Honda Car Forum

I have a 1995 Accord EX and a 1993 Civic EX. My mechaninc says to put
Valvoline synthetic brake fluid in both cars and the clutch. I live
inFairbanks Alaska and the winters get down to -40 for several months at a
time.
The bottle says, Valvoline synpower synthetic formula brake fluid for ABS
brakes, exceeds DOT 3&4, compatible with conventional brake fluids.....

The accord has ABS and an automatic transmission.

THe civic has standard brakes and a manual transmission with a hydralic
clutch....

Will this fluid mess up the system??? The local Honda dealer is no help...
"Frozen in Fairbanks"

Yes it is perfectly fine to use and I use it myself and have used it for the
past 4 years and 85k miles.

Just don't use silicone break fluid. Synthetics are fine and I believe
not as hydroscopic. I believe that is the correct term which means to
attract water. Regular break fluid attracts moisture and as such lowers the
boiling point of the break fluid which is the main reason it should be
flushed regularly. I don't believe synthetics are as hydroscopic but I may
be wrong.

I don't imagine you ever have to worry about boiling points of break fluid
though.

I still wouldn't get it on my paint though.

CaptainKrunch

"mark smith" <msmith@ptialaska.net> wrote in message
news:1072570068.834218@prawn...
> I have a 1995 Accord EX and a 1993 Civic EX. My mechaninc says to put
> Valvoline synthetic brake fluid in both cars and the clutch. I live
> inFairbanks Alaska and the winters get down to -40 for several months at
a
> time.
> The bottle says, Valvoline synpower synthetic formula brake fluid for ABS
> brakes, exceeds DOT 3&4, compatible with conventional brake fluids.....
>
> The accord has ABS and an automatic transmission.
>
> THe civic has standard brakes and a manual transmission with a hydralic
> clutch....
>
> Will this fluid mess up the system??? The local Honda dealer is no help...
> "Frozen in Fairbanks"
>
>

I use the Valvoline Syntech brake fluid in all my cars.
BTW, you might wanna rethink about waiting till spring when it is warmer!
I change the brake fluid once a year, but have no ABS to worry about.

"mark smith" <msmith@ptialaska.net> wrote in message
news:1072570068.834218@prawn...
> I have a 1995 Accord EX and a 1993 Civic EX. My mechaninc says to put
> Valvoline synthetic brake fluid in both cars and the clutch. I live
> inFairbanks Alaska and the winters get down to -40 for several months at
a
> time.
> The bottle says, Valvoline synpower synthetic formula brake fluid for ABS
> brakes, exceeds DOT 3&4, compatible with conventional brake fluids.....
>
> The accord has ABS and an automatic transmission.
>
> THe civic has standard brakes and a manual transmission with a hydralic
> clutch....
>
> Will this fluid mess up the system??? The local Honda dealer is no help...
> "Frozen in Fairbanks"
>
>

On Sun, 28 Dec 2003 00:07:49 GMT, "mark smith" <msmith@ptialaska.net>
wrote:

>I have a 1995 Accord EX and a 1993 Civic EX. My mechaninc says to put
>Valvoline synthetic brake fluid in both cars and the clutch. I live
>inFairbanks Alaska and the winters get down to -40 for several months at a
>time.
>The bottle says, Valvoline synpower synthetic formula brake fluid for ABS
>brakes, exceeds DOT 3&4, compatible with conventional brake fluids.....

The term "synthetic" in relation to brake fluid is redundant - all brake
fluids are synthetic. Apart from the silicone types, which are not
considered suitable for road use, they're basically mixtures of glycols
and/or higher alcohols.

>The accord has ABS and an automatic transmission.

If you want your ABS to last, i.e. avoid big $$ repairs, I'd recommend
changing the fluid in the reservoir once a year.

>THe civic has standard brakes and a manual transmission with a hydralic
>clutch....

Honda doesn't have a clutch fluid change on their scheduled maintenance but
again, if you want it to last, change the fluid regularly - at least every
2years.

>Will this fluid mess up the system??? The local Honda dealer is no help...
>"Frozen in Fairbanks"

No it will not mess up the system - IMO just about any aftermarket brake
fluid is better than the stuff that Honda sells.

