Evening all, went to euro carparts earlier to get last couple of bits i need tomget my car back on the road. Gave them reg etc and they gave me dot4 brake fluid.

Now upon refitting the gearbox i noticed the lid on the brake fluid reserviour says to only use dot3!

And euro is closed tomorrow to take it back, which only leaves halfrauds....

 

I use dot 4 (says the same dot 3 on my lid) not had any problems

google seems to think it fine to mix 3 and 4

you could pm oilman found him helpful

 

DOT 4 will be fine, am sure my Bug (2002) says dot 4.

 

Thats good to know, cheers bud.

Ill be flushing the whole system and clutch with the dot4 so wont be mixing exactly.

Does oilman work sundays? Was hoping to get the damn thing running again tomoz!

 

Well its a 2001 y reg uk300 bug

 

oilman posts on here

flushed mine as well. Dot 4 will be fine (used google as I was not sure about mixing)

 

Re-read the post and edited.
When I upgraded my brakes I changed to Silicon fluid as will not need to replace it as it does not absorb moisture. I know I will eventually replace the fluid as I will, during a 12 month, service bleed the brakes for a couple of pumps per caliper. Some say not to use silicon but if it is good for racing it's good for me.

 

Surprised as My car is 2005 sti and says dot 3 just went and looked

and its raining lol

 

As above 4 dot will be fine, but you really want 5.1 or motor sport grade.

 

Lol cheers lads.

I do have some castrol srf in the shed, but not enough i dont thing to bleed the system through, and its about 4 years old, and opened...

Ill just go with the dot4 for now. I have a vaccum bleeder so changing brake fluid is no big deal!

Ditch, i dont really drive that hard nor hammer the brakes, but have just got hold of some sti brembos hence the need to change fluid when i fit them

 

For a road car?

 

DOT4 fluid is superior to DOT3

Dot 5.1 is a misleading standard...as its wet boiling point after 2 years isn't that different. And many high performance DOT 4 exceed the DOT 4 standard anyway, which is why you can get "racing spec" DOT 4 fluids. SO I wouldn't strive for 5.1 over 4, just so long as its a good quality fluid (Although I'm using Car Lube/Tetrosyl synthetic DOT4 at the moment and I'd challenge any road user to feel any difference...boing point is 230C degrees, Wet is 160C degrees, a typical 5.1 fluid only about 20 degrees higher).

Ergo: you are better off changing more regularly regardless of the fluid you use - that way air (which degrades pedal feedback) and condensation (which causes internal corroision and lowers the boiling point) is regulaly purged from the system so the higher dry boiling point is maintained.

DO NOT use DOT 5.0 (not to be confused with DOT5.1) as its more compressable than DOT 4 and will degrade pedal feedback.


Edit: I use one of these to establish water contamination levels:

 

Thats only any good if what he suggests is correct and what he sells is up to the job,
as said Dot 4 will get you sorted.

 

Oh. Always got my engine oil from him so he's bad? (Titan race pro s)

 

No oilman's fine. Just he's provoked a few handbag battles with people who think 5w-40 oil is too thin.

(and its usually the same poeple who don't understand its hot viscosity is not really any different to 10w-40 )

 

I used the stuff i had bought lol.

Although didnt get the car quite finished as had to take boy swimming... And it was dark lol

Just need to change the sump plug washer as it weeps, and refit the wheels!
Although i wanted to use the stuff i bought ages ago to seal the wheels first but dont know if ill have time...

 

Ate bluestuff from euro car parts, done

 

the Dot numbers are min. stds for road use (dot 3 & 4) with dot 5.1 being a specific ABS application (not required for Subaru use)being an extended life

i'm not a fan of any silicone fluid (dot 5 monikered generally) as it can degrade the fluid seals as well as potentially cauisng issues with moisture/condensation - the very things its ideal for in the military/classic applications its aimed at