Brake fluid

[art_of_war]

Hello all!

We decided to change the brake fluid and to pump the brakes

The car is Series 1, 3.8, 1962

There are two brake cylinders.

The liquid that was inside is red color ( please see pic attached)

please advise, if this is ok :-) And what is the brake fluid to be used in the car ?? Thank you

[vee eight]

This looks like the very old crimson brake fluid that was available in the UK a long time ago. It was fine to use at that time but is not available now. You would best to flush out all of that fluid from the system (it is more than likely to be quite a few years old) and replace it with a DOT4 fluid.

[chrisfell]

Er....I wouldn't. I'd use DOT 5.1. Higher heat tolerance than DOT 4. I'd not use DOT 5 under any circumstances. Completely different formula. DOT 4 and DOT 5.1 can be mixed, but best to flush out all the old fluid.

[art_of_war]

Thank you friends!
I think I'll use dot 4

I dont race it) thank you

[christopher storey]

Personally, i would use Dot 3 if you can get it in Russia, as it has better lubricating qualities than the later fluids, and thus you have a better chance of avoiding the sticking seal problem which leads to so many cars having dragging brakes ( this applies particularly to 4.2 with the remote servo )

[Springer]

I know nothing about Dot 3 fluids but I am pretty sure I heard that Dot 5.1 has a better lubricant than Dot 4 if sticky pedal is an issue.

[JagWaugh]

It might also be ATE "racing" fluid. Sometime back around 2013 ATE super blue was taken out of production and a new red one was introduced. IIRC these are all DOT4 compatible. (But the blue is a really effective paint remover.)