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  #1  
Old 07-18-2014, 06:12 PM
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Did anyone know ATE Superblue has been deemed illegal for US sale?

Just did a fluid flush on my E60 today and ran out of Superblue. So I got to the shop that usually stocks a lot of parts dealers stock, but for cheaper. They are the only Authorized Ferrari repair center in Monmouth county and normally when I get a chance, I drive by to see what they have in.

Anyways, went to go pick up some more Superblue and by guy told me that it has been discontinued. I was puzzled. I said, "Discontinued? For what?" Apparently, the color does not conform to Federal regulation... Anyways, he said he only had a case left and that if I bought it, I would have to use it for Off road use.

So I just looked at him and said, "Yep, definitely going to use this off road." We both laughed. But anyways, I bought the case because it was cheap enough and because I go through brake fluid often for flushes, so I said what the heck.

I did a search online and saw the letter from Conti about it... just wanted to know if anyone on the boards heard of it.
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  #2  
Old 07-18-2014, 09:33 PM
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It was a year ago that Conti pulled stock back, so make sure you aren't buying stale product. Is it that important that it is blue?

It has always been illegal. Some states enforced it over the years, but the federal enforcement started more recently.
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Old 07-19-2014, 12:06 AM
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Yeah, I think the letter was dated in Aug/2013. The case I got was stamped 7/2013, so it is almost a year old. The tins are sealed, they should still be fine, right?

As far as it being important that it's blue, its not important in a technical sense. Just convenient when bleeding, even thought I don't go by the color change so much, but just by volume, its just "fun" to look at. Its one of those things that are completely unnecessary, but neat to have I suppose.

The 4.4 and the E60 need their's changed, and during a brake service, I go through 1 1/2 to 2 tins of fluid. So by the end, I'll have about 2 tins left of the stuff.

The thing I found interesting about superblue was after its service date in the 4.4... I did notice it wasn't a royal blue anymore, but a very slight creamy blue. I am assuming it is the moisture that it picked up?

Yeah, I didn't know it was always illegal. I was reading the articles around on the net and seems like it was something that went back and forth for the past 15 years or so. Just confusing how much fuss was made about it's color, when antifreeze has different colors. Just found it interesting. But at the rate I am going at with the SES light on the 4.4 and the quarks the E60 has, I'm ready to dump some Advance Auto Dot 3 BOGO $2.99 special and hope for the best. Or be prepared for multiple thousand repair bill to replace the entire system, hahaha.
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Old 07-19-2014, 01:14 PM
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Started this thread over 5 yrs ago on the topic.....

Ate super blue is illegal in florida??? - E46Fanatics
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Old 07-19-2014, 04:42 PM
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It sounds like people see this as a superfluous regulation. It actually has a very clear purpose. Fluid colour is meant to indicate compatibility. DOT 3, 4, and 5.1 must be clear to amber by regulation. DOT 5.0 which is not compatible and must not be mixed due to composition must be purple. Hydraulic mineral oil must be green. Anybody installing a dark blue fluid that isn't 5.0 is risking that future service work could include topping up with 5.0 with dangerous consequences. Same the other way around, if non silicon fluid is installed in a vehicle that has 5.0 in it.

I always thought the marketing department at ATE was going after those who wanted 'racing' fluid by offering a product that looked like DOT 5.

Clean brake fluid looks clean and you can tell when it comes out the bleed screw. I've always used clear fluid when flushing.
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Old 07-20-2014, 12:19 PM
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I like the stark contrast between amber and blue when flushing.

IMHO, if any service tech is adding/replacing fluids based on old fluid color, they shouldn't be repairing/maintaining vehicles.

Fluid requirements are even in the owners manual.
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Old 07-20-2014, 12:37 PM
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Ah ha... I did not know that about 5.0 being purple in tint. So that same principle would apply with coolant I am supposing, distinguishing the difference between DexCool, HOAT, etc?

While I agree with Tiag about the fluid color change system... I mean, I am sure it does happen. With myself, I am the only one who touches my cars, so I know what goes in, and before finding out about 5.0 being purple in tint, it does make me wonder since I use superblue religiously, would I be putting someone life in danger if it came time to sell? I know in the 4.4 I had superblue in it. Then when I did the brake service last year, I changed over to the Supergold. Now even though I drained, bled, and refilled. Some of the dye from the superblue still remained. Actually, when I look, it does have a purpleish tinge to it. Now I know it should technically make green, but then again with the color variant, people could get confused.

I guess I should always change back over to amber or clear before I sell one of my vehicles. Well, I guess won't be a problem into the future since you can't get superblue anymore.
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Old 07-20-2014, 03:08 PM
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I don't think you would be putting somebody's life in danger, but it would be very reasonable to inform a subsequent purchaser of what you had used on the vehicle. If you want, you could put a label near the fluid reservoir. You could put it in the service records, but that doesn't often transfer with the vehicle.

Color coding is used for everything from IV solutions to plumbing. It isn't the be all end all, and we can say someone should read the fine print and not trust the colour coding, but the colour is there for a reason. Purposely confusing it seems like bad practice. If it is important to have two colours, they could sell clear and amber, and be legal. They could make it pink, I presume. But they chose a colour associated with a fluid used for race vehicles. That is what creates the confusion, home mechanics who think anything that says super race on it is a good idea for their street car.

When I was working in a shop, finding a fluid in a customer's vehicle that wasn't the correct colour would result in a call to the owner, to ask what was in the system. We didn't want the risk of mixing incompatible fluids.

DOT doesn't tend to enforce their regulations unless there is a complaint, or accident investigation, IMO. It seems that ATE was able to sell Super Blue for years. Something changed that.
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Old 07-21-2014, 10:40 AM
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For what its worth, there are many well documented threads on the VW forums (vwvortex) about ATE super blue giving clutch whine due to the additive in the blue dye messing with the seals in the master cylinder (its shared for brakes and clutch). I stopped using it myself for fear of getting a similar problem.

I haven't used it in almost 10 years, the ATE Typ 200 amber has worked well enough for me.
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Old 07-22-2014, 09:31 AM
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Yeah, I saw the VW issue discussed on E46fan a few yrs ago.

General consensus was non-issue with MT BMWs.

I ran Ate Super Blue racing for 3 yrs/70k miles before flushing, 330i 6speed MT sport pkg without issues.
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