Brake Fluids

R

Rubare

Premium Member
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Hi guys !!

My girl being driving my FX and she have being complainning that she have to floor the brake pedal in order for it to stop even tho she drive at Turtle's speed. So I'm thinking about upgrading my brake system by replacing the brake pads I will give The Green stuff pads a try and see how that works for me. Also I will be changing the lines for the stoptech steel lines. This is where it gets tricky. I was looking for Brake Fluids and they have three kind. Regular one, Silicone brake fluids and synteric brake fluids.. My questions are does any one know the different? I know synteric oil is great for the engine, but for the brake lines? And what is this silicone fluid they talk about?

Please some advice will be greatly appreciated thanks IS!
 
The FX brakes a pretty soft from the start. They were not designed to be as sensitive as you might feel on other vehicles. Only way to get that feeling would be upgrade the whole break kit to a BBK. Just changing out the pads and fluid will not significantly change that feeling.
 
Well I do want a BBK, Dr. But my pockets are focusing on getting all these minor things out of the way first lol.

I have never change the brake fluid or the line since I got my FX so I think that is time for that. And before I came to Oklahoma I notice my FX wasn't braking quick enough so I will also change the brake pads along with the brake lines and fluid.

I should get some improvement out all that.

But my question are more on the different fluids tho.

Regular, synteric, and silicone fluids, have any of you tried the synteric or silicone one?? How are these much better than the regular ones?
 
Brake fluids don't really have huge performance differences between types and brands. In the end, it's just hydraulic fluid - oil. There are different additives that change the properties - heat transfer, viscosity, joint penetration. The improvement will come from the stainless lines and the pads/rotors.

Nissan recommends you use a DOT-3 type brake fluid. Any of the fluids out there would perform just fine. I'm not sure you will even notice a difference between the OEM fluid and any aftermarket replacement.

The bigger issue is that the pedal, "sinks to the floor". That should not happen. There is either a small leak in the system - which you might see as fluid on the ground. Or, there is air in the lines - which compresses when you hit the brake pedal. Also not good. FIRST, I would try bleeding your brake system at all four wheels with the original fluid. If that doesn't fix the "sinking" problem, there could be air in the ABS system, which can only be bled at a shop unless you have the equipment.

If you want to upgrade fluids, I recommend ATE Super Blue. It is DOT-4 fluid, but is used a lot by aftermarket brake kits with good results in the OEM system. I've been using it for about five months, along with the Stoptech BBK kit I installed. I like it mostly because of the color - it's BLUE. Super easy to flush your old fluid out because you know when you are done - the fluid coming out of the bleed will be blue, rather than standard oil color.
 
They have a red color also - so you can flush blue to red and back to blue and you will know you got all the old fluid out.
 
Thank you guys I will so this..

I was just wondering if the vicosity of the fluids ie. Silicone, synteirc have anything in relation of performance. I will do all this when I get home. My FX def needs it.
 
DO NOT use silicone or DOT 5.1 brake fluid. You can use the synthetic fluid, either DOT 3 or 4. DOT 4 is backwards compatible with DOT 3.

I usually use the Valvoline synthetic in the silver container. A liter is about $6 and it has good wet and dry boiling points.
 
Gilley said:
DO NOT use silicone or DOT 5.1 brake fluid. You can use the synthetic fluid, either DOT 3 or 4. DOT 4 is backwards compatible with DOT 3.

I usually use the Valvoline synthetic in the silver container. A liter is about $6 and it has good wet and dry boiling points.
Click to expand...

thank you bro.. i havent buy the fluids i'm planning to replace the old one with.. but i'm leaning towards DOT4 or synthetic..
 
Edit to my post above. Do not use DOT 5 silicone because it isn't compatible with the fluid in your brake lines now. The DOT 5.1 is not silicone.
 
Dr.2K said:
The FX brakes a pretty soft from the start. They were not designed to be as sensitive as you might feel on other vehicles. Only way to get that feeling would be upgrade the whole break kit to a BBK. Just changing out the pads and fluid will not significantly change that feeling.
Click to expand...

Not really true at all - in fact, the fluid, the lines and the pad compound can have a tremendous effect on pedal feel. Many BBK's, especially the "one size fits all" kind where they are simply slapping the same caliper, without alterning piston size, onto all sorts of vehicles, have softer than stock pedals

Brake fluids have a few different things to consider.

