Blue Brake Fluid??

[Don LaVance]

Preparing to flush the Master Cylinder in my 1988 Carrera when I noticed that the brake fluid was a very deep blue color.
What kind of fluid is this? I don't want to flush with my usual Valvoline Dot 3&4 synthetic brake fluid and end up having some kind of weird detrimental interaction with the fluids.
I would l appreciate some advice as to whether this might be something to be concerned about, and if anyone knows of this blue fluid type.
Thanks to all.
Don

[DRACO A5OG]

That is most likely ATE brand blue brake fluid.

I would recommend ATE hold sold by our host.

[Ian Comerford]

Probably Ate Super Blue fluid

[Flat Six]

Most likely Ate Super Blue . . . no worries.

Our host sells here: Porsche 911 & Carrera Brake Hydraulics - Page 1

Some alternate Super Blue with Gold; makes it easy to tell when you've fully flushed old brake fluid for new.

HTH

[rayporsche]

Well I know that I've always used 'ATE' Super Blue Racing which is a high performance brake fluid that seems to fit your description and I know I wouldn't mix them, just replace it with more Blue...

[wildcat077]

That would be the ATE Blue brake fluid ... a lot of people switch from the Blue to ATE Gold when you do a complete flush as you know when all the fluid is out once there is no blue !
Then at the next flush you use the Ate Blue again ...

I would stick with the ATE fluid which is readily available and well suiteds for a street driven Porsche !

Cheers !
Phil

[wildcat077]

Holy s**t,you guys are fast

[rayporsche]

Originally Posted by wildcat077

Holy s**t,you guys are fast

Is there any other way ? LOL...............

[304065]

Ate Blue brake fluid, it's been around for decades.

If you wish to replace it, you can use Ate Gold (Typ 200) as it's the same fluid, just a different dye.

[DRACO A5OG]

We're in Porches :-P

[wildcat077]

Jim,

Three posts at 4:39 ... obviously great minds think alike ... lol

Cheers !
Phil

[Eric_Shea]

Phil and John are correct.

If you have ATE Super Blue in it now, replace it with ATE 200. If you alternate each flush you can easily see when your new fluid has reached the caliper.

If you've already cracked it open (as it sounds) then a simple flush may not be in the cards so you can replace it with whatever color you'd like.

At least now you know what the blue dye in the brake fluid.

[Don LaVance]

I am extremly impressed with the response and thank you to all. I especially appreciated the tips on switching types to make it easier to tell when you have done a full flush.
Ate Blue it is.
Thanks,
Don

[wildcat077]

If i can add another tip,get yourself a Motive Power Bleeder,it makes bleeding the brakes a lot easier especially when you do a complete flush !

Cheers !
Phil

[Hodgey]

doin mine tomorrow....new rotors all four corners, new pads (duuh) new front wheel bearings, replacing ATE blue with ATE gold.....then gonna drive the snot out of it to break the brakes in.......

[Eric_Shea]

then gonna drive the snot out of it to break the brakes in

Excellent idea! Most people don't understand how important this step is.

[Noah930]

BTW, the "gold" stuff isn't really that goldish in color. More like a little bit yellowish-clear. So when you flush from blue to gold, it's more like dark blue to light blue. Well, not exactly light blue either, as the more "gold" you flush through the less blue the color of what comes out at the caliper end. However, it won't be as dramatic a change in color as you probably originally imagined. Just keep flushing until you're pretty confident what's coming out is no longer tainted with what was previously there.

[John W.]

+1 on the Motive power bleeder and switching colors. I'm a newbie at wrenching and the power bleeding made flushing quite easy.

[Fixer]

Originally Posted by wildcat077

That would be the ATE Blue brake fluid ... a lot of people switch from the Blue to ATE Gold when you do a complete flush as you know when all the fluid is out once there is no blue !
Then at the next flush you use the Ate Blue again ...

I would stick with the ATE fluid which is readily available and well suiteds for a street driven Porsche !

Cheers !
Phil

Correct!

[Quicksilver]

Let's get a bit more specific.
ATE Super Blue Racing and ATE Type 200 Gold are designed and made to exactly the same specification. As mentioned previously the gold was specifically made to contrast in color with the blue so that you can tell when the old fluid is bled out. That is THE reason it exists.
There are lots of ads that list ATE Blue as a DOT 4 fluid which isn't really correct. (Don't freak out) It complies with DOT 4 heat and fluid compatibility requirements but DOT requires that fluid be clear. Obviously the blue isn't clear...

It is a glycol based fluid so it can be topped off, mixed, etc, with any other glycol based brake fluid but why would you want to do that unless you were using something of at least that grade?


The big no-no is mixing glycol based with any of the silicone based brake fluids. There are a whole host of reasons why you should never use the silicone based fluids unless your car sits in a museum but we can argue about that later.