alright, i recently replaced the pads and rotors at all 4 corners, and upgraded to the 6th gen front brakes (calipers, rotors, and pads)....i installed the brakes myself, and for some reason, i couldn't get the brakes to bleed right, so i finally gave up, after having the pedal go all the way to the floor even after i bled it twice...

so this morning, i had it towed ($65 later..) to a local mechanic, and THEY couldn't bleed the brakes...they were asking me if they were the right calipers, and i told them that they were from the newer generation maxima but that i knew of several people who had used them...so THEN they tell me that i used the wrong brake fluid (i used ATE blue dot 4, because i saw that was a common choice here on the .org) Well i guess that was a really BAD idea, because they told me that they thought everything was ruined by this brake fluid and that and all the seals were swelled i needed to take it to nissan....

So i drove 4 miles down the road to the stealership (with no brakes!) and i told them everything that had happened....he was VERY skeptical and told me that i might have to go back to using my original brakes, and that i would have to have everything from the brake master cylinder to the ABS actuators and calipers replaced....he basically told me that i'm not going to like him very much when i receive the estimate call...

so five minutes after i get home, i get a call, and he tells me that the brakes may work afterall, but that i had two left calipers...so i called Dave B. up and told him about it...he says that since the bleed valve isn't pointing the right way, that it makes it impossible for anyone to bleed the brakes properly, so he sent out a new right caliper to the dealer

if this doesn't work, they're going to have to assume that i need new everything because of my brake fluid.... anyone use ATE blue brake fluid? Anyone ever hear of this happening? I sure hope it's just the caliper, because if not, i'll be broke AND i wont be able to go to maxus...i'm not going any more because of this

 

It's the wrong caliper. And your mechanic is not very smart

 

let's hope you're right

Dave B. sent off the new caliper this evening, and it should be at the dealer on thursday...but is there any chance at all that i ruined everything with the ATE super blue fluid?

 

no... your bleed valve being reversed is causing this... get the right side caliper and you will be fine.

 

Wow! Sorry to hear that. This is scary!! I hope it is just the "wrong" caliper. I remember that when i installed my 6th gen calipers,(month ago) i paid extra attention on the side they belong to. I'm glad that i got them right ...or at least i think i did. Bleeding was easy for me and so far, so good.

I am not sure about the ATE fluid. I doubt that i would be that harmful, i really doubt it.

I personally used the Valvoline SynPower brake fluid in my car. I was easy to find in local auto parts store. Did i make a mistake? Is this a "safe" choice? Can i safely mix it with the old OEM nissan brake fluid? Thanks!

 

yeah, when i was installing, them, i thought they were the same thing, so even if i HAD received the right calipers, there would still be a chance that i mixed them up, because i didn't pay attention at all...haha

I've also heard of several people using the Valvoline SynPower with good results...i think i should have done that, because not only is it cheaper, it's probably not BLUE (which caused the mechanics to think it was the wrong fluid...) I sure hope i didn't mess anything up, but only time will tell..

 

ATE is great brake fluid with a high boiling point, I have used it for years with no issues. I am sure it has nothing to do with your problem, except for the air bubbles in it.

 

thanks everyone for the reassurance...i was about to **** myself when i started thinking about how much everything was going to cost...I thought it could have been my master cylinder at first, which still wouldn't be as bad as they were telling me...Dave is sending me the caliper free of charge, and i don't even have to pay to ship the one i got back! He's definitely the man to deal with for any OEM parts, and i wish i would have called him and told him my problem before i decided to take it into the shop...oh well..you live and you learn, and now i'm out $95 plus whatever nissan charges me for labor....i'm preparing myself for an a$$ raping....

 

I don't think the brake fluid will cause that. It has to be the caliper.....

 

I'm about to have my 6th gen calipers installed, i just want to make sure, the bleeder screw should be on top?

 

that is correct...the bleed valve needs to be on top (toward the hood) so that the air can be bled from the caliper correctly...

 

Hey colin, valovline syn power dot 4 is great stuff! its over the counter and u can get a big bottle for like $6....the small one is $3, but I wanted to make sure I had enuff fluid to bleed the system so I got the $6 one....cuz I ran out of fluid and had to make two trips to the store, when I was bleeding brakes on my old max

Valvoline syn power is probably best bang for the buck brake fluid out there....I saw a comparison sheet from BITOG or something...and it ranked one of the highest...and its readily available at any autozone

 

well i think right now, the only thing i'll be getting is nissan DOT 3 fluid, because the dealer will be doing it...hopefully it won't result in too much brake fade at the track (if i get to go ) but right now there's nothing else i can do...there's just not enough time...after i get my brakes fixed, i have to go get a nail pulled from my tire (the same stupid corner with the messed up caliper) AND i have to replace a stud that i had to break off since one of my lugs seized (yet again, that same stupid corner...) and then i can drive to texas for maxus...

here's a picture of the situation right now:


note the broken stud, and low tire...just my luck

 

Good luck!!!

 

Nissan is going to rape you on install. As long as you know that in advance, you wont be suprised when they tell you the total. It would be cheaper to just get the car towed back to your house where you can install the caliper yourself and save the blue brake fluid you poured in. The brake fluid is fine...actually its great fluid. I went ahead and used the Valvoline for the reasons mentioned above. Bleeding the system is gravy as long as you have a buddy to help. Good luck with the rest of your troubles. If it makes you feel any better, I had a really rough time installing my 2k4 brakes too. Rotors look good so far by the way.....but you outta paint the calipers while theyre new and clean.

 

I'm using teh Dot Blue stuff and its amazing. You should not have any problems with it, nor should you get brake fade.

I ran my car on the track with the stock calipers and the Dot Blue fluid (german letters on it) and it held up.

Good Luck with your breaks bro.

Kam

 

I was actually thinking about doing that today, but i had the stupid caliper shipped directly to nissan....next time, i'm going to use the Valvoline for the above reasons....i was actually going to paint my calipers this week as well until this happened...i'll paint them this summer some time....