which Hi-Temp brake fluid

[Takid455]

Looking for options/ facts on what high temp brake fluid would be best for a car that will see street and some track time.



Motul, Ate, Castrol & wilwood all have 570-660 F dry fluids and 380-620 wet F boiling point fluids. Motuls 660 looks good. the castrol has the highest wet & dry BP but at 75-90/ L it is pricey and probably not recommended for street use. My sysem is new and has never had fluid it in so contamination will not be an issue.

[Apogee]

You can get the ATE in both blue and amber color which can be useful when bleeding the brakes and flushing the system before and after track events, so that would be my choice. Plus, it's not too expensive and is right in the middle of the pack of the high-perf brake fluids. You can't go wrong with any of the fluids you listed though (I've always ran Motul in my bikes), so availability should factor into the equation as well. The Castrol SRF tops the list with a price to match, so I'd leave that to the dedicated track/race cars. If you find that you're boiling your fluid, it would probably be cheaper in the long run to figure out brake ducts and fix the heat problem before investing in SRF fluid. Plus, the cooler you can keep everything the longer your seals, rotors, pads, etc will last. All good things in my book.

Since most DOT 3/4/5.1 brake fluids are glycol based, they're should be compatible with one another. So long as you avoid DOT 5 silicone based fluids, you should be good to go.

Tobin
KORE3

[Takid455]

thanks Tobin. I was leaning towards the Motul or ATE when I posted, plus I can get these from one of my parts distributors. The car in question has your front & rear C5 items on it that hopefully will see the road one day. I have front cooling ducts in place so that will help the temp.

I have recommended you to several people. not sure if they have contacted you. I have no problems recommending top notch products and service.


on your bike, did you switch to braided lines? if so, what brand?

[CarlC]

I've used the NAPA DOT4 Heavy Duty Fluid (same as the Ford fluid) and have had zero problems. It is also nice to have a NAPA store in just about every city in the nation.

[Apogee]

thanks Tobin. I was leaning towards the Motul or ATE when I posted, plus I can get these from one of my parts distributors. The car in question has your front & rear C5 items on it that hopefully will see the road one day. I have front cooling ducts in place so that will help the temp.

I have recommended you to several people. not sure if they have contacted you. I have no problems recommending top notch products and service.


on your bike, did you switch to braided lines? if so, what brand?

Thanks for the kind words, they're always appreciated and we'll do what we can to make sure that they're always deserved.

As for my "bikes", I'm running the factory Hayes disc lines on my mountain bike and braided stainless on the Hope Louise disc on my trials bike, both with Motul 660 fluid. I'm running the same fluid in my race quad along with some custom braided stainless hoses (I don't remember what brand to be quite honest as they came with the frame). The difference at the lever is night and day between braided stainless and not, especially on the trials bike where brakes are everything.

I've never had any issues with the Motul 660 fluid which is why I haven't used anything else in those applications...no reason to.

I use the Napa HD fluid that Carl mentioned in my trucks without issue and try to bleed them once a year whether they need it or not. It keeps the water content down to a minimum and gives me a good excuse to take a close look at everything at least that often. I wish it still came in steel cans like the old Ford fluid did.

Tobin
KORE3

[Takid455]

I was able to get Ate blue from my supplier. it has a 536 dry BP and a 388 wet BP and its ..well ...blue. we'll see how it does once the car is driving. I like that is it compatible with DOT 3,4 & 5.1 if I'm in a jam. I also never seen literature written in 25 different languages. thanks for the input.

Carl - the napa stuff didn't list the BPs when I asked so I went with the Ate. I'll keep it in mind for future reference though.