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I just changed both my pads and shoes with Performance Friction carbon metallics. I also flushed the fluid and replaced it with Valvoline Synthetic DOT3. Now my pedal feels mushy and as numb as week old birthday cake. The braking seems to have improved as wee has fade resistance but that pedal feel is really confidence sapping. Please help!
98 Contour SE Zetec ATX
"Chevy Corsicas Fear me!"
"There's no such thing as a PRETTY GOOD alligator wrestler"
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Joined: Aug 2001
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Never ever use synthetic for brake fluid. It's a big no-no especially with ABS. The syntethic stuff swells the grommets and gaskets and causes leaks, hence your poor brake pedal feel.
Flush ASAP and replace with a good DOT3 or 4 fluid such as Wilwood or at a minimum Castrol GT/LMA.
If the synthetic stuff has been in there a little while already (as in more than 24 hours) you will need to replace ALL hoses, gaskets, grommets and the master cylinder and ABS pump (if equipped). OUCH, big $$$ unless you're a DIY and have LOTS of time on your hands over the holidays.
Wish I had better news.
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Joined: Nov 2000
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Umm Steven, you don't know what your talking about. Valvoline Synth is EXCELLENT, I have used it on my car for 3 months now with no problem, and others here have used it longer. I think you are thinking of the silicon based brake fluid, THAT stuff is incompatible with the stock hardware.
My brakes where mushy too, even though I bled the brakes after installing new Greenstuff's. Try getting some speedbleeders and bleeding the brakes again, they will garantee you of not having air in the brake system. I rebled my brakes after installing speed bleeders all round and my mushy brakes were gone. The improvement was remarkable.
Regards, Anastazi Father of the Aussie Bar anastazi.sarigiannis@aam.com"Computer games don't affect kids. I mean if Pacman affected us as kids, we'd all run around in a darkened room, munching pills and listening to repetitive music." ----------------------------------- 2000 Silver Frost SVT #1126 of 2150 8" AFE/"Big-Mouth" Intake, Modified BAT Pipe, IAT Mod - A'PEXi S-AFC, Superchip, No Secondaries, Cobra/CSVT Hybrid MAF, Magnaflow True Duals, MYSTERY Mod, Autolite AWSF22FS's and FMS Wires, ES MM Inserts, Cross Drilled/Slotted Rotors w/ Greenstuffs, APR DTM Spoiler, Escort Cossie Vents, NACA Duct, Mirko Splitter, Koni's & H&R Springs, 24mm "Aussie" Sway Bar, 18" Enkei RS-5, 225/40R18 KDW-2's. Pioneer DEH-P7000R, TS-6975's, TS-6855's, MTX BE104, MTX Blue Thunder PRO502 http://www.geocities.com/qikslvrsvt
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I use Valvoline SynPower as well. Have for many years on many different vehicles.
Nothing better for fade and boiling resistance IMO.
BTW - SynPower is superior to Castrol Lima & the Castrol is a great brake fluid!
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I never heard anything like that on Valvoline Synpower BF either. Matter of fact everyone else that had something to say about it when I searched for opinions had something good to say.
98 Contour SE Zetec ATX
"Chevy Corsicas Fear me!"
"There's no such thing as a PRETTY GOOD alligator wrestler"
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Valvoline Syn DOT3/4 user here. Very happy. $5 a quart at Advanced/PepBoys/AutoZone.
John
'98 SVT - modded
-15.01@91.8
'95 Suzuki GS500E
-faster than the above
---wanting a Speed Triple or Superhawk badly
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I think Steven is confusing silicon brake fluid (also known as DOT 5) with synthetic.
I too use Valvoline.
As for the low pedal, I suspect that you still have some air in the system or that you did not install the front brake pad retaining clips properly. If it is only slightly mushy, it is possible that you just haven't driven it enough yet to bed in the brake pads.
Jim Johnson
98 SVT
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Ok the brakes seem to have firmed up. I guess they needed to be broken in or something. They also get firmer and more powerful as they heat up a bit. Thanks for the help.
98 Contour SE Zetec ATX
"Chevy Corsicas Fear me!"
"There's no such thing as a PRETTY GOOD alligator wrestler"
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the phrase "air makes it better" does not apply to brakes, especially if its the brake lines.
"careful man, there's a beverage here."
e-mail: boseraq@hotmail.com
aol IM: madhat1412
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My Contour has been running the Valvoline Synthetic Dot 4 for almost a year. No problems here. 
· Jon Miconi
· 96 Contour Zetec ATX
· 80 Ramcharger 360 ATX
· 77 Ramcharger 440 ATX
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