Brake Fluid
06-16-2012, 07:42 AM
#3
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I am swapping my new brakemotive rotors & pads tomorrow & decided to go ahead and flush the old fluid out. I was told to use blue but can't find it local. Do any automotive stores sell it? I know I don't at auto zone.
06-16-2012, 07:45 AM
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I've been using ATE 200. It is pretty high-temp, isn't very expensive, and says it should be changed every 3 years (which suggests it has a more normal affinity for absorbing water).
It comes in a huge bottle, so I usually suction out the excess in my other cars and fill them up with it too.
The only reason for blue is so you can alternate colors and tell when it is flushed through. I think this is more useful on a race car where the fluid may be "bad", yet still quite new. So it still looks nice and clear gold (or clear blue). On your car it will likely be cloudy grey, so it will be obvious when fresh gold fluid is coming out. The blue doesn't do anything else.
It comes in a huge bottle, so I usually suction out the excess in my other cars and fill them up with it too.
The only reason for blue is so you can alternate colors and tell when it is flushed through. I think this is more useful on a race car where the fluid may be "bad", yet still quite new. So it still looks nice and clear gold (or clear blue). On your car it will likely be cloudy grey, so it will be obvious when fresh gold fluid is coming out. The blue doesn't do anything else.
06-16-2012, 09:37 AM
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Cool. I was wondering if that was the purpose for the color. So if I can't get my hands on any ATE or anything then a prestone dot 4 would be fine. Correct? It has the highest boiling point of all we have here. 517 or something close to that.
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06-17-2012, 11:34 AM
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I have used Valvoline syn. for most of my cars. For track use I can only get one track day on the valvoline. Got a soft peddle on my '04 CTS-V on the second day at VIR without bleeding for the second day. I need to bleed the brakes for the second day of a two day event with the Impala. I switched to ATE and was able to run two days at Gingerman without problems. I still bleed and put fresh fluid in for each track event.
06-17-2012, 02:56 PM
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I took the time to look it up.
Valvoline claims 480 dry and 311 wet.
http://www.valvoline.com/products/br...brake-fluid/28
Prestone claims 470 dry 284 wet.
http://www.prestone.com/enca/node/438 (you'll have to click "technology" on the page.)
Valvoline claims 480 dry and 311 wet.
http://www.valvoline.com/products/br...brake-fluid/28
Prestone claims 470 dry 284 wet.
http://www.prestone.com/enca/node/438 (you'll have to click "technology" on the page.)
06-17-2012, 03:13 PM
#20
^^ You looked up the wrong one.
The one they're referring to is the Prestone DOT 4.
But the picture seems to be wrong.
http://www.prestone.com/products/print/440?popup=1
This is the actual bottle
The one they're referring to is the Prestone DOT 4.
But the picture seems to be wrong.
http://www.prestone.com/products/print/440?popup=1
This is the actual bottle