I was chatting with my cousin’s “friend” who is a semi-retired petroleum engineer in Rockford, IL.
I told him I was replacing the brake fluid in my 2006 CRD and he asked me what fluid I was using.
I said DOT 4.
He recommended that I check out this site:
http://www.advancepetro.com/differentbrakefluid.htmWhich is where I gleaned the following assumptions.
DOT 3 : not so good (should be changed every 3 years).
DOT 5: OK for some, but you have to keep water out and realize you will have a mushy pedal. NOT good with Anti-lock brakes.
DOT 4: Good.
DOT 5.1: Better.
We went on to discuss the emergency brake line and associated maintenance.
His opinion is that the emergency brake line should be dis-assembled, inspected and lubricated every time you change your brake fluid.