Brake Fluid

[discoverychannel]

Hello all and thanks in advance for any help you can give me =)...my brake fluid is a little low and I was wondering if the Dot 4 or higher that the manual recommends is always a synthetic brake fluid? Also, could the fact that the fluid is to the minimum lvl make my brake light come on? I feel so dumb for asking these type of questions, but I'd rather ask the questions then mess up my rover =)

Thanks again

[Disco Mike]

Your brake fluid level is dropping because your pads are wearing out so more fluid id going down to the calipers. How long has it been since you looked at your pads? May want to just plan on doing a full brake bleed and move up to a full synthetic fluid like Vavoline when you change out your pads.
Mike

[pavel]

discochannel: don't worry about asking basic questions - there have been many times I should have asked, didn't and then regretted it! As suggested, this might be the correct time to check your brake pads (really easy to replace) and flush out the old fluid with new. These are standard maintenance jobs you can learn to do yourself if you haven't tried before.

One more point re your statement: "Dot 4 or higher". If I'm not wrong, Dot 5 brake fluid, used by the military, is silicone based so stick with Dot 4 (alcohol based). I've used Dot 5 in several vehicles because it doesn't absorb water (non hydroscopic) but you have to make sure all the old fluid is blown out of the system first and that the components are designed to work with Dot 5. So ask LR first before going "higher" on brake fluid.

[Elemental]

Dot 5 is not a smart play in ABS equipted cars/trucks.