brake fluid

[Gwynleym10]

Whats the best brake fluid for street use and any good places to get it from?

Also what the best way of "flushing" your (brake) system is it just a case of letting the old fluid drain off then re-filling with new? (and bleeding of course)

Thanks!!!

[TVRTASMIN]

I use DOT 5.1 . Good for track day use too.
You can buy a one man brake bleeding kit which uses a low pressure fed reservoir of fluid to flush out the existing fluid in the system.
Try the usual motor factors.

[Lordschleife]

The best brake fluid for any use full stop is castrol SRF - well pricey - cost you Ԛ£45 to flush/fill your system
However it's wet boiling point is way higher than any other - hence it lasts way longer and it also stands up to much more punishment having such a high boiling point.

Not sure, but I think this is the stuff they use in F1 cars...

[Gwynleym10]

eek Ԛ£45 probably don't need it to be that good!

[Lordschleife]

I use DOT 5.1 . Good for track day use too.
You can buy a one man brake bleeding kit which uses a low pressure fed reservoir of fluid to flush out the existing fluid in the system.
Try the usual motor factors.

Sorry but I've boiled so called 'super' dot 5.1 within minutes with heavy brake use! NEVER boiled the SRF no matter how hard I tried. Interestingly SRF is only dot 4?!
Mind you dot 3/4/5.1 are miscable

Just don't put dot 5 in - that stuffs totally diferent - sillicone based and not suitable, or miscable with others

The one man bleeding kits are handy

Oh thumbs up for braided hoses too - they stop the regular hoses buldgeing under heat and therefore stop the pedal from going 'soft' or to the ground even!

[Lordschleife]

eek Ԛ£45 probably don't need it to be that good!

Brakes are important - I haven't got SRF in the iS at the mo, but when I do change the fluid Id rather throw an extra Ԛ£30 at it and know its not going to boil at a vital moment.

On a different track

Braking distances - people often maon about the brakes not being good enough, dunno if they mean fading or stopping distance?
Put decent tyres on and you'll find the distance reduced
Put r-tyres on and its seems to nearly half!

[Gwynleym10]

Maybe your right about the brake fluid, ...

Also do need some new tyres, but want to change from my bootletops. With my current tyres its all to easy to lock up.

[Lordschleife]

Whats the best brake fluid for street use and any good places to get it from?

Also what the best way of "flushing" your (brake) system is it just a case of letting the old fluid drain off then re-filling with new? (and bleeding of course)

Thanks!!!

Sorry went off on one there a bit!



For normal light road use then regular dot 4 or 5.1 is OK

Get one of those one man kits, you have to attach to the bleed point on each caliper (one at a time) unscrew the top on the master cylinder and pump the brakes till the master cylinder is nearly empty then top up, pump more, top up etc etc until the fluid runs clear, then repeat on another corner.
Dont let the mast. cyl empty - you dont want air in the system

Now there is an order you have to do the corners in, but I cant remember off the top of my head

[E30Adam]

My goodridge hoses arrived today, can't wait to fit them!!!

I use ATE Super Blue fluid in mine and that seems to do the trick at about Ԛ£12 a tin, I dont' think there's any need for SRF in an E30, that's for racing cars basically and would go wasted. Dot 5.1 and super dot 4 is rubbish, try the super blue, you won't be dissapointed.

[Gwynleym10]

I know that one: right rear, letf rear, front right then left front. Starting furthest away from the master cyclinder.

[Gwynleym10]

super blue, you won't be dissapointed

Is it blue?

[E30Adam]

super blue, you won't be dissapointed

Is it blue?

Sure is mate, bright blue so it's easy to see when all the old stuff is out of the system. I use it for my clutch too.

[Gwynleym10]

cool! Its like the purple beer line cooler I used to used when i was a barman! Makes it easier not poisen poeple!

Any good place to get it from Cheapist?

TIA

[E30Adam]

cool! Its like the purple beer line cooler I used to used when i was a barman! Makes it easier not poisen poeple!

Any good place to get it from Cheapist?

TIA

LOL, I've used that stuff too.. those were the days... bar work was wicked!

I got mine from http://www.teessideautotech.co.uk/

I ordered a whole bunch of stoff from them and have used them loads of times, excellent service.

[Gwynleym10]

[calder]

I'd recommend Motul 600 RBF. Ran it in the race car last year + track days. Not had a single brake fluid problem - brakes still hard after every session all day. Slightly higher boiling points than SRF. Very good price at about Ԛ£6.50 per 500ml. 500ml will fill and bleed the E30 brake system.

- Ah - just read original post "street use" - got distracted by the track day stuff -use anything you like so long as its fresh.

[Andy335Touring]

I put some Castrol response brake fluid in my E34 just before i did a track day,it never let me down at the track day and it's cheap !

http://www.mgocaccessories.co.uk/acatal ... d_178.html

[Lordschleife]

I put some Castrol response brake fluid in my E34 just before i did a track day,it never let me down at the track day and it's cheap !

http://www.mgocaccessories.co.uk/acatal ... d_178.html

I've destroyed that stuf in 5 minutes on the road, was under very heavy use though!

