flush your brake fluid every 2 years or with every brake job...whichever comes first.



Moisture/water in your brake lines does not evaporate. It settles to the lowest point in the braking system, which is the calipers/wheel cylinders (brake fluid is lighter than water) Once the moisture settles into the calipers it will start to corrode the caliper bores and can quickly ruin your brakes.



The corrosion occurs behind the piston, and does not become a problem until you put new pads on and the pistons get pushed back into the corroded area, then you notice serious brake problems. The corrosion can damage the O-ring seals on the piston, and/or cause the pistons to stick in their bores.



....Rich

 

[Gavin Allan]

Agree with swshawaii:

Valvoline DOT 3 & 4. Full synthetic, $8 per quart, and available almost anywhere.

I use this stuff in my motorcycles and it works, cheaply.



I use a MyTvac to flush mine. Not as fast as a power bleeder, but a whole lot easier than the 2-man method. Richard L nailed it in his reply above. I pulled all sorts of gooey black slime from my calipers. Just keep pumping until you see the new clean fluid. Don't let the reservior go dry, or you get to do it all over.

 

[swshawaii]

Ditto Vic, Richard, and Gavin. Top two pics are AFTER flushing 2 quarts of DOT 3/4 through the system. This is what remains in the caliper bores when brake fluid is neglected.

 

[Dean Hedin]

Its possible you need a new master cylinder.



Just replaced mine on a 2003 with 80k miles. i did not see my "leak" until replaced the cylinder.

There was a drip line down the lower front of the booster.



My symptom was a soft pedal.

 

[swshawaii]

The level will gradually drop as the brake pads wear, but a sudden drop in the fluid level usually means there is a leak in your brake system. The fluid level should be maintained between the ADD and FULL marks, or the MIN and MAX marks.