Went into my usual import auto parts shop today to buy Ate super blue brake fluid for a flush. Surprisingly, they didn't have any and told me that about a year ago the fluid was prohibited by the federal government and is NLA within the U.S.

I asked why? -- "Because it was blue". Poking around, I found this more detailed explanation:

http://www.ate-na.com/www/download/ate_us_...l_notice_en.pdf

I bought Pentosin Super Dot 4 instead, which is listed at 509/329 degrees dry/wet boiling. Anyone have experience with this fluid, good or bad?

I switched to Pentosin. Haven't got a lot of miles in but so far so good. I hear it is high quality.

If you liked the Super Blue, The TYP200...commonly called Super Gold is the exact same fluid less the offending blue color. Same boiling point, same everything.

http://www.paragon-products.com/ATE-Brake-...-p/ate_gold.htm

Morning Jason - How's the new 914?

Folks, Jason doesn't have a lot of Posts here, but I've been buying from him for about 20 Years. Paragon is the Go To Place for Konis & Porsche Stuff

^^^ Yup. The only reason they made a blue version was to make it easier to determine when you've flushed out all the old fluid. We would alternate colors on the race cars between events.

GA

How 'bout using DOT 5.1 lots to choose from

..........DRY ....................Wet...........

DOT 4 230 °C (446 °F) 155 °C (311 °F)
DOT 5 260 °C (500 °F) 180 °C (356 °F) (Silicone)
DOT 5.1 260 °C (500 °F) 180 °C (356 °F)

Not to geek out too much...but I've never found a need for DOT 5.1, even in racing. If my calipers are getting that hot then something is wrong...ATE has been my personal go-to fluid for decades and has served me well.

On the other hand, the Motul 5.1 is very price-competitive with ATE, so no harm there.

I recommend avoiding DOT 5, I hate that silicon stuff. Even when I did a massive flush on systems I still did not have the brake pedal I needed. Irks me that the DOT spec for 5.1 still uses the "5", causes some confusion...

We use Motul RBF600 in everything....
Wet boiling point: 420°F (215°C).
Dry boiling point: Dry 594°F (312°C).

Don't need that in the street cars, but much easier to keep one type for all the cars...

TC, the new 914 is doing well. Runs pretty decent considering it sat for 5+ years. I have a dragging right rear brake so I need to get that figured out. My 12yo has already asked me if he gets to drive it to school when he's old enough. He's tried that with all of my cars so I may have my hands full in 4 years.

We had a meeting with ATE at SEMA and they (unofficially) recommended a few drops of green food coloring.

That combined with the gold Type 200 ought to give you the desired blue hue.

No way! I wondered if we were "allowed" to do that! Are you pulling our legs here Eric? Obviously it's water based and given the hygroscopic nature of the fluid, it wouldn't be the first choice. But we're talking just drops, right?

No; we used to do that decades ago for race cars -- where do you think ATE got the idea...?

And it is "drops"...a little bit goes a LONG way.

GA

Now hold the phone here...my vague recollection of the primary colors tells me something isn't quite right with that formulation. I did frequently tell folks they could mix Super Blue and Super Gold and make Super Green . Great for St. Patricks Day!

LOL... I didn't really think it through until now but, this was a trade show; in Vegas. He could have been a tad hung over from the night before.