going to first hpde. how can i tell if i boil my brake fluid?? i have changed to dot 4 racing blue. if i do boil my fluid what do i do??? thanks

 

If your fluid boils your car wont stop. What should you do if it boils? Try not to hit anything!
If it boils it releases bubbles of air into the system radically affecting performance. If you feel the pedal going "spongey" take it easy braking.

 

Your pedal will get soft but unless you have really destroyed it the brakes will work to some degree although you may have to pump.

If you have a fresh flush with new fluid chances are you are fine. You should check your brake fluid between runs though and if it is nasty black in the reservoir that is a good sign you burnt it.

Have fun it is very addicting...

 

If you have Dot 4 brake fluid, the boiling point temperature is quite a bit higher than the stock GM stuff.

To actually boil your fluid, you have to be doing AGGRESSIVE track driving for several laps....
and AGGRESSIVE means going hard ("***** out") towards the corners, and then getting HARD and HEAVY on the brakes to make the corner.

You must be doing this for several minutes before the fluid will boil.

If you feel the brakes are getting soft (spongy), this is an indication that you have gotten the fluid up to a high enough temperature, where it might have caused some air to enter the system. This is what is causing the soft spongy feeling. If this occurs, you MUST ease up on your aggression... take a few "cool down" laps to allow your brakes to cool down. It's OK to drive somewhat more slowly around the track, but make sure you allow other cars/drivers to pass by "pointing" them by.

Then I would suggest leaving the track, and head for the pits/paddock area, and then BLEED the brakes to remove any of that air in the system. This might be a bit of a difficult process to do unless you have the necessary equipment/tools, and have some help, and some extra brake fluid.

If you cannot bleed the brakes at the track, then for SAFETY sake,
I would drive the car cautiously (you might have to pump the brakes to make them work correctly) to some professional, to have them bleed your brakes.

And next time, you might want to make sure you have a higher boiling point temperature fluid.

Check out this page for information regarding different makes of fluids and relative boiling points and costs.....
http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c6-t...and-track.html

Good Luck

 

I would highly advise you to invest in brake ducts. I've boiled fluid at the track (Motul RBF600) in my other car and simply adding ducting took care of my problem. The Z06 brake ducts are cheap and you can get a spindle duct kit for even more effective ducting. Obviously, good brake fluid with properly bled brakes is important.

San

 

try castrol srf brake fluid with a wet boiling point of 518 compared to 420 for the motoul it should make a big differance if that was indeed the problem. also with real agressive brake pads like pfc 01 or 03 compound they dont have alot of brake torque untill there blazing hot.

 

I've also run the Castrol SRF. Ducting is the key in my opinion.

San

 

First and foremost invest on good pads; your factory brake pads will get hot beyond their operating temperature range before the fluid starts to boil...
And like Weasel said; you will feel your brake pedal get soft before you lose your brakes completely... If that happens just back off untill they cool down again.

 

And be careful.