ATE Super Blue Brake Fluid

[sparg93]

Anyone ever use this stuff?

I've heard that using synthetic brake fluid could "potentially" cause issues with various seals within our brake systems.. i.e. our systems were designed for DOT 3 conventional.

http://www.tirerack.com/brakes/accessoryDetail.jsp?ID=21

Any ideas?

 

[99Yuk]

I've been running it for the last month or so, when I upgraded/replaced my front brakes.

I don't know about damage though, that would suck.

Honestly, I asked here what fluid to buy, and it was suggested that I use this stuff, so I found it, ordered it, and it showed up. It was a bit pricey though. Landed here, it cost about $31.25/litre. I bought four litres. theres a thread here somewhere about it.

I bought it because it's blue. It was super easy to flush out the lines and tell when the new stuff was comming through. I used a air powered vacum bleeder from our shop and pulled the trigger until the fluid in the line changed color from brown to blue.

I've only had it a short time, but no complaints so far.
Honestly I think that any fluid change would have been good for, AFAIK, the fluid in there was original 11yr old stuff, and subject to moisture ***********, etc. So any fluid change would be good for it.

 

[BobMc]

I used it in my 96 Impala for about 6 months.
At the six month period, I pulled the resevoir cap just to check things out and the rubber seal around the cap was damaged--appeared to be soft.
I replaced the fluid with non ATE fluid and all is well after one year.

Bob

 

[99Yuk]

I used it in my 96 Impala for about 6 months.
At the six month period, I pulled the resevoir cap just to check things out and the rubber seal around the cap was damaged--appeared to be soft.
I replaced the fluid with non ATE fluid and all is well after one year.

Bob

Hmmm, that can't be good. I'll have to keep any eye on mine then.

 

[sparg93]

Bob,
Thank you for the feedback...what kind of damage to the seal did you notice?

 

[sparg93]

ttt!

Bob - what kind of damage did it do?

 

[99Yuk]

So now I'm a bit worried, so I looked at the specs on one of the cans.

It says;
This DOT 4 motor vehicle brake fluid meets or exceeds FMVSS 571.116/DOT 4/DOT 3 (except the blue color), SAE J1703 and ISO 4925, class 4.
Can be mixed with brake fluids meeting the same specification, and with DOT 5.1 brake fluids.
Boiling point is 280C/536F.
Wet boiling point is 196C/386F.


Our trucks are DOT3? This stuff is DOT4, but works with DOT's 3,4, and 5.1? Time to start googling I guess.

---------- Post added at 09:49 AM ---------- Previous post was at 09:26 AM ----------

Ok, I googled wikipedia, and read about brake fluid here. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brake_fluid
It turns out that there are three types of brake fluid. Mineral Oil, Glycol, or Silicon. DOT's 3,4, and 5.1 are glycol(The most common) and DOT 5 is silicon(US military). Wikipedia doesn't say, but I' don't think that mineral oil brake fluid has been used in generations.

The different DOT's refer to the boiling points. Because this ATE stuff is racing brake fluid it goes all the way to DOT 5.1. Good stuff, maybe overkill for our trucks though, but good peice of mind. DOT's 3,4,and 5.1 are compatible with our trucks and can be mixed with no issues. Changing over to DOT 5 silicon fluid should be done by a pro, and no mixing should be allowed.

Glycol brake fluid is designed to not eat rubber seals or gaskets. Mineral oil brake fluid will eat rubber seals and gaskets. Silicon stuff also does not eat anything rubber.

This ATE blue stuff is Glycol based, not mineral oil based. Ergo, it is safe, and I am no longer worried.

BTW, both the ATE can and wikipedia suggests that brake fluid be flushed out every 1-3 years or so. Our trucks by OBS definition are at least 11 years old or older. Odds are it's the original brake fluid still in there. I think mine was. So any kind of brake fluid flush would be a good thing.

 

[sparg93]

99Yuk - some very good information.

 

[juniorwatson]

I've been using ATE Blue & Gold in my 1996 Caprice sine 12/03 without any problems whatsoever (Approximately 110K miles). It's great stuff.

I alternate between the gold & blue every two years, as brake fluid is hygroscopic. The difference in colors makes it easy to tell when new fluid is coming out of the bleeder.

Go for it!