Power Steering Fluid and Brake Fluid

Hi All,

Two questions: What colour is your brake fluid and can it be used interchangeably with the power steering fluid?

Thank you in advance.

 

Not the same. Do not mix.
Dextron IV ATF full synthetic (or similar) for the power steering. Red.
Valvoline synthetic Dot 3-4 (or similar) for brake fluid. Amber.

 

Thanks. For some reason the brake fluid reservoir has red/pink fluid in it. Are all brake fluids amber in colour? Apparently it's never been changed from the factory.

Thank you in advance.

 

Dot 5.0 silicon is purple but 5.1 amber DO NOT USE either of these in your system.
Never seen red brake fluid but ....
Someone may have topped brake fluid off with PS fluid - a lot of stupid people doing oil changes out there at shops always checking everything in hopes of making more business/money.

 

You can get a cheap fluid tester online, not completely accurate but does the job.

$6 BSBMIEQM Brake Fluid Liquid Tester, Auto Diagnostic Testing Tool, Oil Moisture Analyzer with 5 LED Indicators, Auto Diagnostic Checker Tool for DOT3 DOT4 Brake Fluid，Father'Day Gift

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08NH6FLXL?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details

 

DOT 5.1 is ok to use in our system as it is Ester based like DOT 3&4 and it backwards compatible.

 

Brake fluid should be clear and yellowish color and no it cannot be used interchangeably with power steering fluid

 

Dot 5.1 is a perfectly suitable replacent for DOT3 or DOT4…

dot 5 is silicone fluid and should not be used at all really, certainly on nothing made in the last 60 years.

Brake fluid, by law in the US, must be clear or amber in color.

Ate (one of the largest, if not the largest brake OE manufacturer in the world) used to sell some racing fluid…ATE super Blue and the same chemistry but orange. The idea was to make the colors different enough for race stuff so you could see when the old fluid was cycled out by the color change…the Blue stuff had to be pulled from the shelf because it did not comply with the law.

As far as red brake fluid goes…I’ve seen at least one factory in China that produces master cylinders assemble them using a red colored assembly lube…that when brake fluid is added, turns the brake fluid red…that’s only a possibility if the master cylinder has been replaced (or some other hydraulic component.)

As far as comparability… NO!

brake systems use EPDM rubber seals/hoses which do not play nice with hydrocarbon based fluids…and trans fluid is hydrocarbon based. Seals and hoses designed for HC based fluids use NBR or Viton or another suitable material…not EPDM.

 

avocado oil for both

 

This. Plus it's high in Omega 3's.

 

exactly. Fixes rack leak as well.

 

Sooooooo I found out someone in our family had mistakenly put some power steering fluid in there to top it off.

It’s due to the fact that they got mixed up between power steering fluid, transmission fluid and brake fluid.

That person was me.

PS it was because I remembered the transmission fluid can mix with the power steering fluid and I got it mixed up with brake fluid.

 

That is a significant problem. All the rubber in the hydraulic system is now contaminated. I would expect you to have some dragging brakes or possibly other symptoms.

Typically when this happens, everything containing rubber in the system goes in the trash (master cylinder/ABS module, brake hoses, calipers, wheel cylinders, anything that fluid touches that's not a metal pipe), all the hard lines flushed with brake cleaner, denatured alchohol, and blown out with air, then the system put back together and bled with all new components

Petroleum oil in the system will cause the EPDM rubber seals to swell. check the underside of the brake fluid cap...there is a rubber gasket there that is likely swelled, if it is, the whole system needs the treatment I described above.

 

How long ago did you add the PS fluid to the brake fluid? Might be a good idea to crack the bleader on the rear right brake and see what colour the fluid is at the brake cylinder to determine the PS fluid has made it that far.

 

Sorry to hear about your mistake. Please try not to drive your truck until you get the truck completely fixed....this can/will likely cause a complete loss of braking by (at the very least) destroying your master cylinder.

Additionally I will ask, is your truck a manual transmission?

 

I recommend the Motive pressure bleeder and I built the master cylinder adapter myself to save money over buying the $70 plus adapter, but I included a link for that as well. I haven’t used the pressure bleeder yet, but I tested the pressure hold of the adapter and it worked!

$67 Power Probe BA10 Small Adapter for Toyota

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B004IQ96RK/?coliid=IQ7NNZSA8A82G&colid=2NZ8N1O688GE3

$73 Motive Products 0101 Universal Power Bleeder 2-Quart Tank with Hose and Round Adapter

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00CJ5DWKO?ie=UTF8

 

How long ago was the PS fluid added? If recently Id suck it all out with a turkey baster type thing and refill with new brake fluid. Do that a couple of times and then bleed all the brakes to purge anything out of the lines. You can look up brake bleeding procedures on here. Just dont let the res get low enough to suck any air into the system

 

Please provide description or part numbers of schedule 40 fitting and rubber sleeve. Thanks

 

Can confirm the dragging brakes.

Will check the underside of the brake fluid cap later. Thanks for the advice!

 

Unfortunately six months ago.