Old Brake Fluid Switched Out - Feels AWESOME
 

Did a brake fluid flush over the weekend. Now feels AWESOME! :thumbup: Little touch gives you tons of stopping force. Love it!

I gotta say I haven't changed it since I bought it 5 years ago, ya 5 years. And I don't know how long the fluid has been there EVEN BEFORE I bought it. So no surprise, the fluid looks dark yellow. The bottle in the middle is the old fluid. The bottle on the left is the old fluid in brake lines mixed with new fluid I put in. Wanna know why it looks so dark, almost black??? :D You'll know it when I post another picture later. :nanana:

do you have your pictures backwards?

The one on the left looks like what old, waterlogged brakefluid should look like. The one in the middle is really not that bad...

I bought a motive power brake bleeder. Makes it super easy to do. Definitely on my every two year list now.

jgold, the pictures are in the right order. The reason why the left bottle looks so dark black, is because, new fluid is BLUE. :woohoo: So when blue mixed with yellow, it turned nasty black. :D

The new fluid is racing grade, with fluid dyed in BLUE, for the ease of fluid change. Bavarian Auto sells it for $15, and exceed DOT5 requirement (in terms of dry and we boiling point).

So far so good.

Ya, I need a power bleeder too. A LOT OF PUMPING on the brakes to make the job done. Kinda pain in the a$$. :yawn:

Hopefully you used Dot 4, and not Dot 5 (which doesn't mix.....)

Can looks like ATE Super Blue. Just Dot 4, but nothing wrong with that.

You know why it is called racing grade? There is a chequered flag on the can. ;)

Well, we know how the transmission fluid debates go...

I wonder aside from us *enthusiasts*, what percentage of drivers actually have changed their brake fluid in let's say, 6-8 years of ownership !

If the vehicle is near new, the brake fluid will be changed twice in the four year prepaid maintenance interval, all you have to do is visit your dealer (in North America). Beyond that time period, I suspect a lot of people let it go, enthusiast or otherwise.

The significant difference to the transmission fluid debate is that if you do the brake fluid change properly, with the correct fluid, there is zero downside. And brake fluid does wear out, in the sense that it accumulates moisture (by design).

Actually, Ate Super Blue (and Gold) Racing DOT 4 has a higher wet and dry boil point then almost all other DOT 4 fluids. It's around 20 deg F higher if I recall correctly.

The blue brake fluid is illegal in some states (used in vehicles on public roads), FL for 1. :dunno:

FWIW, I change out the brake fluid every 2 yrs.

LeiZ -

BTW, I still do a foot bleed AFTER a bleeder. IMO, it still produces a firmer pedal

Didn't know it was illegal in some staes. As of August 16th, however, it is illegal in all states. They have been ordered to pull it from the shelves.

Link here:

Braking News: ATE Super Blue Deemed Illegal for US Distribution*|*Hooniverse

I did read the sticker on the bottle. Can't remember on top of my head, but it does say off-street use only. Looks like my car is gonna be the last one on the street which is filled with BLUE brake fluid, according to this news. :boxer:

From my VW days, I recall that ATE super blue did not play well with the clutch seals and make for squeaking clutches and such (the blue dye was the culprit, TYP 200 was fine), so I never considered using it, however, I'm sure you have an automatic anyway so you don't really care lol.

FWIW, Typ 200 is gold colored and exactly the same compound as Super Blue, only difference is the coloring. It was supposed to be easier when changing fluid between TYP 200 and Super Blue as you could see the different color flowing through the lines, making frequent changes easier to see fresh fluid.

No the case, I have enough SuperBlue for 2 more blue brake flushes (2 new sealed cans), just did an Amber flush a few mos ago. That means I will have blue fluid going in 6 yrs from now. If the bottle is factory sealed and kept in a cool/dry place it has a looooong shelf life.

I've used Ate super blue racing in 6 different MT cars. 2 BMWs, 2 Vipers, 1 ZR1 Vette, 1 Cobra Mustang. All had/have over 100k miles and none had/have any clutch seal issues. And yes, I did use the special tool to flush the slave cylinders, they were not operating on old OE fluid (some people forget to flush the clutch slave cyl during brake fluid changes).

Ha! you cheated! :troutslap

And I wouldn't suspect they would have issues, as I remarked, VW/Audi master cylinders seemed to have issue with the blue dye, that is why I never used it when I drove VW's. I would be interested to give it a whirl on my next brake/clutch flush on my E53 however, glad to see you've been using it for years with no issues.

I pick up the Ate Blue DOT 4 from BavAuto, seems they are still selling it......

Welcome to bavauto.com | Ate Super Blue Racing Brake Fluid - 1 liter.

The letter from Continental says they will buy back all stock on the shelves, but retailers are certainly able to sell it and make a buck off it if they want to. Until stock runs out.

Understand. I'm sure most retail stock will go out to consumers and not back to Conti, no profit margin on the latter. FWIW, only total idiots will confuse blue brake fluid with other blue fluids (coolant, window wash and such). Stupid grounds for a federal law.

I like the high contrast between the blue and amber (gold actually), no doubt when the system if flushed.

I don't think it is designed to save consumers from using other fluids. It is designed to identify DOT 5 (which must be purple) and ensure it never gets mixed with DOT 4 or DOT 5.1 (which must be clear or amber). Mixing DOT 5 with the others can be catastrophic, so there is a technical reason for the law IMO. It also doesn't look like it was the US federal government that went after Continental, but rather that the Continental lawyers decided that the legal exposure for selling non-legal brake fluid was too high. I don't know if the strategy of claiming it was for off road vehicles only was eventually deemed insufficient, or whether because it was blue it wasn't actually DOT 4, but rather "suitable for vehicles that require DOT 4", ie truth in labelling laws. Anyway, I am sure it will work fine. I wouldn't keep it too long, though. I always thought it was a good idea to use fresh brake fluid, not old stock.

When I lived in Florida and began using Ate blue DOT4 I was aware it was illegal for "on road" use, I looked into it and found that the United States Department of Transportation was the driver, not Conti. The US federal gub'ment drove this ban.

I toss any opened DOT4 fluid containers, the only stock I hold is sealed and stored in spare bedroom closet at around 72deg F year round. The topic of storing brake fluid came up during a Viper Club member tour of the then new Conner Ave Viper assembly plant. The reason it was brought up was a Sr rep from Brembo was one of the "guests" that spoke to the owner group and subsequently took questions. When fluid storage/life came up the response in a nutshell was , if you plan on storing brake fluid for future use, ONLY buy it in metal containers, DO NOT open the factory seal and store in a cool/dry area without much temp fluctuation. If these steps are followed fluid is OK for around a decade. Brembo is "top of the heap" in brake systems and therefore I have no concerns in doing it.