ATE Superblue - CEG Archives

Where did you buy yours?

http://raceshopper.com/ate_brake_fluid.shtml?source=ovt_atefld

http://brakefluid.hrpworld.com/

Hoerr Racing Products is a local sponsor for the SVTOA chapter in town. We get a discount for being in the local chapter. If you're in the SVTOA you could ask to see if you can get it too. Great people to deal with.

Oh that's who I bought RP synchromax from and SS lines. Forgot about them.

Thanks SoundQ, I will most likely use them so I can pick up some syncromax at the same time and ditch the MTL.

I got mine from http://www.hrpworld.com/ as well. Great service and fast shipping. I got my stainless Goodridge lines at the same time too. Best price on the lines.

Make sure to get Ate TYPE 200 and Ate Super Blue when you order. They are both different colors - makes it very easy to bleed the system.

While I use it in the Miata, I'd recommend Castrol LMA for a Contour that'll only get bled every 2-3 years. The ATE is more hygroscopic.

since it is very close to me i go to super autobacs so i don't have to go around to the different speed shops and see who has what. they have a very extensive selection of fluids on hand and are open 7 days a week even though that doesn't help anyone outside of orange county. btw,m i have ate superblue going into my car tomorrow.

I bought mine from cobaltfriction, I don't think they're quite the cheapest but I was ordering some other stuff at the same time.

Originally posted by weargle:
While I use it in the Miata, I'd recommend Castrol LMA for a Contour that'll only get bled every 2-3 years. The ATE is more hygroscopic.

What are the dry and wet boiling points of the Castrol? Not seeing it on the web site?

Originally posted by Mod-Deth:

Originally posted by weargle:
While I use it in the Miata, I'd recommend Castrol LMA for a Contour that'll only get bled every 2-3 years. The ATE is more hygroscopic.

What are the dry and wet boiling points of the Castrol? Not seeing it on the web site?

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You like the price, no? It's specially formulated to resist moisture absorbance (Low Moisture Absorbance = LMA) and would be better served in a daily driver. When you start track days and really using your brakes (experiencing fade), then step up to something else.

I bleed the brakes once a year in the Miata (autocross, not track) but once every 40K in the Contour. The engine swap necessitated doing in ahead of schedule.

BMW dealership or a car parts store that specializes in foreign cars.

-Andy

www.turnermotorsport.com

So while we are on the topic, I am planning to do the brakes this summer hopefully with the warmonger FSVT fronts if not the stock replacement pads. Anyway I wanted to change the brake fluid, so my question is what is the advantage to this fluid compared to regular Preston DOT 3? Thanks.
-tropictour

Originally posted by JB1:
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start with this link

Originally posted by csvt_33:
www.turnermotorsport.com

That's where I got mine.

A buddy who is pretty reliable about this kind of thing told me the blue dye has caused problems with some ABS systems. He's seen a bunch of failures after using Super Blue for some time. The identical amber-colored fluid (type 400 or something?) is fine by him.

I now have an ABS issue after using Super Blue for a year or so. I have no idea what is wrong, and I've been messing with the TC lately, so it could have been me.

Now, I'm not saying that there's any hard data at all - I don't know whether to believe it or not. I switched to the Ford HD, but that's because it's much cheaper, and I bleed often anyway. But it probably won't hurt to get the non-blue ATE if you're the paranoid type.

Does anyone have any real info on this? I have a hard time believing it, myself. Oh, and remember - this is just a story I heard from some guy, so nobody freak out and tell everyone you know.

I haven't heard anything about the ATE blue dye causing issues . . . ATE is actually the same company as Continental-Teves which is one of the biggest ABS module manufacturers in the world. I'd be very surprised if they didn't do full testing of their own fluid on their own parts.

But, to be honest Ford HD fluid is more than enough for anyone here. It has excellent fluid boil properties and is dirt cheap from the Ford dealer.

Originally posted by weargle:
While I use it in the Miata, I'd recommend Castrol LMA for a Contour that'll only get bled every 2-3 years. The ATE is more hygroscopic.

