Questions on brake flush

I want to flush the brake system on my 89 reatta, the manual says to use dot 3. Autozone has three brands, Autozone brand which is a heavy duty dot 3 that you can use on ABS systems, a Prestone brand which is a synthetic dot 3, and a valvoline dot 3 and 4 which is a synthetic brand. Which one would you select.

I also want to use a brake pressure bleeder kit. The manual calls for a J-35789 adapter cap that fits on the reservoir. I can't seem to find anything about it on the web. Has anyone ever bought a kit where the adapter will fit on this 89, there are a lot for sale. Jegs has some for sale , has anyone ever bought one from them for this purpose or maybe someplace else.

The manual also says that you can manually bleed the front brakes. Does this mean like bleeding a standard system, getting an assistant to pump the brakes until you get a hard pedal? Of course I also realize I have to relieve the pressure on the accumulator. I might have to go this route if I can't find a proper brake pressure kit. It seems like pressure bleeding is the way to go.

Thanks,

Mike

You really should take the time to get more familiar with my website. You could save yourself a lot of time reading the service manual and quoting what it says. Most of what you are asking about is there.

Okay, after reading that website things have become more clear to me . I think I will do the flush manually and worry about the pressure bleeding later. I think I'll go with the Autozone Dot 3 ( unless someone has a better choice ) and try to change the fluid every year. The car had sat awhile before I bought it, I'm afraid to see what the fluid looks like. Thank You

Mike

Read this months news letter great article on this by Jim Finn. Bill

Read this months news letter great article on this by Jim Finn. Bill

Bill, don't mean to be a pain, but where do you find that newsletter, I can't seem to find it. I did come across in the journal that you can use any good brand of dot 3, synthetic is okay as well. So that pretty much sums up all my questions. I was curious though if the newsletter says something different. Mike

i think Bill is offline right now, but the info is probably in a club newsletter.

i'd stick with normal DOT3 for a flush & fill and see if there are any other brake problems down the line before going with 4 or 5. plus, that's what she came with and i've heard good and bad things about the synthetics. i haven't switched over in any of my cars.

The article in the newsletter was written by Jim Finn. He supplied the information that I referenced that is available on Reatta Owners Journal. Both articles are similar.

The best thing I've read about synthetic is it won't damage your paint if you don't wait too long to get it off. Since you should change your brake fluid every couple of years anyway, I don't see any other advantage to using synthetic for normal driving.

Don't confuse synthetic and silicone. If the synthetic meets the DOT 3 specs it should be fine. DOT 5 is silicone and should not be used as it will aerate when the ABS solenoids are activated.

Anything that meets the DOT 3 specs is good enough. It takes 2 Quarts to do a good job of flushing.

I'll go with the Autozone dot 3. If the old fluid looks really bad, I'll change it again 6 months from now. Thanks everyone.

Mike