Dear Mr. Know-it-all: I’ve noticed that the front brake on my 2005 Honda CRF450 has become like mush, yet I have plenty of meat on the front pads. A friend of mine told me to drain the brake fluid and replace it with hydraulic fluid from a backhoe, because it is heavier duty, will last longer and be more powerful. Please enlighten me.

I shiver, Mr. Carver. I am extrapolating from your culinary references, “brakes like mush” and “meat on the pads,” that you are a round, soft, girthy man with guts all bubble and squeak. Mr. Carver, your letter and solution make me believe that a more likely receptacle for mush and meat is between your ears. By all means use backhoe petroleum-based hydraulic oil in your Honda brakes; it will always give me something to chuckle about on long evenings in my design shop. Your friend can place a plaque where they find your body when the seals and fluid swell and your brakes lock up driving your bloated body into the ground like a “bunker buster” in the desert sands of Iraq. Brake fluid is a polyglycol derivative of alcohol, and is designed to not attack the rubber and lastic in your brake system and to stay consistent from below freezing to 500 Fahrenheit. It does not swell like your fat head, Mr. Carver. However misguided your proposed solution, your base problem of what factors contribute to deteriorating braking power over time is an excellent opportunity for a Mr. Know-it-All Case Study.