[CL9] Ate brake fluid for accord

**Martin77** · 29-08-2016 05:33 PM

I am wondering whether anyone has tried ATE dot 4 brake fluid (sl6) on the accord euro?
Its classified as dot 4 but being less viscous it is supposed to be better for the abs system (quicker and more refined). There are lots of good reviews about it but hard to get in Australia. I believe Ate is the OEM brake fluid for BMW (sure,... some of you may say that our Honda is better than BMW).
Any experience or comments anyone?

**brad1.8tsi** · 30-08-2016 01:59 PM

What you are after is something that conforms to ISO 4925 class 6. You'll get Dot 4+ / Super Dot 4 / Dot 5.1 ESP that meets/exceeds the spec.

Essentially it's a cold temperature spec designed for cold countries.

Dot 3, 4, 4+, Super Dot 4, Dot 5.1 etc all have the same kinematic viscosity specification at 100c (minimum 1.5mm sq/s).

At minus 40c Dot 3 kinematic viscosity is maximum 1500 & Dot 4 is max 1800. Dot 5.1 is 900. Anything complying with ISO 4925 class 6 (Dot 4+ / Super Dot 4 / Dot 5.1 ESP) is 750 (maximum - so some might exceed the spec).

I spoke to Penrite's tech dept last year (before they had their own Class 6 fluid) and the guy thought that in normal Australian temperatures (15c-30c) there wouldn't be a lot of difference.

ATE SL6, Pentosin Dot 4 LV and Penrite Dot 4 ESP are all max 700 mm2/s.

By comparison, Penrite Super Dot4 is 1147 and Nulon Super Dot 4 is 1250. (both well below the 1500 / 1800 in the dot 3 / dot 4 spec).

If you are going to do it, you need to be able to cycle the ABS pump so that the old fluid comes out (should do this anyway). On a VW group car you can hook up the laptop and do it but I don't know Hondas well enough to comment).

Given we are a relatively warm environment (compared to Europe in both summer & winter), you'd have to wonder how much you'll achieve by going to the Class 6 fluid.

If you decide to give it a crack:

HSY Auto parts are an AU distributor for ATE. They should have it or tell you who their local resellers are.

Penrite do an LV equivalent that should be equivalent to the ATE SL6. It's about $20/L

Pentosin Dot 4 LV is from Liquid Engineering in Botany

Genuine VW brake fluid also meets the class 6 spec as does Jag, Mini, Volvo & a few others.

**Martin77** · 30-08-2016 04:39 PM

Thanks for this.
A lot of good information. I wonder how much is Ate SL6. Its reasonably cheap overseas if we can get them (doesn't ship from Amazon US).
The penrite esp is $20 for 500ml from an eBay shop.
What do you use for your Skoda?

**Fredoops** · 30-08-2016 09:03 PM

Whatever you use... flush it twice.

Also I've been using (coated) stainless steel brake lines for 5 years now. Much bether response at hard stops.

**brad1.8tsi** · 30-08-2016 09:21 PM

Originally Posted by Martin77

Thanks for this.
A lot of good information. I wonder how much is Ate SL6. Its reasonably cheap overseas if we can get them (doesn't ship from Amazon US).
The penrite esp is $20 for 500ml from an eBay shop.
What do you use for your Skoda?

Ring HSY and ask.

Pentosin is the cheapest at $25/1L.

Skoda is due now. It's been done twice before by the guy I used to use near my old office. He was a VW specialist but I bet he just used Dot4. I haven't had any issues with brake wear but I'm pretty easy on brakes (driving style & where I drive). The car has 170,000+km now and front brakes are at 50%, rears have 30% remaining. VWs wear the rear quicker than the front as the rear brakes come on first under light braking to reduce nose dive.

I'll be using Nulon Dot4 for no other reason than it was the best bang4buck when I bought it at SCA last week.