Rgds, George Macdonald

"Just because they're paranoid doesn't mean you're not psychotic" - Who, me??

George Macdonald wrote:

(snip)

> No it will not mess up the system - IMO just about any aftermarket brake
> fluid is better than the stuff that Honda sells.

Why is that?

On Sun, 28 Dec 2003 09:56:22 GMT, Gus <GusPod@optOFFline.XXXX.net> wrote:

>George Macdonald wrote:
>
>(snip)
>
>> No it will not mess up the system - IMO just about any aftermarket brake
>> fluid is better than the stuff that Honda sells.
>
>Why is that?

It's been mentioned here a few times by others as well as me. When I
decided to change the clutch fluid on my '99 Integra at ~16K miles I found
the old stuff viscous and slimey. After sucking the old fluid out, along
with a slight residue of what could only be rubber particles, I couldn't
understand at first why the fresh Castrol GTLMA still looked dark in the
reservoir. Turns out it was a coating of slime on the inside of the
reservoir which I had to wipe off. To me this is not normal, is an
undesirable characteristics for a hydraulic fluid and the fresh Castrol
stuff never discolored as badly nor turned slimey nor showed any sign of
residue after another 20K miles.

Note the Integra was built in Japan so the U.S. built cars may have
different stuff in them.

Rgds, George Macdonald

"Just because they're paranoid doesn't mean you're not psychotic" - Who, me??

George Macdonald wrote:
> On Sun, 28 Dec 2003 09:56:22 GMT, Gus <GusPod@optOFFline.XXXX.net> wrote:
>
>>George Macdonald wrote:
>>
>>(snip)
>>
>>>No it will not mess up the system - IMO just about any aftermarket brake
>>>fluid is better than the stuff that Honda sells.
>>
>>Why is that?
>
> It's been mentioned here a few times by others as well as me. When I
> decided to change the clutch fluid on my '99 Integra at ~16K miles I found
> the old stuff viscous and slimey. After sucking the old fluid out, along
> with a slight residue of what could only be rubber particles, I couldn't
> understand at first why the fresh Castrol GTLMA still looked dark in the
> reservoir. Turns out it was a coating of slime on the inside of the
> reservoir which I had to wipe off. To me this is not normal, is an
> undesirable characteristics for a hydraulic fluid and the fresh Castrol
> stuff never discolored as badly nor turned slimey nor showed any sign of
> residue after another 20K miles.
>
> Note the Integra was built in Japan so the U.S. built cars may have
> different stuff in them.

Thanks, George, something I'll definitely have to keep an eye on.
Slime/rubber particles would upset me, too.

However, sounds as though your experience was with the factory fill, not
what the US Honda dealers are selling, correct?

My Honda is only 6 months old, but I never had any like problems with my
'88 Integra.

The slime is the result of water mixing with the fluid. This is "normal".
Why the industry still uses a fluid that attracts water is beyond me. NATO
and the airlines have switced to alternative fluids many years ago; as have
a few car venders.

Richard.

Richard wrote:
>
> The slime is the result of water mixing with the fluid. This is "normal".
> Why the industry still uses a fluid that attracts water is beyond me. NATO
> and the airlines have switced to alternative fluids many years ago; as have
> a few car venders.
>
> Richard.


The biggest risk of using synthetic, (silicone), brake fluids is leakage
into the engine via a defective master cylinder/brake booster. Silicone
will quickly convert back to its roots, sandy like grit that will
quickly ruin an engine.



--
JT

Just tooling through cyberspace in my ancient G4

"Grumpy au Contraire" <Grumpy@doofis.FAKEcom> wrote in message
news:41408C29.C4E02CBD@doofis.FAKEcom...
>
>
> Richard wrote:
>>
>> The slime is the result of water mixing with the fluid. This is "normal".
>> Why the industry still uses a fluid that attracts water is beyond me.
>> NATO
>> and the airlines have switced to alternative fluids many years ago; as
>> have
>> a few car venders.
>>
>> Richard.
>
>
> The biggest risk of using synthetic, (silicone), brake fluids is leakage
> into the engine via a defective master cylinder/brake booster. Silicone
> will quickly convert back to its roots, sandy like grit that will
> quickly ruin an engine.

I would think silicon would do that, not silicone.