Chevy & GMC Vans

HEY, I need a good mechanic!

Think you're funny........don't ya?

Can you say troll boys and girls? How about before you make a post you think about putting in some relevant info.

First: where are you? We have members all over the world and the name of a good shop or the offer of help is no good if it is 10000 miles away from your home.

Second: what is your problem? I don't mean in life I don't care. What is the issue with the van.

Please think before posting we like to help if possible. That being said if your just trying to be stupid then leave and cause problems somewhere else.

Dude.........(Kidhauler)........You need a time out. That's no way to welcome a new member. Just in case you missed it.......we say "Welcome to the site". And then we ask politely if we can help. You sounded like some of the idiots from the other site. "wrp4" is my son and he will get around to a proper intro when he can. He was just trying to be funny knowing that I would see that post. Tomorrow we are doing a major brake job on his '91 Astro. We are going to try something new. Supposedly you are not to use DOT 5 silicone fluid in an ABS system. I"ve done some research and found nothing that tells me exactly why. We'll let you know how it works.

Welcome aboard ASV wrp4, sounds like you and Pops have a good days work planned, let us know how you make out with it

Welcome to the forum. Don't go to a mechanic. Learn to do it yourself!

I don't want to discourage you from your brake experiment. I'm curious about your results myself. But here are some things to consider...

You won't be able to get rid of all the old fluid, and the two don't mix well.

Everyone knows DOT3 brake fluid (glycol based) is hygroscopic. That means that any moisture that gets into the system is absorbed into the fluid. This is good, and bad. Good because the water is dispersed throughout the system which prevents it from freezing or boiling, and the corrosion inhibitors can protect metal. Bad, because it gradually lowers the boiling point of the fluid overall. When the brakes get very hot, the more the fluid vaporizes, the more braking power you lose.

DOT5 (silicone based) is hydrophobic. Silicone itself is more compressible than glycol, so you already start with a softer pedal. Moisture that enters the system remains separate and becomes trapped (especially when filling a previously glycol filled system). This prevents corrosion inhibitors from doing their job. When the temperature goes up, these pockets of water can boil (mushy pedal) or freeze. DOT5 fluid is subject to frothing, and of course it's expensive. And finally, brake components in most vehicles weren't tested to tolerate compounds that they didn't come with.

I'm sure it will work fine, but it just seems overly expensive to me. I have no idea why they say that about ABS. Also note, DOT5.1 is glycol based, not silicone.

Good luck!

Skip-I am very sure with your business as a repair shop you have this job very well covered.Heck you built the brakes on this van in the first place.Well really did the upgrade on it.Did you ever build a power bleeder like Darren's??.That might help some.Let us know if we can help out with it and let us know how it worked out.

Oh excuse me please.Welcome to the site.Second generation Skip.You know it does feel kind of good to see Lockdoc's son and now yours sign on.Like passing the torch sort of.Very cool.

Sorry but it seemed like a troll post when there is no info and just a bait question like that. The bad thing about a inside joke is anyone on the outside of it doesn't know its a joke.

Do not put dot 5 in the van. Dot 3-4 are interchangable but from what I have found only new cars are designed to run dot 5. From the info I have read on it if you wanted to change to dot 5 you basicly have to flush and or change out all your brake lines. As said before dot 3-4 absorb water from the air so you will boil the brakes if you have bad fluid and get abusive on the brakes. But dot 5 absorbs air and will foam. The two different types do not mix.

I believe even on a bottle of dot5 it says not compatable with dot 3-4. If in doubt check with the guy at the parts counter at your local store they should know as they sell it all day long.

The Dot 5 experiment is just that. If it doesn't work out satisfactory we'll change it back to Dot 3. I hope it does work. Years ago I did a complete change over on a Plymouth Volare I owned and it worked fine. And after 10 years the fluid in the master cylinder was as clean as new. Yes, I drove that Plymouth for 10 years. Don't laugh. It was one of the best cars I've owned. We'll let everyone know how it works.
Wally is a pretty darn good mechanic in his own right. After all, he was brought up in an auto repair shop. He's going to do the brake job. He has access to my shop and equipment. It makes me proud that some of the old man rubbed off.

Welcome aboard Wally. You have a great teacher at your side.