Hydraulic fluid question

[mike mckinley]

hi bruce

the only info i have that is close to your question involves hydraulic brakes. the u.s. military converted many of their vehicles from conventional brake fluid (dot 3) , to a silicon fluid. this was done for many reasons, one was that conventional fluid supports condensation, which in turn causes corrosion over time, leading to brake failure. another was that vehicles could be mothballed for several years because the fluid acted like a preservative in the system. their proceedure involved draining the system, flushing it out, and refilling with silicon fluid. what was found was that with older vehicles, the silicon caused the rubber components to break down and fail. with the newer vehicles, or ones that had their brake systems rebuilt in the recent past, there were fewer problems. this came down to the chemical make up of the rubber components. there is a u.s. army manual outlining the conversion proceedure, which i could e mail you if required. hope this helps

mike