whats up, i am in the middle of throwing on my powerslot rotors and hawk pads, and i realized when i pulled the new rotors out of the box that it says that it is suggested to drain the brake fluid and replace it with dot4 or higher. now this car will be at the dragstrip and possibly some autocross, but my question is, will i have problems if i dont do this? i made a phonecall to a mechanic i know, and he said that if i do switch i will have to drain the brake fluid about every year or so due to the fact that the higher dot numbers tend to mix or attract water for lack of a better word. any imput would be great!

Dot 4 is fine. Dot 5 does not mix with water, and needs to be changed more frequently imo. DOT 5 because it does not hold any moisture is NOT good for abs. It will ruin the abs system. So unless you have it removed, stick with dot 3 or dot 4.

DO NOT PUT DOT 5 IN YOUR CAR!!!!!

To use DOT 5, the brake system has to be designed for DOT 5. Ours are not. It will do damage and not work properly.

DOT 3 and DOT 4 are compatable with one another. DOT 4 is a step up and has a higher boiling point.

Again... DO NOT USE DOT 5.

ok, but i am trying to figure out if i am good to stay with dot 3,

You should (it is Preventative Maintaince) to bleed the system every year, or every time you change brakes. Do people do it, no. I know I don't all the time, and I don't have a problem. The fact that your mechanic said to change it more frequently because of the hight DOT # makes no sense at all.

Sam


Ban low-performance cars, not high-performance ones.

DOT 3 will be fine. You'll overheat and fade your pads before you boil your fluid. You'd have to be doing a bunch of laps on race pads to overheat the fluid. Autox won't do it and hell... drag racing only uses the brakes once. No worries there.