Volvo 480 Club Europe

I also be having tricky issues with the likes of bleeding my ABS brakes ('94 2.0 GT)
After replacing the gearbox, which involved most of the car on axle-stands and the rest of it in my hallway, all the brake fluid from the resevoir had discovered a new home on my garage floor, through my bodged bung on the caliper hoses after I took them off.

I bought a bottle of DOT5.1 and topped up then bled through the front system and I'm about to the back. Reading this forum has caused some worries I could do with advice upon...
1: Have discovered amongst some posts that DOT5.1 is going to upset my caliper seals... that would suck. Is there any more info on this? Will I need to flush the system through again and replace all with DOT4?

2:I don't want to mess with fluid at 180Bar.... now would someone please, please, please tell me that the rear brakes do /not/ run at 180bar - because I don't want to bleed them under pressure and be killed. How do those little puny brake pipes contain such pressure and how does that little hydraulic motor on the Mk IV ABS system supply that kind of pressure? Have such figures been created by scare-mongers with a desire to prevent people from getting air out of their ABS system?

Yes, they do run at 180bar, however, it isn't actually that scary.
Do what the haynes manual says and it'll be fine.
It comes out pretty fast, so have a big container and make sure your assistant can hear you screaming.

If you've mixed fluid types, that really isn't going to help.

Chris

dot 5.1 is fine, its dot 5 that you cant use.

dot 5.1 is the same as 3 and 4 just with a higher boiling point.

this site gives a bit more info on the different specs:

http://www.vtr.org/maintain/brake-fluids.shtml

I'm not conviced by that. The addatives that cause the higher poiling point are what may cause problems with some seals. Saying that DOT 5.1 is the same as DOT 3 is like saying that Castrol GTX magnatec is like a 1970s 20W50 engine oil. Sure they are made of the same sort of stuff, but in both the adative packages are totaly different.

Richard

DOT 4 it is then!

Im going to gravity bleed mine as theres no point in my assistant putting his foot up and down on the pedal 30 times plus and still a pathetic dribble out of both fronts!!!!!!

Cant even do the rears on mine as the nipple on the nsr caliper has snapped as mentioned b4!!!!!!

rpruen wrote:I'm not conviced by that. The addatives that cause the higher poiling point are what may cause problems with some seals. Saying that DOT 5.1 is the same as DOT 3 is like saying that Castrol GTX magnatec is like a 1970s 20W50 engine oil. Sure they are made of the same sort of stuff, but in both the adative packages are totaly different.

Richard

Err why's there an anti dot 5.1 feeling here?

Dot 5.1 is totally miscible with Dot 4 and is perfectly safe and doesn't rot the seals.

I wouldnt use it on my Audi with the £700 Porsche Calipers if i wasn't sure.

Chemichal engineering has improved some what and the additives in 5.1 are safe.

Dot 5 is what you should avoid like the plague.

Took car in for a minimal volvo service - They put DOT 5.1 in.
Brake pedal has /feel/ once again!!! The mechanic explained that straight DOT 5 was OK for 400s after a certain date - but not all parts on production got switched over at the right date etc (If they forgot to put TRACS on my GT I wouldn't trust them for anything else!!) so best to avoid altogether - doesn't seem to be sold anymore anyhoo.

After a rather mental night out on the B481 day before last I still failed to get brake-fade (I'm on solid discs and I was /trying/) so I'm converted.

Using 5.1 now too.

Brakes very good at the mo.

Don't be put off by this high pressure using the abs pump. Although it is high pressure i'm sure when the valves are closed, the fluid hardly jets out all over the place. Just flows nicely.

Go do it!

pol

I was just bleeding my brakes on my early ES today and it didn't do any good. My brother was stepping on the pedal like crazy and still the fluid just dribbled out of the bleed nipple. Because this is the early type, I have a weight dependant rear brake pressure.

Only chance to get brakes sorted is to take it to a decent garage that have some sort of system to bleed the brakes?

NO need, its just that your bleed nipples are blocked.

Take them completely out and wire bruch teh nipples, and have a poke about with some wire in the caliper, then try again.

Thanks for the tip, I'll have to check that. Although the rear calibers are new (rebuilt) as well as the front calipers have been serviced. And this happened with all the calipers.

Well, seems like the car has to run while bleeding the brakes

Good news is brakes are sorted!