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My lad has brought a mate's bike home with Clarks Skeletal brakes, asking if I can make them work again. So far so good, I've unstuck the pistons, removed the severely contaminate pads and cleaned up the rotor. I've tightened up the loose bleed nipple which appears to have been the cause of the contamination, and the pistons are moving again, but the front brake has an obvious weep at the inline connector. I've ordered a new connector from Clarks, but of course I'll need to bleed them properly. The brakes specify Dot 3 or 4 fluid, and I have a bottle of Dot 5.1 left over from the heady days of Hope ownership. What will happen if I use Dot 5.1 to refill/flush them?
It will be fine. Dot 5.1 has the same use age properties as 3 and 4 but is more expensive and has a higher boiling temperature for more performance usages.
Brilliant, thanks. Saves me a trip to Halfords 😀
No problem. DOT 3, 4 and 5.1 are compatible with each other. It's DOT 5 which shouldn't be mixed with any of the others as it is silicone based as opposed to glycol ether based.