Brake Fluid Differences?

[yarismaris]

Is there any difference in the quality of different brake fluids, or are they all basically the same? Thanks

[Black Yaris]

dot 3, dot 4, dot 5.... regular, synthetic, silicone ??????

[Loren]

If all you do is street driving, any DOT4 brake fluid is fine, just flush it every 2-3 years.

[Tamago]

Loren, i've never had issues with plain old dot4 crap from the auto parts store. never exp'd brake fade or boiling in 5 years of autocross.. will a hi temp fluid be worth the $$?

[yarismaris]

Ok great...so the regular Toyota dealership fluid is good enough?

[Tamago]

Ok great...so the regular Toyota dealership fluid is good enough?

plenty good enough, probably just rebadged garbage anyway, like their "oil"

[yarismaris]

Just for kicks, what is the absolute brake fluid you can get?

[Tamago]

for street use? whatever you buy at the autoparts store. for track use (and no, drag racing DOES NOT COUNT) i'd recommend a motul product www.motul.com

however. as previously stated, i've never found the need in 5 years of autocross

[HTM Yaris]

This stuff works good . My pads have caught on fire before . $ 19

And NO , I don't use Axxis pads anymore :smile:

I've heard you have to flush your lines with alcohol before putting in Motul . Is that true ?

[Tamago]

ATE is good stuff for sure

[Loren]

Any DOT 4 is compatible with any other DOT 3 or DOT 4. No need to flush with anything other than brake fluid.

Tamago, it's VERY unusual for brakes to get hot enough to affect brake fluid in an autocross. Even a long autocross run isn't much more than 90 seconds.

Some people will push their car hard enough to need high-temp fluid on mountain roads (HTM???), but usually, it's something you'll need on a race track where you'll be braking from high speed repeatedly. Even there, ATE is good enough for most people. It's good to well over 500 degrees when it's fresh. (and nobody goes out on a race track without fresh brake fluid) Motul is a little better, but not enough to justify the expense unless you're really on the edge with the heat capacity of your braking system.

Buuuut... this question wasn't asked in the performance forum, guys. Plain ol' DOT 4 that you can get at your local parts store is just dandy for 95% of everybody out there. Castrol LMA is particularly good because it resists absorbing moisture. Valvoline Syntec is also excellent and readily available. You don't need to spend the bucks for high temp fluid unless you NEED high temp fluid, it is no better in ANY other way.

[yarismaris]

So which fluid does Toyota use at its dealerships?

[Tamago]

thanks loren :)

[Tamago]

So which fluid does Toyota use at its dealerships?

garbage?

[Loren]

Toyota probably uses some generic DOT 4 with a Toyota label on it. <shrug>

Look in your owners manual. It will tell you what spec you need, just like it tells you what spec of engine oil (but not what specific brand!) to use. I've never actually looked, but there's about a 99.9% chance that it says "DOT 4". Seriously, that's all you need to know.

[kurokoma-kun]

Look in your owners manual. It will tell you what spec you need, just like it tells you what spec of engine oil (but not what specific brand!) to use.

My owners manual says DOT 3.

I get what you're saying, that it doesn't matter under ordinary driving conditions, just for the record. :smile:

[HTM Yaris]

Yes , Mountains . HWY 276 off the Blue Ridge Parkway . I read somewhere (maybe here , from you ) that the fine particles of brake dust were ignited by my rotors ( AEM ) . I had to wait about an hour for brakes to cool .

On a side note , I recently bought some new rotors from "Rotor Technology" . Not that my R-1 rotors wore out , but just to try something new out . I will give a write up comparing the two rotors within 2 weeks ( I need to do more testing ) . Also I will reveal a rotor trick that I learned from an Ice racer from Wisconsin .

Below is a pic of the rotors/pads that caught on fire . This pic was taken the day before in Asheville at an Autox . They were ok for the Autox , but as I stated , I will NEVER use Axxis pads in the Mountains or on Track ....EVER

[Loren]

My owners manual says DOT 3.

I get what you're saying, that it doesn't matter under ordinary driving conditions, just for the record. :smile:

On today's market, I think you'd be hard-pressed to find a "DOT 3" product that did not also meet the "DOT 4" spec.

Here's just one example: Castrol LMA (http://www.castrol.com/castrol/sectiongenericarticle.do?categoryId=9012213&contentId=7024043)

The main difference between the two specs is temperature. DOT 3 is good to a minimum of 401 degrees, DOT 4 to 446 degrees. So, Toyota specing the system for DOT 3 means that they don't expect the fluid to exceed 400 degrees in even extreme normal use. ("extreme normal use" typically means something like one good hard full stop from a fast highway speed, btw... most normal drivers will never do that more than once in succession, and that's all the factory braking system is designed to handle)

[jkuchta]

I'm a fan of the ATE Super Blue, not only due to its higher boiling temp., but also for the fact that it's really easy to tell (on the first fluid swap anyway!) when you've got all of the old fluid out.

They also make the same fluid in a more normal amber color, so you can get the color change benefit everytime.

[attrapereves]

Old thread...

I flushed my system and put in DOT4 (as most 2010+ cars use this). However, I noticed after I was done that Toyota calls for DOT3. Will I have any problems?

[bronsin]

There is one great big can of brake fkuid and all the manufacturers fill their little cans from it. So its all the same.

Same for oil! :laugh:

But DOT 4 is compatable with DOT 3 it just has a higher boiling point.