Saif

Hi, I attended an advanced skills driving school yesterday where we had to use the brakes a lot and aggresively. After about 3-4 hard stops, I got a warning saying "Brake Fluid Visit Workshop" I checked the level of the brake fluid and it is fine. The thing is I am attending a driving school at the New Hampshire International Speedway this Thursday where we will probably be braking hard from 120+ to 40 on some corners. So my question is: Should I just take my car to the dealer to bleed the brakes and flush the brake fluid? My car only has 13,000 miles but I've had it for 2 and a half years.
Oh and I also got a warning saying something like engine oil level low, but that went away after restarting the car and never came back.
Any advice?
Thanks

Lynn

You may want to try silicone brake fluid. It is much less likely to boil when at the track. You should also consider pads which are more suitable for track use.

Edit: Cancel the silicone brake fluid. See Steve Clark's post below.

Saif

Thanks for the reply! Any recommended brand of brake fluid? Also I'm not planning on tracking my car a lot, maybe once a year. What brake pads can I get?
Thanks

bamberger_1

hard braking causes the fluid to "boil". But boiling is only possible if the water content of the fluid is high. If the fluid is older than 2 years my recommendation is to change it. Brake fluid is hygroscopic (drawing water from the environment),and if you see the waring coming up changing is life saving.

Saif

Thanks for the advice, I'm having the brake fluid changed today and they are going to bleed the brakes and put a high performance brake fluid.

Steve Clark

DOT 5 (silicone) brake fluid!.It's not designed to be used in most street vehicles,and will definitely cause serious (EXPENSIVE) brake problems when it mixes with the old DOT 4 fluid.
If your car had the original brake fluid in it on your track day,it's no surprise that the water accumulated by the fluid boiled and led to a brake warning light.As a general rule of thumb,if it's being used on the track,the brake fluid should be 6 months old at the most.
The DOT 5 fluid isn't inherently bad,it just is not the hydraulic fluid that the factory had in mind...1) It's a lousy lubricant,and can lead to a low brake pedal and brake-pad retraction woes...2) As it will not absorb water,the water collects in little drops in any low spot in your brake system-will lead to corrosion of calipers and can destroy your ABS hardware...3)Unless you completely remove every trace of the DOT 4 fluid,the DOT 5 will combine with the old fluid remnants and create a nasty sludge that can really ruin your day.
Brake fluid is cheap:flush and fill every Spring so any water absorbed during the Winter months will be flushed out....it's a lot cheaper than an expensive trip to the dealer.

Lynn

Steve Clark, thanks for the correction. I hate giving out the wrong information.