Guest Posted February 6, 2020 Share Posted February 6, 2020 Is there an easy way to determine what brake type of fluid is in my wife's car.? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JFranklin Posted February 6, 2020 Share Posted February 6, 2020 Does she have the owners manual? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
broker-len Posted February 6, 2020 Share Posted February 6, 2020 SMELL IT ! TASTE IT ! LITTLE ON YOUR TOUNGE Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JFranklin Posted February 7, 2020 Share Posted February 7, 2020 (edited) Most of the dot 5 I have seen is purple in color. Glycerine based fluids have a particular odor. It might be wise to completely flush out and flush again with denatured alcohol and replace with the brake fluid of your choice. I prefer silicone. Edited February 7, 2020 by JFranklin (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
c49er Posted February 8, 2020 Share Posted February 8, 2020 Is your wife's car an antique car? If it's a typical modern car all it should have is DOT3 or 4...never DOT 5 silicone. If an old car DOT could have typical DOT3/4 or silicone DOT 5 which doesn't mix with 3 or 4. To tell which type is in a car.. Put some water in a glass..put a few drops of the brake fluid in the water.. Stir..wait couple minutes..DOT 3/4 will mix in with the water Silicone DOT 5 will be seen as a oil blob at the bottom of the gallery of water. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted February 8, 2020 Share Posted February 8, 2020 c49er My wife's car is an '08 Sonata. I merely asked the question to find out if there was a easy way to tell what brake fluid is in the car. Hyundai build great cars but our local dealer was very suspect in many things. Dealership has been sold and new owners are doing a great job. Thank you for your answer to my question. I shall test the fluid today. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JFranklin Posted February 9, 2020 Share Posted February 9, 2020 It maybe has the same brake fluid the manufacturer put in it when it was built. A car dealer won't change the fluid unless a line was broken. check the owners manual for the recommended variety. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank DuVal Posted February 9, 2020 Share Posted February 9, 2020 Why would a dealership of new cars or used cars less than 25 years old even have DOT 5 fluid hanging around the shop? Now if you are wondering if it is DOT 3 or DOT 4, I do not know of a test. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JFranklin Posted February 9, 2020 Share Posted February 9, 2020 24 minutes ago, Frank DuVal said: Why would a dealership of new cars or used cars less than 25 years old even have DOT 5 fluid hanging around the shop? Now if you are wondering if it is DOT 3 or DOT 4, I do not know of a test. A dealer will use the fluids called for most cars don't specify dot5. If it has dot 3 or 4 they are compatible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
c49er Posted February 9, 2020 Share Posted February 9, 2020 DOT 5 CANNOT be used in any newer cars with ABS systems... Most all modern cars specify 3 or 4. No way I know of to tell the difference between them DOT 3 AND 4 fluids. I have to check for DOT 3 AND 5 fluids in vintage cars quite a bit when doing brake jobs..The customers don"t know! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
37_Roadmaster_C Posted February 9, 2020 Share Posted February 9, 2020 3 hours ago, c49er said: DOT 5 CANNOT be used in any newer cars with ABS systems... Most all modern cars specify 3 or 4. No way I know of to tell the difference between them DOT 3 AND 4 fluids. I have to check for DOT 3 AND 5 fluids in vintage cars quite a bit when doing brake jobs..The customers don"t know! @c49er Would you please explain why DOT5 fluid CANNOT be used with ABS brake systems. I know and understand that DOT5 fluid cannot be mixed with older fluids, but I have never heard not to use DOT5 with ABS. I am not being critical, I just want to learn why . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PFitz Posted February 9, 2020 Share Posted February 9, 2020 Why DOT5 does not work well with the ABS brakes. https://www.motorweek.org/features/goss_garage/brake_fluids_and_abs https://cartreatments.com/compatibility-of-the-dot-5-brake-fluid/ Paul 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now