I used to use ATE in my wifes car... but the pedal would get noticably squishy after a year. I got sick of bleeding her car and changed to.. um, something else that I can't remember.

I run ATE in my Contour and bleed it every year. When the fluid is getting close to needing changing, I tend to notice it first in the clutch (

Originally posted by Rara:
I haven't heard anything about the ATE blue dye causing issues . . . ATE is actually the same company as Continental-Teves which is one of the biggest ABS module manufacturers in the world. I'd be very surprised if they didn't do full testing of their own fluid on their own parts.

But, to be honest Ford HD fluid is more than enough for anyone here. It has excellent fluid boil properties and is dirt cheap from the Ford dealer.

Rara trumps my friend. I think it's pretty safe to say he happened to see a string of ABS failures when people switched to Super-Blue, but there was some other factor, if you've not heard about this. They're a tight group, so I've been suspicious of some other commonality, but haven't been able to finger it. My own ABS failure is interesting, but again, I've been screwing with the brakes a lot, and have a billion miles.

So far I've only put one auto-x and a bunch of highway miles on the Ford fluid, so I don't have any stress data. I switched because I know several guys that track big fat cars and use it without any fade. And it's pretty cheap, too.

Originally posted by Rara:

But, to be honest Ford HD fluid is more than enough for anyone here. It has excellent fluid boil properties and is dirt cheap from the Ford dealer.

I have a slightly different perspective.

The Ford fluid does have a very high dry boiling point (550 degrees F), but it has a very low wet boiling point. I'm sure that is part of why it is rated as a DOT 3 fluid. Ford fluid is great for many racing situations because of it's high boiling point, especially where it is changed often before it can absorb moisture that will lower the boiling point.

For high performance street use, I would rather use a fluid that has a reasonably high dry boiling point but does better as moisture builds up in the system. Either Castrol LMA or Valvoline Synpower fit this description. I usually use Valvoline Synpower and change it once a year. I think these two provide the best bang for the buck for this type of use.

Jim,

I've used the Valvoline SynPower in my contour, and had to change it out within a month it was so soft. I'll never use that garbage again.

All I can say is that it works well for me.

The factory fill in my Escape was very black and generally rounchy when I replaced it with Valvoline Synpower at it's first anniversary. The Synpower looked pristine when changed at the second anniversary. It still looks pristine, and will be changed again at the third anniversary in July or August. I know that this is not normal for Ford fluid though. It usually holds up better than that.

I do respect your experience, and I may try Castrol LMA on the next change, since I used it most of the time before Valvoline Synpower was introduced. I wonder if you had a bad batch since I have not had the same bad experience.

The Ford HD fluid isn't the same as the factory fill. The Ford HD fluid was developed with Dupont several years ago as a service fix for a particular vehicle that was having severe fluid boil issues. The Ford factory fill fluid for most plants is a lesser Dupont DOT3 fluid, and is presently being phased out in favor of a low viscosity DOT3 fluid from a company called CCI. Unfortunately, I don't recall the boiling properties of the CCI fluid.

Added on edit

In regards to Castrol LMA, I honestly haven't used LMA, my only experience w/ Castol fluid is SRF; and while it is fantastic stuff, it is way too expensive for street car use, and it soaks up water pretty darn fast, so regular flushing is required. And for the Valvoline SynPower, I have had several good friends on both ends of the country have similar experiences w/ the stuff in a variety of vehicles.

FWIW, look who else uses Ford HD fluid:

LPE

Originally posted by JB1:
since it is very close to me i go to super autobacs so i don't have to go around to the different speed shops and see who has what. they have a very extensive selection of fluids on hand and are open 7 days a week even though that doesn't help anyone outside of orange county. btw,m i have ate superblue going into my car tomorrow.

My local SVT chapter goes to Red Robin sometimes for lunch and then we go to autobacs to be amused by the ricer crowd. Good stuff there though.

Karl

Bump, just ordered from HRP since SPMotorsports seems to be having technical difficulties checking their e-mail.