Dot 4 Brake/Clutch Fluid?

daxanderman

daxanderman

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I found some extra brake fluid in my garage it's "EBC Brakes DOT 4 Brake and clutch fluid" Is that cool to use on my 2003 FZ1? The brakes seem kinda like they could use improvement and the level on the front brakes looks less then half.
 
Should be fine. I am pretty sure that Dot 4 is what you need. I will check the manual and get back to you.

Edit - Checked. You need to use DOT 4, so you're good to put it in. If the fluid is really dirty, you should flush and re-bleed with fresh fluid while you are doing it...
 
If the bottle is more then afew months old throw that away. Brake fluid is moisture magnet... any dot4 is fine. unless you track your bike whatever you can buy at Autozone is fine. Don't go broke in brake fluid... the only difference between cheap and expensive stuff is the boiling point.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Tapatalk 2
 
If the brake fluid is relatively new and is in a sealed container you should be ok. If the bottle or can has been opened, throw it out and get a new supply.
 
Marthy said:
Don't go broke in brake fluid... the only difference between cheap and expensive stuff is the boiling point.
Click to expand...
there's a bit more to that

dry boiling point (fresh/ uncontaminated fluid)
wet boiling point (contaminated fluid... some water in it)

you will want both dry&wet numbers to be high just for piece of mind

could never get the brake fluid to boil on a bike, did it a few times with cars and very fast driving... it's NO fun .. there's no warning , you just push the pedal and it keeps going down with no actual brake

p.s. never mix DOT 5 (harleys) with DOT 3 or 4 it will make some nasty stuff in your brake system
 
donoharm said:
p.s. never mix DOT 5 (harleys) with DOT 3 or 4 it will make some nasty stuff in your brake system
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This is true. DOT 5 is silicone-based and the braking system must be designed for it to work properly.

However, don't mistake this for DOT 5.1 which has a misleading name. DOT 5.1 is glycol-based like DOT 3 and 4 and compatible.
 
Dustin said:
This is true. DOT 5 is silicone-based and the braking system must be designed for it to work properly.
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I have run Dot 5 in every bike I've ever owned, including some early 80's rockets, inc. GS1000, GSX1100, Katana 1100. I'm now running it in my ZZR1100, XX Blackbird and of course FZ1. Never had an issue. All bikes it improved performance when brakes got hot. More lever rather than than less. I will continue to use it in every bike I own. Silicon based, repels water and prevents rust. Glycol based attracts water and therefore rust. Hence brake systems will last longer as rust is the main cause for failure. Just my experiences over my 30 years of biking. :)
 
donoharm said:
there's a bit more to that

dry boiling point (fresh/ uncontaminated fluid)
wet boiling point (contaminated fluid... some water in it)

you will want both dry&wet numbers to be high just for piece of mind

could never get the brake fluid to boil on a bike, did it a few times with cars and very fast driving... it's NO fun .. there's no warning , you just push the pedal and it keeps going down with no actual brake

p.s. never mix DOT 5 (harleys) with DOT 3 or 4 it will make some nasty stuff in your brake system
Click to expand...

I know... the point was that there is no need to spend $95.00 on a quart of Castrol SRF when the cheap stuff from Autozone work just fine for the G.P. (general public)

Bleeding them more frequently is better than using expensive fluid. Im not a fan of silicone fluid...

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Tapatalk 2
 
Epoc said:
I have run Dot 5 in every bike I've ever owned, including some early 80's rockets, inc. GS1000, GSX1100, Katana 1100. I'm now running it in my ZZR1100, XX Blackbird and of course FZ1. Never had an issue. All bikes it improved performance when brakes got hot. More lever rather than than less. I will continue to use it in every bike I own. Silicon based, repels water and prevents rust. Glycol based attracts water and therefore rust. Hence brake systems will last longer as rust is the main cause for failure. Just my experiences over my 30 years of biking. :)
Click to expand...

Thank you for your post!

That's very interesting and I'd like to hear more about how you made the switch and if you had to prep it in any way!
 
Marthy said:
I know... the point was that there is no need to spend $95.00 on a quart of Castrol SRF when the cheap stuff from Autozone work just fine for the G.P. (general public)

Bleeding them more frequently is better than using expensive fluid. Im not a fan of silicone fluid...

