Does it matter what brand I use...just as long as its DOT 3?

 

IMO brake fluid is brake fluid, dont need to brake the bank. Whatever's easy to get.

 

thank you very much..btw do I only need 3 bottles to completely flush the brake system?

also, is there a way to tell what kind of fluid is what? Because i've bought the car recently and have no idea what the previous owner has used. I do not want to mix the wrong fluid types.

If there isn't, then I will flush the whole system.

 

Popular is the Castrol LMA.
A little more money is the Valvoline in the gold plastic bottle.
These are the better consumer brands available to you.


-Ted

 

I dont know how much it takes to flush the system, I've never done it myself. But if you've got ABS its dot 3, no question. If theres still doubt check the cap on the master cylinder, I would hope the guy before you could read and used the right fluid

 

Yes it does say " USE ONLY DOT 3 " but is it ok to mix brands as I do not know what the previous brand was?

 

Get at least a QUART or at least TWO PINTS of the stuff if you're going to flush the system.

If you never done this before, it might be safe to get a little bit extra...3 pints?


-Ted

 

Yeah I'll get 3 pints...btw where can I find Castrol LMA? Does walmart/checkers sell it?

Castrol LMA Is both DOT 3 + DOT 4 is it ok to use then since I have ABS?

 

Get some DOT4. A little more expensive, but not by much and it's got a higher boiling point.

Here's the stuff I went for:
http://www.machv.com/atesublrabrf.html

 

Castrol LMA is a low moisture absorbtion formula, meaning that you will have to change the fluid less often.

You could probably go every two years with Castrol LMA instead of removing/bleeding out the old fluid every year like you should with most of the generic cheapo brake fluids.

 

DOT 4 and 5.1 can be used in place of DOT 3. It is OK to mix brands and the 3/4/5.1 specs.
Do not use DOT 5 which is silicone fluid.

The best DOT 3 fluid is the Ford Motorcraft stuff.
Otherwise, spend a little more and use ANY DOT-4 brake fluid. All brands that I've seen mention full DOT 3 compatibility with or without ABS. My recommendations(based on availability/cost) are the Valvoline Synpower and Castrol GT-LMA. And, I still believe in yearly bleeding to maintain brake pedal feel and to prevent corrosion. The brake fluid will prevent the moisture from accumulating and freezing which is a problem with northern winters.

LMA is a 'poor' marketing term used by Castrol. Brake fluid's job is to absorb moisture and not let it fubar the brake system. LMA stands for "low moisture activity" which means it'll still absorb moisture(like all dot 3, 4, and 5.1 fluids) but not let it react negatively, which all brake fluids need to do.

 

Lots of DOT 4s and 5.1s will last a long time and there's really no magic to them. Brake fluids have both a "dry" boiling point and a "wet" boiling point. For the street the "dry" boiling point doesn't really matter. The "wet" boiling point indicates how the fluid will perform after it's absorbed some moisture.

The Ford spec stuff above is great, but only if you care about the dry boiling point. If you are going to be tracking your car then the dry boiling point is important because you're concerned about your brakes fading under a lot of abuse and heat build up. You also have to change your fluid more often anyway. Ford spec DOT 3 doesn't last very long because it takes a smaller amount of moisture absorbtion to lower its wet point than with typical fluids.