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I flushed the brake system on my 98 with Valvoline SynPower DOT 4 fluid.. Lot's of ugly brown gunk came out of the bleeder valves. Everything seemed to go fine, but now I have a squeek when the pedal returns up... not on the down stroke!
I had read to use GM clutch fluid in the CLUTCH because it has an additive to eliminate squeeky pedals, but I figured any good DOT 4 brake fluid would work fine in the brake system.
SDVette,
My '98 fluid reservoir cap says DOT3 fluid only, could Dot4 be the problem?
I don't know thr difference between the two but would stay with the recommended DOT3.
CarlB
Give it a little time and the squeak will probably go away.
I had the same experience when I had my clutch hydraulics bled using a DOT-4 brake fluid. Clutch pedal started squeaking, midway up the release stroke. But within 500 miles, the squeak disappeared and has not recurred since.
So hang in there. You'll be happy with the higher boiling points of the DOT-4 in your brake system.
CarlB - The Valvoline is DOT3 and DOT4! My understanding is that DOT4 is not fundementally different that DOT3, just slightly higher specifications. The Valvoline clearly states "Compatible with conventional brake fluids", and many of the regular racing guys use this brake fluid in their C5s. It's the DOT5 that is non-compatible.
Ranger - Thanks for the tip.. I'll give it some time. The brakes feel better already because I did get some bubbles out of one of the LR bleeder.
Do you think Bleeding it again would help? When I bleed my system... I have the helper very slowly pump the pedal so the fluid does not foam. I dont know if you are doing that or not... but I would think that somehow a piece of junk got stuck in your system (cauling the noise) and needs to be flushed out completely. Just a thought. FWIW....
Re: Flushed brakes.. Now pedal squeeks! (vetterdstr)
Vetterdstr.. You may be right.. I drew out as much dirty fluid as I could from the master cyclinder before I did the flush, but you know there was some left in the bottom..
I did a slow pump on all 4 corners until I got clean fluid flow on each. It took about a quart of brake fluid!
Getting the car ready for Buttonwillow.. Plugs and wires are next! Looking forward to it!
From: Evansville, IN The GOCC, rebels without a clue.
St. Jude Donor '06
Re: Flushed brakes.. Now pedal squeeks! (SDVette)
SDVette,
Did your squeak go away? I'm getting ready to flush my system and was going to use the same fluid as you. I have a mighty-vac and to flush the system with as I don't always have someone around to pump the brakes.
Re: Flushed brakes.. Now pedal squeeks! (Don Schenk)
Hi Don,
Yes! In fact, it only squeeked for 1 drive after the flush. The next drive it was fine. Now that I think about it, it may have been a mechnical squeek from the pedal itself.
FOr bleeding, I used a "1-man bleeder" that I got for $8 at NAPA. It's just a clear tube with a check valve on one end. It worked great.