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...

wow, 95$ for 1L? gizas... I pay a few $ extra for EBC racing bla bla... but not 95.



@ Dustin, if you want to switch to dot 5 you must clean the system very well(take calipers and pump apart) that's about it, it's the same rubber in the o-rings of a harley caliper and same rubber in the pump... there's really nothing made special for one fluid or another, they just don't mix well.
 
donoharm said:
wow, 95$ for 1L? gizas... I pay a few $ extra for EBC racing bla bla... but not 95.



@ Dustin, if you want to switch to dot 5 you must clean the system very well(take calipers and pump apart) that's about it, it's the same rubber in the o-rings of a harley caliper and same rubber in the pump... there's really nothing made special for one fluid or another, they just don't mix well.
Click to expand...

LOL I know. Castrol SRF is the best brake fluid money can buy. Most racecars use it... Glad I don't pay for it

I've been using Valvoline DOT4 drum brake fluid...
 
donoharm said:
@ Dustin, if you want to switch to dot 5 you must clean the system very well(take calipers and pump apart) that's about it, it's the same rubber in the o-rings of a harley caliper and same rubber in the pump... there's really nothing made special for one fluid or another, they just don't mix well.
Click to expand...

Thank you for the info! I was informed incorrectly then. The info that I had was that a system that had been using Glycol for a long time will have been impregnated with it and introducing DOT 5 will cause damage even when cleaned out.

Very cool info
 
My Dot 5 changes all involved pulling the pistons from the callipers and master cylinders, cleaning everything, flushing the lines and reassemble. No parts involved apart from the Dot 5 fluid. Ride it for a few weeks, then flush again just to be sure. The Kat was the proving ground for me. I owned that bike for 8 years and 60K klms. Never had any issue whatsoever. Only issue I have now is I wish I'd never sold it :)
 
Dustin said:
Thank you for the info! I was informed incorrectly then. The info that I had was that a system that had been using Glycol for a long time will have been impregnated with it and introducing DOT 5 will cause damage even when cleaned out.

Very cool info
Click to expand...

if you still have original rubber lines dot5 will make no diff in brake feel or performance, the teflon/metal braided lines don't get impregnated for sure..

I have no exp with dot5 and rubber lines so maybe your info was good, I can see how old and beat up rubber lines would be so much harder to clean...

For the sake of safety (of future owners) I wouldn't change over to Dot 5, EBC makes a very high boiling(wet too) point DOT4 higher than most 5.1 or 5 so I don't see the point
 
donoharm said:
I have no exp with dot5 and rubber lines so maybe your info was good, I can see how old and beat up rubber lines would be so much harder to clean...

For the sake of safety (of future owners) I wouldn't change over to Dot 5, EBC makes a very high boiling(wet too) point DOT4 higher than most 5.1 or 5 so I don't see the point
Click to expand...

I typically use a high quality DOT 4 as well. The boiling point for me isn't all that important but I do change the fluid on a regular basis. That's a very, very good point about future owners. If they don't understand the difference between DOT 5 and the other fluids and they buy your bike from you, that's a huge liability in the potential for brake failure

Epoc said:
My Dot 5 changes all involved pulling the pistons from the callipers and master cylinders, cleaning everything, flushing the lines and reassemble. No parts involved apart from the Dot 5 fluid. Ride it for a few weeks, then flush again just to be sure. The Kat was the proving ground for me. I owned that bike for 8 years and 60K klms. Never had any issue whatsoever. Only issue I have now is I wish I'd never sold it :)
Click to expand...

Thanks for sharing that info!

Do you think it's a worthwhile change? I flush brake fluid as soon as I buy a bike and then every year afterwards (or when I'm bored on a rainy day :D).
 
Last edited:
Yes I do personally. The main thing I see is when the brakes get hot, as in riding hard down a range. I get more lever as they heat up. I have never had brake fade, ever with Dot 5. I also like the anti-rust qualities of a silicon based fluid. Again, this is purely my experiences. I am not a brake guru, I just like the results I get with Dot 5.
 
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