I am doing flush, and am going to put in some DOT 4 break fluid, is there any brand better than the others? or are they all the same?

o and by any chance does anyone know the size of the bleeder screw?

 

Size of the bleeder screw is 7 or 8mm I believe.

What are your plans for the car? If it's a street car with the occasional track/auto-x, any dot3/4 fluid will suffice.

 

it would be for street, with the occasional track in the near future, i have already decided to go DOT 4 but i was wondering if there was a brand that was better then the rest or are they just the same DOT 4 brake fluid but by different manufacturers.

 

dot 5 is ur friend i use redline dot 5 in the track car and also my gf civic the only differences are the boiling points and one will absorb h2o and the other wont dot 4 will absorb h20 dot 5 will not

 

O okay, but im not going to use dot5 becuase i am certain i already have dot3 or 4 in there, unless i bleed it a certain way which i dont know how, it could contaminate the entire system which i don't want to happen. I have also read that unless your consistently flush dot 5 it would cause rust to form in your system.


Dot 4 people, i want to know some good quality brands for DOT 4 specified brake fluid, if it matters. someone please help me out.

 

bleeding the b system is the same the dot 5 myths are just that only way for rust to form is the presence of air and water if the system is bleed correctly then the air and water are absent from the system, as for brand redline also makes dot 3 and 4

 

IDIOT ALERT!!!

If you don't know what you are talking about, DON'T GIVE ADVICE!! Some NEWB like you will search, find this and think it is the correct answer.

Do what every you want in your CIVIC, but don't screw up someone else's life.


DOT 5-No myths, just facts.

DOT 5 is Silicone based. It was originally intended for racing, since it met very high temperature standards of DOT5, but the negative factors soon caused it to fall from favor for must users. It does not absorb moisture which makes it good for stored, seldom used vehicles, such as antique cars. It also does not corrode paint if leaked or spilled. It is therefore primarily used for in museums or military vehicles which are stored unused for long periods of time. In the case of a daily used vehicle, this hygrophobic characteristic translates to a disadvantage. Don't take my word on it, look it up.

DOT 5 also easily aerates. This causes lots of issues, adding to the inherent compressibility of the silicone based fluid. BTW, compressibility is a very bad thing in brake fluid.

DOT 5 MUST NOT be mixed with any DOT 3 or DOT 4 or 5.1 brake fluid. If you do, everything turns to goo. A brake system may be converted to DOT5, but its a real bitch to do so. EVERYTHING must be drained and flushed with mineral spirits.

DOT3 and DOT4 are both glycol based and may be mixed, but I wouldn't do it. Pick one.

I use DOT 4, Valvoline Syntec.

DOT 5.1 is a different animal. It is glycol-based and is hygroscopic. This is expensive stuff and is widely used for racing and HPDE.

Here is enough info on brake fluid from some experts to help anyone who doubts the information from the experts at Stoptech.

http://www.stoptech.com/tech_info/wp...fluid_1a.shtml

 

ATE Super Blue or TYP 200 Amber is the best bang for the buck, plus it has a pretty good service life on a street car when compared to other racing brake fluid. I especially like the blue color because you KNOW when you have fully bled the entire system. You can then use amber on the next fluid change for the same effect.
http://www.tirerack.com/brakes/ate/a...blue_fluid.jsp

Comparison:
http://www.evilplastic.com/bfluid.htm

 

Thanks, finally my question has been answered

 

Yeah, my bro does HPDE's alot in his 911. He does the same thing.

I flush once per year, I can usually tell by the color change as well... from brown to clear!

 

so jack im a idiot because i use dot 5 in a track car and a civic huh well it actually 5.1 i was just lazy and tired to type the extra crap so u r actually the idiot and its clear in ur reply cause you only cover like the first few paragraphs in the stoptech link, by the way my master tech certs prove im not a idiot i get paid to fix these thing we all call cars everyday, oh well no harm done but really to call someone a idiot with out just cause is pretty childish, none the less juust use any dot 3 or 4 there at the very least cheap and easily obtainable just make sure to bleed the system really well

 

dot 4 means it meets the SAE standard, so any Dot 4 is at least upto standard and more than likely beyond.
I alway buy Morris because its the cheapest (doubt you get that in USA) and never had any issues as long as its changed every 2 years.

 

So you are merely an incompetent, lazy, illiterate slob who gives very, very bad, inaccurate advice about a very, very critical safety system in a car. And you claim a master tech certification?

Whoh! That makes you look so much better, thanks for the clarification!

Maybe they appreciate your 'style' over on the Hon-duh forums, but bad lazy incompetent posting becomes permanent and some newb will someday search and find your post. Now your post is labeled as idiotic and described by YOU as lazy and inaccurate.

I'm glad you don't work on or advise anyone working on anything I drive.