From our blog:

http://cornerbalance.wordpress.com/2009/08/17/endless-brake-tip-pad-fade-vs-vapor-lock/

The rate at which performance changes as moisture is absorbed, and overall compresability (which in and of itself has everything to do with overall pedal feel.
 
I use AP Racing Formula DOT 5.1 Brake and Clutch Fluid
http://www.apracing.com/info/info.asp?section=Fluid+Details_48

For pedal feel, it gets soft mostly due to moisture getting into the brake fluid as it is made to absorb water. More water = more soft pedal feel. If pedal feel is #1 priority, just change your fluid more often and the OEM Dot 3 fluid is fine. Dot 5.1 is great -- just that it's hard to find at most local shops.

You never want to use left over brake fluid once opened -- it absorbs the moisture in the air, so it's best to discard left over brake fluid and use fresh fluid.
 
I will get ATE racing super blue fluid DOT4.. I just want to know how much do I need to replace the old fluid in my FX?
 
I bought three cans of the ATE Super Blue and I didn't quite finish the first can when flushing out the OEM brake fluid, filling up the BBK calipers and bleeding all the air out. I'd say you probably only need one, but two to be safe. I got mine from Tire Rack.

Some say not to store opened brake fluid because it absorbs moisture, so I kept the last little bit around until a few weeks later when I was sure there were no leaks. Then I donated it to a shop I deal with. I keep the extra un-opened cans on the shelf for the next fluid change.
 
bringing this back up - The previous owner upgraded to the ATE blue brake fluid and I'm still experiencing a really soft pedal - Compared to the G37 it's a day and night difference how soft the brakes are.
On the g37 i barely touch the brakes and get immediate stopping power. on the FX I feel like I need to push the pedal all the way to the ground.

I'm guessing there is some air in the brakes which will require a full 4-corner bleeding. The question is, how do I bleed the ABS block to make sure there is no air in it. It seems pretty hard to reach IMHO and I didn't see any obvious bleeder on the block.
 
Howdy, i just recently joined this club and having the same problem. i could see this thread is a two year old thread and i apologize for it. just having a few questions and i hope you dont mind answer it. it happened that I changed the fluid 3000km ago. It was totally clear upon the replacement. My infiniti had only 4900km driven from new and the brake fluid was pretty dark. when I did my first trackday this summer i noticed the fluid turned to light tan color at the reservoir during the trackday, and this was very slow track. The question is How often do i need to change brake fluids? Inputs please. Thanks in advance!
 
alapharick said:
Howdy, i just recently joined this club and having the same problem. i could see this thread is a two year old thread and i apologize for it. just having a few questions and i hope you dont mind answer it. it happened that I changed the fluid 3000km ago. It was totally clear upon the replacement. My infiniti had only 4900km driven from new and the brake fluid was pretty dark. when I did my first trackday this summer i noticed the fluid turned to light tan color at the reservoir during the trackday, and this was very slow track. The question is How often do i need to change brake fluids? Inputs please. Thanks in advance!
Click to expand...

great question.. for people who just use their FX for regular drives i would say yearly.. thats how often i change my brake fluids..

glad you mentioned that you take your FX to the track.. which is a lot more than daily driving.. Personally i think you are doing great on monitoring the brake fluids after track day.. if it was clear and by the time you was done with the track it turned amber that would mean that with 2 more times like that on the track you would have to replaced your brake fluids .. so to answer your question you should change the brake fluids depending on what your do with your FX in your case you would have to do it sooner than most of us.. as i mentioned before keep monitoring it and you should come out with a time interval that fit you best!

welcome to IS all things FX!!!

---------- Post added at 06:17 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:14 PM ----------
TeckniX said:
bringing this back up - The previous owner upgraded to the ATE blue brake fluid and I'm still experiencing a really soft pedal - Compared to the G37 it's a day and night difference how soft the brakes are.
On the g37 i barely touch the brakes and get immediate stopping power. on the FX I feel like I need to push the pedal all the way to the ground.

I'm guessing there is some air in the brakes which will require a full 4-corner bleeding. The question is, how do I bleed the ABS block to make sure there is no air in it. It seems pretty hard to reach IMHO and I didn't see any obvious bleeder on the block.
Click to expand...

i had the same issue when i switched to ATE blue brake fluids.. indee the pedal was sort of soft. so i just took the FX to the dealership and asked them to adjust the brake pedal... they did and i dont have to push as hard to get the braking power i need..
 
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