A couple of weeks ago I took my car out for some "spirited" driving out on some country roads, where I was on the breaks hard repetitively slowing down from 85 plus mph. After awhile I smelled "burning break pad smell" and fade started occurring in which I pulled over and smoke was pouring out of front wheels hah. Question is do I need to bleed my brakes since I boiled the fluid in the caliper? Since then I replaced my ****ty ceramic pads and rotors with new brembo blanks and new pads.

Also why do our cars recommend dot3 brake fluid only, and not dot 4 or 5? Can I use dot 4 or 5?

 

you should of change calipers as well. the heat could of messed up the seal from the piston. and you dont need to bleed your brakes unless you caliper is leaking.

 

i think it says dot3 or greater. Considering how aggressively you drive it i would suggest dot5.

 

Dude this happened to me too, both front ones were smoking, even tho I didnt feel fade, but now it feels like the brakes got a little weaker. So new fluid should fix it?

 

Oh and does anyone have SS brake lines? Wonder how it holds up to with the heat.

 

you don't use SS line for heat. SS flexes less than rubber so you get better braking.

 

i hope your upgrade to brembos and pads were for brakes on the 04+ max. 5th and 5.5 gen brakes suck

 

when you say 04+ max...are you talking bigger rotors and calipers? or just better brake all around that will still fit with the stock 17's I have? (sorry for the off topic)

I had this happen in my 4th gen when i was doing a little spirited driving...but i was only at it for about 15 minutes....front passenger side caliper was frozen open so you can imagine the stress on the drivers side one. pulled everything off, upgraded rotors, pads and lines. went back out 2 days later and everything was great.

B

 

yes..bigger rotors and calipers. and yes, they will fit under stock 5.5 gen wheels, not 5th gen

 

so can i just source some 6th gen calipers and get some 6th gen brembo blanks and throw them on? is it a fit with relocation brakets or a direct fit?

B

 

bolts right on, numerous threads on it..i would get hawk hps pads

 

thanks...founds some of said threads...i plan to

B

 

i think the way it works is you use your stock 5th gen caliper and a 6th gen rotor with a relocation bracket. or you can use 300zx calipers

http://www.mattblehm.com/brakes.htm

 

from what ive read its the 6th gen calipers and rotors and you need to use the 6th gen caliper bracket

B

 

Ok, well can I get anyone to confirm dot5 fluid will work fine? Dot3 boiling point is so low, probably explains why my brakes overheated. Maybe 6th gen brake swap in the future lol.

 

i was reading and it seems like dot4 or 5 is the way to go...i say dot5

B

 

Make sure if you upgrade fluids, that you completely drain the system of the DOT 3.

 

You shouldn't have pulled over and stopped with overheated brakes. The best way to cool brakes is to drive easy for a mile or two so the rotor cools evenly. The cooling vanes in the center of the rotor aren't moving any air when you're stopped.

Just because you over heated the pads and rotor surface, doesn't necessarally mean you boiled the brake fluid. Had you boiled the fluid you would have lost brake pedal pressure completely.

DOT-5 brake fluid is not compatible with the seals in a DOT-3 or DOT-4 system. They will deteriorate over time rendering your entine braking system useless.

You should do some research on brakes at www.stoptech.com Look under the Technical Center White Pages for more helpfull info.

 

Thank you all for your suggestions. I am going to flush my brake system seeing how I could have possibly boiled the fluid. Seeing how dot3 and dot4 are not silicone like dot 5, dot 4 will probably be fine. My e-brake is really weak also, It has to be the pads, cause I adjusted it but that did not help really. Hope calipers arient sized. Need to drift this winter haha.

 

you boiled the fluid because you overheated the brakes. You didn't overheat the brakes because you boiled the fluid.

BTY I said earlier that the SS lines flex less, but it is also an upgrade because rubber can bulge under hydraulic pressure, SS will not bulge.

 

This is absolutely correct Dot 5 brake fluid should NEVER be used in a car with ABS as the ABS pump will cause the fluid to foam and then you have no brakes. If you track your car or are really hard on your brakes then you can use DOT 5.1 fluid which is fully comparable with all ABS systems and DOT 3 and 4 systems.

As for bleeding the brakes...its best to bleed the system entirely every 2 years, you should at least bleed the system entirely when you do brake work.