NEVER EVER mix DOT 5 with DOT 4 or DOT 5.1

DOT 5 is silicone based and not compatible with glycol based DOT4/5.1

https://epicbleedsolutions.com/blogs/faq/w...rake-fluid Jules

Absolute, Also , DoT 5 is not compatible with ABS systems . 2009 GS Auto Zermatt Silver - Sold June 21 after 10 years of ownership

2016 Subaru Outback SE 2.0 diesel SE Premium Lineartronic Sold 2024 after 8 years and 80k miles . Best Car I ever owned !

2023 Toyota Hilux invincible X 2.8 Auto .

[quote="MartynB"]

DirtyDuck wrote:

MartynB wrote:

Brake fluid is about 18 months old. Always use the best Dot5 that is compatible.

Some ideas here though.

I have an Outback - brakes are great on that, but its 2 years old not six

I’m not being pedantic here , but your brake fluid , you mean DoT 5.1 . Don’t you ? If it is DoT 5 in there , or topped up with DoT 5 you will get braking problems .

I'd recommend bleeding the system properly and replace the fluid just in case. A two man jobbie....but you can do it by yourself. I am sure there is a thread on this forum about the correct technique.

Cheers - done it myself a number of times. Last change June 2019.

I will do the hoses and fluid at the same time - wasn’t going to bother with the hoses as they are optional and it does not get a lot of time off road, but I will now.

Looks like the hoses can be quite tricky frozen nuts, ruining the brake lines, air in the servo.

Are there any how to guides on this?

Duck,

It isn’t clear from your post.

Can you lock up the wheels and trigger the ABS?

I can’t tell from your posts if you are just asking for the pedal to be easier to press.

If the vacuum pump, check valve or brake booster aren’t working correctly then the braking force will be very high.

Please clarify how hard are you pressing on the pedal.


If I understand the MOT correctly they test the balance of the brakes, can you share this information.


For my 2008 the brakes don’t require much force and they are very east to modulate. I am very impressed by the brakes on my LR2.

Note: the 6 cylinder has larger rotors which will reduce the pedal force to get the same rate of deceleration.


One thing you can do is switch to brake pads with a higher coefficient of friction.

I personally really like EBC Green Stuff.

The friction coefficient should be marked on the pad with a two letter code.

If you want to go this route let me know and I will check to see what is marked on the EBC pads that I have on the shelf.

Good luck

Paul

PS I just looked up a graph for Hawk pads and for the 12 compounds listed 11 were significantly worse than stock pads for the the first stop from cold and 1 was equal to OEM PADS. NOTE: when the pads got hot the friction was higher than stock.

GG pads seem to be the right choice

Click image to enlarge

The Green Stuff pads that I have on the shelf for my Volvo are GG friction rated





Note: I am still not certain if you are saying

1) the first application of the brakes when cold is terrible

or

2) every time I press on the brake pedal I am pushing with more effort than any other vehicle I have ever driven


The Green Stuff should help with #1 but if you have #2 then its unlikely that Pads will be sufficient (see the comments from others above [and what I wrote about the brake booster] for the fix for #2)

Good luck

Paul