[Lordschleife]

I'd recommend Motul 600 RBF. Ran it in the race car last year + track days. Not had a single brake fluid problem - brakes still hard after every session all day. Slightly higher boiling points than SRF. Very good price at about Ԛ£6.50 per 500ml. 500ml will fill and bleed the E30 brake system

Whats the wet boiling point? Thats the more important one, as all brake fluid absorbs water

Remember you dont just have to fill the system, but flush it otherwise there's no point in putting better fluid in - it will be contaminated and benifits somewhat lost, I found it took best part of a litre myself <shrug>

[E30Adam]

I'd recommend Motul 600 RBF. Ran it in the race car last year + track days. Not had a single brake fluid problem - brakes still hard after every session all day. Slightly higher boiling points than SRF. Very good price at about Ԛ£6.50 per 500ml. 500ml will fill and bleed the E30 brake system

Whats the wet boiling point? Thats the more important one, as all brake fluid absorbs water

Remember you dont just have to fill the system, but flush it otherwise there's no point in putting better fluid in - it will be contaminated and benifits somewhat lost, I found it took best part of a litre myself <shrug>

Yeah that's about right, I recall it took about a litre when I did mine too!

[Lordschleife]

My goodridge hoses arrived today, can't wait to fit them!!!

I use ATE Super Blue fluid in mine and that seems to do the trick at about Ԛ£12 a tin, I dont' think there's any need for SRF in an E30, that's for racing cars basically and would go wasted. Dot 5.1 and super dot 4 is rubbish, try the super blue, you won't be dissapointed.

Yes I agree SRF is somewhat overkill, but with the high wet boiling point you can leave it in there for ages, and considering the amount of money thrown at other stuff on cars, I'm prepared to pay the extra - I know it does the job.
I've never used super blue, heard of people having problems with it in heavy track use, but should be more than fine for the road.

Did you know they do a red version too. I've heard people who do porsche racing use eg. blue then before the next race flush/refill with red, then blue the next race etc etc - helps see when the old fluids flushed.
The people in the same series who use SRF just fill up at the start of the season and leave it in all year...

Sorry I sound like an SRF salesman
I'm sure ATE super blue is really just fine unless you truely punish your brakes

[Demlotcrew]

I use DOT 5.1 . Good for track day use too.
You can buy a one man brake bleeding kit which uses a low pressure fed reservoir of fluid to flush out the existing fluid in the system.
Try the usual motor factors.

Thats interesting since 5.1 is silicone based, and you will need to change the whole braking system as silicone is not compatible with the E30 design.

[Lordschleife]

No DOT 5 is silicone based
DOT 5.1 isn't. DOT 5.1 is miscable with DOT 4

Confusing eh?

[Guest]

SRF is definitely overkill for road use mainly because to has be changed a lot more often than regular fluids as it absorbs moisture more quickly than most (it's also well expensive!). That's it's only downfall otherwise it has been described as the "perfect brake fluid".

I use ATE Super Blue in all my motors after doing a bit of research. In my opinion it is the best combination of performance v price. I have used it on trackdays in my Evo 6 with no problems at all.

As has been said ATE Super Blue is blue in colour you can also get ATE TYP 200 which is exactly the same spec except it's amber in colour. Alternate between using the two and it makes bleeding the whole system easier (just wait until the new colour comes through and you know the old stuff has completely gone).

By the way don't use fluid if it's been stored in plastic containers for ages as the fluid is hydroscopic and sucks mositure through plastic! (that's why decent fluids like SRF and ATE super come in metal tins).

Check out http://www.lancerregister.com/faq_m05.php for more info.

[TVRTASMIN]

I put some Castrol response brake fluid in my E34 just before i did a track day,it never let me down at the track day and it's cheap !

http://www.mgocaccessories.co.uk/acatal ... d_178.html

I've destroyed that stuf in 5 minutes on the road, was under very heavy use though!

Sounds like you've got a heavy right foot. A set of larger disc and calipers might be in order!

[calder]

Lordschleife/E30 Adam - fair point about flushing the system - all i can say is that i must have got away with it - or perhaps i flushed it through with more than i thought - the new brake fluid was coming through clean from all the caliper bleed points so that was good enough for me.

Heres the RBF 600 data off www.motul.com:


EXTREME THERMAL RESISTANCE AND STABILITY: the elevated boiling point of RBF 600 FACTORY LINE (312Ԛ°c / 593Ԛ°F) enables effective braking even under the extreme conditions of competition.

VERY EFFICIENT WHEN RAINY: the very high wet boiling point (216Ԛ°c / 420Ԛ°F), is superior to conventional brake fluids provides a particularly efficient braking system in rain and put back the apparition of vapor lock.

NORMES : FMVSS 116 DOT 4 / SAE J 1703 / ISO 4925

cheers, Richard