Brake Fluid system circuit capacity

[deQuincey]

I have been looking at the blue manuals, and made a search in this fórum, nothing,

Can anyone shed light on the total capacity in liters of the brake fluid in the whole brake and clutch system ?

I recall (from experience) it is less tan one liter, but i would like to be sure about it before replacing the fluid

thanks so much

 

[30csl]

I don't know a definitive answer but do know that bleding the system properly can use a fair bit more than one litre of fluid - fine if you can keep thigs clean and reuse the bled fluid but i usually buy 2 litres for this job.

 

[bavbob]

Yet another reason we need ATE Blue back in the U.S.

 

[m5bb]

You can get ATE gold with the same properties as blue. It's just not blue.
Does it really matter?
I know it takes more than 2 liters to completely fill a brake system. I do not know the exact amount.

 

[Sam Lever]

It really doesn't hold that much - less than a litre I would suspect. However, bleeding is, as Rohan says, another matter entirely! At least you don't have the miserable twin-servo layout we have with RHD cars. I would suggest a couple of litres would do it. For mine, twin servos and all, I'd be using a good deal more than that to make sure no air between pedal and servo units.....

 

[deQuincey]

thanks for the replies guys,

Yet another reason we need ATE Blue back in the U.S.

bad news, ate blue is now NOT available in europe anymore, it is a pity we copy all the wrong decissions :-(

You can get ATE gold with the same properties as blue. It's just not blue.
Does it really matter?
I know it takes more than 2 liters to completely fill a brake system. I do not know the exact amount.

IMHO it does matter ! when you completely change fluid if going from yellow to blue or viceversa you know when is completely renewed due to color change, it makes it so simple...

i do not think is as much as two litres, talking about a conventional LHD, see gross estimatin below please

It really doesn't hold that much - less than a litre I would suspect. However, bleeding is, as Rohan says, another matter entirely! At least you don't have the miserable twin-servo layout we have with RHD cars. I would suggest a couple of litres would do it. For mine, twin servos and all, I'd be using a good deal more than that to make sure no air between pedal and servo units.....

i agree, IMHO, it is less than 1 liter, the reservoir is like 200 cc, the master cyl 50, clutch master and slave 80, rear valve 20, circuit may be 100, each caliper front 100, rears 60, ....i would say around 720 cc

truth you must bleed and make sure you remove all, so lets say 1 litre if you do it with care and compromise

i asked the question because i have only one litre bottle (the last one in the whole world perhaps) of blue racing ate fluid :-/

 

[HB Chris]

I like the gold, the blue looked dark even when new. When bleeding the brakes I've never been unable to tell dirty fluid from the new gold fluid. And I never reuse any fluid.

 

[deQuincey]

well, used my last brake fluid racing blue bottle today,

it looks so sexy, when compared to gold , it is like a dazzling jewel, but it is over, no more available, a pity

i will feel difficult to tell when fluid is changed in the future, i change it every year, so easy, but as it is so little time is difficult to tell the degradation of the fluid, i should wait a bit more, probably i will have to change it every two years

it might seem nonsense to change fluid in such short intervals, but i have been doing so to clean the circuit, and it has been a success, at the beginign new fluid will darken quickly, and braking was not so good, now fluid keeps nice colour and braking has improved a lot, i get a MOT every three years, and figures had improved 25%

BWT, answering my question, what i can tell is that for a complete change of brake fluid in a LHD 3.0 1971 coupe you will need way less than one liter, i started pouring 800 cc into the compensation bottle, i bled the whole thing twice, starting rear right, then rear left, front right, front left, and clutch, and once again, put reservoir at level and still have some left for future topping if necessary

 

[bavbob]

Hmmm, ya think ATE would reveal what they used to color their ATE Blue? I'm gonna put my chemist-son on this one.