I noticed this stuff at RockAuto the other day, looks like a great price for DOT5.1 brake fluid. Since the packaging looks just like ATE's, I'm assuming it's manufactured by ATE for Bosch. The specs put it between ATE's Super DOT5.1 and Typ200 for wet and dry boiling point, which is good, but the viscosity is super low. Is this going to screw up the ABS in something older designed for DOT3, like my C5 Corvette? The Bosch flyer just makes a blanket statement about it working in "practically any brake system launched since 1990."
Looks good to me, I could try it next year in place of the Pentosin DOT4LV I've been running in the Toyobaru. Haven't had any problems with it, but if I can bring brake fluid costs down by 2/3rds that helps...
Once it's low viscosity you don't need to worry about any ABS-related issues.
Edit: In case you didn't know, high viscosity can cause problems for ABS systems and a lot of high-temp brake fluids have high viscosity, the point of low viscosity brake fluid is to address that problem.
The ESI6 specs look better then the Pentosin DOT4LV.
Thanks, I knew there was something to be concerned about with high performance brake fluids and viscosity, but I couldn't remember what. Thick = bad, I think I can remember that.
In reply to obsolete :
Ford specifically calls out for a specific low viscosity brake fluid for most of their newer cars, because they want/need a certain level of responsiveness from the ABS.
I went the other way, using 75W90 gear oil in a clutch system to bandage over a failing master cylinder. The system went from full-Mayday bypassing master to working well for another two and a half years, but driving in the winter was comical. Push the clutch pedal down and wait 5-10 seconds for the clutch to engage type of comical...
