I have a 1991 camaro with stock brakes. My brake fluid is dirty black and ive seen in the last few times driving it the brakes getting worse with stopping. Im going to flush my system out but a few things i need to know first. How much brake fluid should i use to flush the system? And second, on my reservoir it says to ONLY use DOT 3. Ive had a few people telling me to use DOT 4, and DOT 5. Would anything happen to my brake system if i dont use DOT 3 and i use 4 or 5?

 

i thought i heard dot 5 is not a good idea, dont remember where or the reason, but nothing wrong with dot 4.

whatever you do, dont let the reservoir run dry, or you will have made more work for yourself.

you should remove as much fluid as you can from the reservoir, then physically clean the goop out. the flush.

a qt should be enough

 

Just to ask is it 100% proven that if i use a different dot than what was said to be used which is 3 my brake system will be perfectly fine?

 

i've done it, never had a problem.

can you even get dot 3 anymore?

 

Back when your car was made, they didn't have DOT 4 or 5 - that's why - they didn't want you using DOT 2 or DOT 1 (the really old stuff).

If I were you, I'd change out the rubber brake hoses - they are 2 up front and one in driver rear. They wear over time, and the rubber expands, thus the fluid pressure is being used to expand the rubber hose rather than applying pressure to your pistons/wheel cylinders. It's truly amazing the increased braking performance one can get from replacing these $8 hoses!

 

DOT 5 is silicone based I believe and it is made for specific applications. There is a DOT 5.1 which I believe you can use also, but its expensive. My mountain bike takes it.

I think most of it now is labeled DOT 3 & 4. The valvoline stuff I have next to me says synthetic DOT 3 & 4.

I too agree that if the rubber hoses are original, this is a good time to change them. I would flush the lines out at all 4 corneres till the fluid is clear.

 

Can you give me a link to the front and back brake hoses?
I ordered 2 quarts of ssbc dot 5 brake fluid. Hopefully 1 quart will do it for the flush and the other to fill it back up.

 

Any auto parts store should have or be able to order OE lines.

JamesC

 

DOT 5 fluid is the fluid that a few of us have said not to use. Use DOT 3/4.

 

DOT 5 is not compatible with 3, but you can mix DOT 3 & 4 without issue. Without flushing out 100% of everything in your brake system, you could end up with serious issues; not worth the minute performance gain you may never notice by going with 5 over 3/4

 

Plus it might mess something up with the seals in the brake system. I know my Wilwood brakes say specifically to not use DOT 5.

 

Thanks everyone for the help. Im going to see if i can return the dot 5 for the dot 4