Date: Fri, 25 Jun 1999 03:19:34 -0700
Reply-To: Coby Smolens <cobys@WELL.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Coby Smolens <cobys@WELL.COM>
Subject: Re: DOT3 vs DOT4
In-Reply-To: <Pine.SOL.3.96.990623223910.4795A-100000@yoda>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
It was I who posted the initial note about DOT3 & 4 being compatible. I
think it's a case of all of us having a piece of the truth, but I find
myself coming down on the side of safety.
I believe Eric is right about the non-reciprocity issue (you can go from
DOT3 to 4 and not the other way around), although it seems to me the bigger
front pads and disks of the later van would act to stabilize temperature,
thereby obviating the need for a more robust fluid.
After giving it some thought though, and a good ol' college try at second
guessing the authors, I imagine the book meant to assure us we could replace
DOT3 fluid with DOT4 without fear of creating a monstrous admixture in our
hydraulic system that would come back to haunt us on long steep hills.
It is true that the DOT4 has a higher boiling point and anything we can do
to eliminate the possibility of anyone's experience of the heart-in-mouth
feeling you get when the pedal starts heading for the floor just when you
need it the most (i.e.: On US 1 on the California coast, coming down the 15%
hill at the north side of the detour past Fort Ross last year with a load of
German mother-in-laws and aunts, wife, teenage girls, and baggage for a two
week trip - a situation everyone's familiar with, right?), we should do.
Just like we tell folks to fill the sump with 20w-50 instead of 10W-30...
(Now that I think of it though, that trip was with Okie, my '83.5 Westy, all
newly filled up with DOT4 - go figger.)
Coby
Valley Wagonworks
"Intimately acquainted with VW Vans since 1959"
Volkswagen Bus, Vanagon, Westfalia and Eurovan
Repair and Service Specialists
1535 Sir Francis Drake Blvd., San Anselmo, CA 94933
Voice:(415) 457-5628
Fax: (415) 457-0967
http://wagonworks.com
mailto:contact@wagonworks.com
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM]On Behalf
> Of EMZ
> Sent: Wednesday, June 23, 1999 8:00 PM
> To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
> Subject: Re: DOT3 vs DOT4
>
>
> Well, with all that said, you must keep in mine 2 things. 1 -
> the brakes changed in 1986 on the Vanagon, from 2 piston to 1 large
> piston, and increased the surface area. 2 - Dot 4 is fully compatable
> with Dot 3....but not the other way around. Also, being that lord Bentley
> can not see into the future, these manuals could have been written say,
> in 1984, stating "DOT 3 if fine". Then 2 years later the brakes
> are changed, and require Dot 4. Without more info. on the brake system,
> the manual......it's hard to say. An easy way to know for sure is
> to look at the cap on the master Cyl.
>
> I personal have had the brakes boil the fluid. It is one of the most
> fearful times in your life, that you may even live thru. Sure beats
> sky diving or bungy jumping. This is not a questionable item, for me,
> at any cost.
>
>
> Eric 86-VW4x4
> vw4x4@fyi.net 72-240z
> Pittsburgh, PA USA 1936-Chrysler
>
>
> On Wed, 23 Jun 1999, Karl F Bloss wrote:
>
> > Eric,
> >
> > You said someone gave dangerous advice in saying DOT 3 was OK. I looked
> > it
> > up today in Bentley and they say that DOT 4 supercedes DOT 3 as of 1985.
> > It sounds
> > to me like DOT 3 was OK, but once the higher boiling point DOT 4 came
> > out, VW
> > decided to go with that. They also said that they're fully compatible.
> > I can't remember
> > the page #, but it's under Brakes-Hydraulic.
> >
> > So go easy on us, ok? :-)
> >
> > -Karl
> > -----------------------
> > Karl Bloss
> > temporary e-mail address while I'm a road warrior: blosskf@juno.com
> >
> > ___________________________________________________________________
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