Time for another brake fluid change, so question is which of the following should I use? Please don't suggest others that don't fit in with the list unless you can buy them from halfords.

- VAG DOT 4 Fluid from dealer

- Halfords DOT 5.1 Fluid

- Halfords DOT 4 (ESP)

Currently the car has whichever DOT5.1 that JKM used.

Is the halfords dot 5.1 any better than the VAG DOT4 fluid?

Ta

DOT 5.1 is mandatory

I would go for Skoda brake fluid .

skoda use the VAG brake fluid which is available at any VAG dealer

I know skoda use VAG brake fluid and I know it's available from my local dealer, but I also know it's DOT4 which is what the book says to use.

Be interesting to hear from Shifty or anyone else who ran a heavily improved car and see if the 5.1 made a difference. I'll go along at some point and ask about the trade price.

Edited 18 December, 200817 yr by cheezemonkhai

Dot 5.1, even Halfords sell it if you need a price check, Ive supplied it before to the local Skoda dealer to put in

DOT 5.1 (which like DOT4 is glycol based) is OK to put it and does make a difference to braking performance. The performance is as good as many racing fluids.

UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES SHOULD DOT 5 (which is silicone based) be used in a car that has had DOT4 (glycol based) in. The two interact and form a gummy residue.

Dot 5.1, even Halfords sell it if you need a price check, Ive supplied it before to the local Skoda dealer to put in

Will see how much it is on trade Ta

Well £5 a bottle on trade, so ho wmuch does an octy II require for a full change? 2 Litres sound about right?

Whenever I've done this I always found I needed much more than I expected. I'd have 4 litres to hand maybe if getting to Halfords without any brakes is going to be difficult

No way, where do you stuff that much? I saw the figures once, can't remember if it is 2.2 or 1.2 liters. Probably 1.2, but I'd buy 2 just in case.

Dealer says they use 2L to bleed and full change so I've gone and got 2 * 1L bottles and 1 250ml bottle.

Should do the job just fine and i'd rather have a touch too much pushed through than not enough

4L sounds excessive mind as you'd be pushing an entire system of clean fluid through and out.

AHA:

Brake fluid when changing 1,20 litres

Brake fluid specification from 2006 VW 501 14-B 000 750-

Brake fluid specification up to 2005 DOT 4

Brake fluid change interval every 2 years

What on earth is that VW spec though and how on earth does that differ from the DOT specs.

I guess it's just their internal spec for it.

The 3C Passat and later models is running a slightly different fluid (EBC 440) it has from what I understand a different operating range (like a Super DOT4) this is required for the newer ABS systems.