I will now offer you at no monetary cost a little personal mentoring for your life's journey:

Learn to spell and express yourself concisely with both verbal and written skills. You will go further, faster and be generally more successful.

Good Luck!

 

lol, yeah, DOT 5 and 5.1 are totally different and mixing them up is a ridiculous error that you should be ashamed of.

That being said, I've been using ATE super blue (DOT 5) in my TII for about a year, and I haven't had any problems with it. As long as your flush it nice and good, you're fine.

But if you want DOT 4, then I usually use valvoline.

also, you can find out what size the bleeder screws are at speedbleeder.com

 

ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

 

I certainly hope that a real master tech would not be "lazy" enough to discount the vital difference between DOT 5 and 5.1 fluid as "extra crap". Anybody can make a mistake, but it takes a true idiot to try to cover it up with a lame excuse.

 

What are you using the car for? Anything dot 3 or 4 from Pep Boys will be fine for street use. For on track use the ATE super blue and amber as mentioned up in the thread are the cheapest "good" fluid. I personally use Motul 600, which costs quite a bit more, but really not that much in the face of a year's track budget. I like the Motul because it has a higher wet and dry boiling point than the ATE. If you're feeling really spendy you can use Castrol SRF which has the highest boiling points of them all, but the stuff costs $Texas.

 

End the thread. this is all you need to know.

 

This has been covered before, but what the heck...

For mainly street use, the Valvoline synthetic (used to be called "Syntec"?) is excellent. Very cheap with an excellent temp rating. If you are thinking about trying out the track sometime and are a novice driver, it is fine to use the Valvoline. You don't need to spend the coin on ATE or Motul.

Here's the issue - right before your track weekend, as part of prepping your car, you need to flush out your old brake fluid. Put some nice fresh (as in from a newly opened bottle) Valvoline in there.

Fresh good brake fluid (in general) is better than really old expensive fluid.

In the interest of full disclosure, I will admit that I am currently running Motul RB 600 in my track car, but I also run race pads and DOT sticky tires which makes for a lot harder braking and higher temps on the rotors. I also got the fluid on sale. For my FD with street pads, I use Valvoline.

Have fun,

-bill

 

CosmoQuik has received a warning for posting incorrect and mis-leading information in this thread. DOT 5 is not a good choice for street driven vehicles as it tends to pick up air very easy leading to spongy brakes and reduced feel unless the fluid is changed often. This air is not just bled out of the system, it binds to the silicon matrix compound. Also unrelated to your bad information, we use American English on this board to communicate, not text messaging short hand.

jackhild59 thank you for correcting several dangerous posts, but please refrain from insulting other members.

mr.managloo On my street driven vehicles I only use Castrol LMA brake fluid. LMA has additives that reduces the ability for moisture to get absorbed into the brake fluid. This makes it a true 2 year/24,000 mile brake fluid in most street driven applications. and has been rated very high in high performance situations and has a wet boil point near many synthetics... Plus at around $4 a container, it is cheap enough to replace when you go autocrossing every other weekend and not kill your wallet.

 

Wow, that's some nice information coming out of this thread, Icemark.

Thank you, I'll be picking up some of that tomorrow.

 

LMA is good for the street, but I'm not sure I would even use it on the track. I destroyed it in one track day with my very slow car and crappy tires. I had just done a full flush 2 days before and it felt great. It got spongy on the track when the brakes got hot, and stayed spongy. Your results may vary however. I am just going to step up to Super Blue in the car now anyway.

I like the Valvoline Syntec a lot. I feel it is a little better for street and light track use. It seems a little more resillient, and I've never had it go away so quickly like the LMA did.

Again, for the street and light track use, ANY fresh dot 4 fluid is better than old fluid.

 

If you want a cheap fluid for HPDE's, there's the old DOT 3 Ford Fluid that has a 550 F Dry Boiling Point. It's also much cheaper than the Motul RBF 600 available at the track. The downside is that it's not that easy to find anymore.

However, when I was in Canada, I noticed that Prestone now makes a DOT 3 brake fluid for Ford vehicles that has the same high 550 F dry boiling point and crap 280-something F wet boiling point. I'm not sure if this is sold in the states. I would get a couple of containers of this stuff and flush and bleed at every HPDE. After the HPDE season was over, I'd switch to a more normal DOT 4 fluid like Castrol LMA.

If anyone really has money, they should look at Castrol SRF. Its wet boiling point is higher than many fluids' dry boiling point.

 

Ford discontinued that fluid... it is unfortunate. That was great stuff.

 

sorry people for i was very tired, not thats a legitimate reason but i was very tired from a all nighter rebuilding a sb 350 for my neighbor which turned out awesome made over 375 hp on the dyno almost 400 ft tq, i hope this appology will suffice and i may regain some faith that was lost