Brake Fluid

[AiD]

I am in need of some new brake pads, (I think... the brake pedal is spongey and I can hear them grinding - it has been 10k miles since they have been replaced).

Anyway, is upgrading the brake fluid a worth while change? I haven't really experienced any brake fade but plan to do a few more trackdays this year so it may be useful then.

As you can tell I am not the most mechanically minded!

[meatball]

It wouldn't do any harm....

If you speak to Ali (SLS), he'll sort you out.....if you don't fancy it yourself!

[Victor Meldrew]

It wouldn't do any harm....

If you speak to Ali (SLS), he'll sort you out.....if you don't fancy it yourself!

To be honest the std dot4 fluid is good enough. Halfords do a castrol racing fluid thats a dot4 and its been fine for me. .. pity your not closer, I could have done it for you no probls. Doesnt take much more than half an hour when you add in the cup of tea and biscuit into the equation....

[steve_weegie]

Yup, good fluid makes a huge difference. As john says, normal DOT4 fluid will be fine unless you start to work it hard on track, where the fluid gets very hot.

If you've got a standard braking system, i'd probably stick with a decent & not too pricey DOT4 fluid. Expensive fluid really only comes into its own when the braking system is at temperatures beyond the capabilities of normal pads. Having said that, £40 will get you 2L of some highly excelent, almost top spec fluid so its not too lavish to splash out on the good stuff AP PRF 660 is what i use, at about £20 a litre.

If the brakes sound grindy, it could just be that there's crud built up from winter salt corrosion. This can make the pedal feel spongey too. I'd give the pagid brake bedding in procedure a shot first to clean things up.

http://www.braketechnology.com/brakepadbedding.html

I'm in edinburgh quite a bit and dont mind lending a hand to change the fluid if you've got somewhere convenient to do it.

Cheers,

Steve

[mac]

You don't want DOT4. What the guys are describing is SuperDot4 which has a higher wet boiling point. Simon Ironside put me on to Super Racing Blue from Euro Car Parts and it's now fitted to quite a few elise without any complaints

[Rich H]

Castrol Super DOT4 as Mac says.

I can vouch for blue brakes and boiled fluid twice on road runs and once on track...

[Victor Meldrew]

Castrol Super DOT4 as Mac says.

I can vouch for blue brakes and boiled fluid twice on road runs and once on track...

Yup... thats the stuff Halford do.... probly cheaper elsewhere though..

[Rich H]

My local halfords has stopped doing anything except their own rubbish (That is in the Porker...!)

[ironside]

I don't think Halfords have stocked the Castrol stuff in quite some time. That's why I switched to the ATE stuff Mac is talking about.
It's called ATE Super Blue Racing part no: 130339010 from Euro Car Parts. It's about £10 a litre, about the same price as Castrol Super DOT 4.

The colour change is also nice so you can tell when you've flushed the old fluid out.

yellow320.jpg

green320.jpg

blue320.jpg

If you track your car don't use standard stuff.

[Rich H]

Nice

[AiD]

Thanks for the useful replies and the offers to help!

Unfortunately my car lives on the street so nowhere convenient for me to do this, I will leave it for Ali at SLS to do!

http://www.braketechnology.com/brakepadbedding.html

Useful link, I will give this a go and hopfully it will clear the brakes.

I don't think Halfords have stocked the Castrol stuff in quite some time. That's why I switched to the ATE stuff Mac is talking about.
It's called ATE Super Blue Racing part no: 130339010 from Euro Car Parts. It's about £10 a litre, about the same price as Castrol Super DOT 4.

Looks like the same stuff used in Porsches from the amount of porsche models that are listed in the description on the Euro Car Parts website! I will get some of this stuff and get the brake pads replaced at the same time .

Thanks