BRAKES

[dusty]

Its happening to me and happened 3 years ago, the brakes freeze up on one or another of the wheels on the car. I have been using SILICONE FLUID and the cylinders keep corroding and gumming up. Now i found an article in AUTO RESTORERS magazine explaining the problem. as written there, the problem is the housing is cast iron and the piston aluminum and due to  low electrical conductive action it causes corrosion.

[HJ-ETEX]

I thought the pistons were zinc, not aluminum

[Fid]

They're aluminum, and yes, the electrolysis effect is a big problem, especially here in the midwest where we have such temperature and humidity extremes and our cars tend to sit for six months out of the year. If I could get through just one driving season without having to rebuild a wheel cylinder I'd be very happy!
I've heard that having the cylinders sleeved with brass will correct it. In fact, I'm going to have it done on one of my cars this spring.
http://www.whitepost.com/brake.html

[dpledger]

A possibility is the silicone fluid -there has been much written about it's use in older cars for years, and there is a great divergence of opinion and anecdotes. It does seem on balance that there may be incompatibilities with some types of rubber components in older parts. Another issue encountered is failing to totally purge the system of the older DOT numbers prior to putting in 5. There certainly are a number of reports of problems due to this. I've put 100's of K miles on Kaisers in WI since '58,and never had particular difficulties with brake cylinders, so I would not see the electrolysis as being a big issue. Certainly cylinders that have sat for years do show such effects, however.

[joefrazer]

A fellow KFer has his wheel cylinders sleeved with brass at White Post and still had trouble with them. The silicone fluid managed to get around the sleeve and made quite a mess. It happened to all four wheel cylinders...when we took things apart there was quite a gooey mess to contend with.

[Corsairdeluxe]

Remembering everyones experience is different,I offer my own. My average new wheel cylinder to gummed up time was about 2 1/2 years.It drove me nuts and I tried every thing. I finally marked a date on the calender yearly and did a complete brake fluid flush and change. Never had a problem since. I'm lazy and never have sought a lot of work but this all that ever worked for me.I do not belive the problem lies in the type of fluid used.

[darrin145]

If you use DOT 5 and don't believe it causes problems, next time you spend a day flushing your brake system, pour the old fluid into a clear container. It will look like layered Jello! It does not mix with water so the moisture settles to the lowest point, stays there and causes corrosion. Flushing may prolong the problems but I don't know anyone who has to flush DOT 3 or 4 from their system annually to avoid problems. It has also been proven to soften most rubber brake parts. We purchased a 48 Lincoln Continental convertible last summer that had DOT 5 installed during restoration, I replaced the entire brake system because of a gooey, stringy mess through out. DOT 5 will also cause a spongey feeling pedal. Our old cars were not made for this fluid and this fluid was not made our old cars, believe it or not.

Gary.

[Corsairdeluxe]

I've been around a pretty long time. Long enough to learn not to disagree with anyone elses experience, especially if it was with and old car or a woman. If a friend told me he once saw a piss ant eat a bale of hay, Id just nod my head.