All,

The ol' 2cv van's been sat in the garden for a couple of years, after the 
engine decided to throw some toys out of the pram.

That's playing again, but the contents of the brake master cylinder look... 
interesting.

Normal DOT3 fluid new three and a bit years ago, together with four new 
wheel cylinders and a new master cylinder. The fluid wasn't bright purple 
at that point. It is now. A really violent brush cleaner/meths purple.

Thoughts?

> The ol' 2cv van's been sat in the garden for a couple of years, after the
> engine decided to throw some toys out of the pram.
>
> That's playing again, but the contents of the brake master cylinder 
> look...
> interesting.
>
> Normal DOT3 fluid new three and a bit years ago, together with four new
> wheel cylinders and a new master cylinder. The fluid wasn't bright purple
> at that point. It is now. A really violent brush cleaner/meths purple.


Don't Citroens use a mineral based brake fluid, not the standard DOT stuff?

Hellraiser.........>

Hellraiser (hellraiser1@nospam.blueyonder.co.uk) gurgled happily,
sounding much like they were saying : 


>> Normal DOT3 fluid new three and a bit years ago, together with four
>> new wheel cylinders and a new master cylinder. The fluid wasn't
>> bright purple at that point. It is now. A really violent brush
>> cleaner/meths purple. 

> Don't Citroens use a mineral based brake fluid, not the standard DOT
> stuff? 


Not all.

Disk 2cvs do, as do the big hydraulic Cits, but this is a mid-60s drum 2cv, 
so paintstripper.

Its probably water (moisture). Brake fluid should be changed every 2 years 
as over time it absorbs moisture.

And for safety's sake its a no brainier. IMHO

Martin
"Adrian"  wrote in message 
news:Xns967DBF0B0A413adrianachapmanfreeis@204.153.244.170...

> Hellraiser (hellraiser1@nospam.blueyonder.co.uk) gurgled happily,
> sounding much like they were saying :
>
>>> Normal DOT3 fluid new three and a bit years ago, together with four
>>> new wheel cylinders and a new master cylinder. The fluid wasn't
>>> bright purple at that point. It is now. A really violent brush
>>> cleaner/meths purple.
>
>> Don't Citroens use a mineral based brake fluid, not the standard DOT
>> stuff?
>
> Not all.
>
> Disk 2cvs do, as do the big hydraulic Cits, but this is a mid-60s drum 
> 2cv,
> so paintstripper. 

Martin (nospam@ nospam.co.uk) gurgled happily, sounding much like they
were saying : 


>>>> Normal DOT3 fluid new three and a bit years ago, together with four
>>>> new wheel cylinders and a new master cylinder. The fluid wasn't
>>>> bright purple at that point. It is now. A really violent brush
>>>> cleaner/meths purple.

> Its probably water (moisture). Brake fluid should be changed every 2
> years as over time it absorbs moisture.


Oh, absolutely.


> And for safety's sake its a no brainier. IMHO


Agreed. There's no doubt this stuff's coming out and getting bled through 
with plenty of good clean new fluid. I'm just wondering why it's changed 
colour - is there some moisture-reactant dye in brake fluid? Is it likely 
to have toasted the master? I've *never* seen or heard of brake fluid doing 
this before. It's wierd. It's so *clear* and so *bright*, it really does 
look just like meths.

And, no, I don't think somebody's swapped me brake fluid for meths...

Adrian wrote:


> Agreed. There's no doubt this stuff's coming out and getting bled through 
> with plenty of good clean new fluid. I'm just wondering why it's changed 
> colour - is there some moisture-reactant dye in brake fluid? Is it likely 
> to have toasted the master? I've *never* seen or heard of brake fluid doing 
> this before. It's wierd. It's so *clear* and so *bright*, it really does 
> look just like meths.
> 
> And, no, I don't think somebody's swapped me brake fluid for meths...


Silicon brake fluid is exactly that colour.
Are you quite sure it didn't have DOT 5 in it?

Willy Eckerslyke (oss108no_spam@bangor.ac.uk) gurgled happily, sounding
much like they were saying : 


>> Agreed. There's no doubt this stuff's coming out and getting bled
>> through with plenty of good clean new fluid. I'm just wondering why
>> it's changed colour - is there some moisture-reactant dye in brake
>> fluid? Is it likely to have toasted the master? I've *never* seen or
>> heard of brake fluid doing this before. It's wierd. It's so *clear*
>> and so *bright*, it really does look just like meths.

>> And, no, I don't think somebody's swapped me brake fluid for meths...

> Silicon brake fluid is exactly that colour.
> Are you quite sure it didn't have DOT 5 in it?


99.9999% and falling rapidly.

Is there any easy way to identify?

DOT5 isn't miscible with DOT3, is it? Nor is it hygroscopic?

Adrian wrote:


>>Silicon brake fluid is exactly that colour.
>>Are you quite sure it didn't have DOT 5 in it?
> 
> 99.9999% and falling rapidly.
> 
> Is there any easy way to identify?
> 
> DOT5 isn't miscible with DOT3, is it? Nor is it hygroscopic?


Not sure about the first, the latter is certainly true.
If you put DOT5 in a jam jar with some water, the water will remain 
seperate at the bottom and will return to that state even after shaking 
the jar vigourously. Never tried it with normal brake fluid, but I'd 
expect it to start getting messy...

On Thu, 23 Jun 2005 10:54:07 +0000, Adrian wrote:


> Willy Eckerslyke (oss108no_spam@bangor.ac.uk) gurgled happily, sounding
> much like they were saying : 
> 
>>> Agreed. There's no doubt this stuff's coming out and getting bled
>>> through with plenty of good clean new fluid. I'm just wondering why
>>> it's changed colour - is there some moisture-reactant dye in brake
>>> fluid? Is it likely to have toasted the master? I've *never* seen or
>>> heard of brake fluid doing this before. It's wierd. It's so *clear*
>>> and so *bright*, it really does look just like meths.
> 
>>> And, no, I don't think somebody's swapped me brake fluid for meths...
> 
>> Silicon brake fluid is exactly that colour.
>> Are you quite sure it didn't have DOT 5 in it?
> 
> 99.9999% and falling rapidly.
> 
> Is there any easy way to identify?
> 
> DOT5 isn't miscible with DOT3, is it? Nor is it hygroscopic?




IIRC with DOT5 and DOT3 - never the twain shall meet.