i recently purchased a 2003 S2000 and since it's used and i have no way of knowing the previous maintenance that's been done to it, i've decided to change out most of the fluids; including the brakes.

I'm curious to know whether or not I should use ATE Superblue as my brake fluid. It's categorized as a DOT4 brake fluid, which contains a different additive not found on DOT3 brake fluid. Which leads me to the following questions:

1. Plenty of S2000 owners have used DOT4 brake fluid on their cars, and have had nothing but praises for it. However, due to the additives in the fluid, how safe is it really? Any reported failures due to the fluid?

2. Does DOT4 brake fluid require more frequest bleeding/flushes? If I remember correctly, the owner's manual suggests changing out the brake fluid every 2 years. Is the lifespan shorter for DOT4 brake fluid?

3. I purchased an extended warranty for my car. In the event of a brake system failure, can the use of DOT4 brake fluid void my warranty?

4. Does changing back to DOT3 fluid from DOT4 have any adverse effects? I'm curious to know because I might consider changing back to DOT3 fluid after the life of the superblue is done.

5. My main reason for considering to use ATE Superblue is simply because of its color. It really is an easy way to know that you've flushed the fluid out when the color changes. My car is a daily driver and might only be driven hard on rare occasions. Should I just stick to DOT3 fluid?

6. I might not have searched hard enough, but is there a DOT3 fluid that's a different color? As I have mentioned, I only plan to switch to DOT4 because the existence of the ATE Superblue to indicate a good flush with a change of color. So is there any DOT3 fluid that's not the yellowish color?

I appreciate all the input you guys have to say. Thanks

 

1)dot four has high wet/dry boiling point, you can use dot4 on dot3 car without any ill effect.(can't say the same about dot5 on abs tho)

2)yes, they do and that's why you should flush it every year or at least every 2 year for normal use. they takes in water much faster than dot3, so "dirty" dot4 will drop boiling point much faster than dot3. if you cant keep up with the change interval, avoid using dot4 fluid.

3)negative, you can use dot4 on dot3 without any warranty issue

4)you can swap them around no problem

5)if you can boil a fresh dot3 on the street, you might as well getting death insurance coverage on yourself. if the car will not do track day, there's hardly any benefit from using dot4 fluid. oem dot3 will do more than enough for street, ricer alike think they get massive braking power from using dot4 fluid is just not the case here.

6)prestone synpower is clear vs oem honda amber

cliff: oem dot3 for street car, dot4 only if you can keep up replacing it once a year or so

 

you won't feel any advantages over dot3. i put it in mine and it stops just as good as the day i got it. you can swap 4 and 3 without a problem and won't void your waranty but if you are just doing it because it's blue that's silly. the master cylinder is only so big so after a couple of minutes of bleeding it will all be flushed after you add a little bit as it's going down. if you live in the warminster PA area i can flush it all for you at school one night.