Can I use Synthetic Dot 4 brake fluid?

[Degreaser]

Soon I will be needing to do a brake and clutch fluid change on my 2004 Kawasaki Vulcan 1500, so while at Wal-Mart I was looking around at their brake fluid products and noticed they had Prestone Synthetic Dot 4. Now I'm confused about the word synthetic on the Prestone container. Is there a difference between just Dot 4 which is what I used 2 years ago and the Prestone Synthetic Dot 4? I thought synthetic brake fluid was Dot 5

 

[229]

Same glycol base. DOT5 is silicone based and cannot be mixed with glycol.

 

[bdcardinal]

Dirty little secret, all brake fluid is synthetic. Just don't mix DOT 5 with DOT 3,4,5.1

 

[ccb056]

DOT 3, DOT 4, DOT 5.1 are all glycol based

DOT 5 is silicone

 

[LeakySeals]

I bought the yellow Prestone dot3/4 bottles at WM too. Because they said synthetic on them. Asked about it on here. I was told that just because they wrote synthetic on the bottle does not mean its any different from the other dot3/4 brake fluids. Guess that means all dot3/4 brake fluid is synthetic. Ididn't know that.

 

[DBMaster]

I remember Castrol promoting DOT 4 fluid pretty heavily in the 80's as being "much" better than DOT 3. I have been using the Valvoline and Prestone DOT 4 fluids for 25 years and, honestly, I don't notice a difference between it and DOT 3. Maybe that's because I bleed the brakes and change fluid every 30,000 miles? My fluid is never terribly dark when I change it - usually a light amber color, like Irish whiskey.

I, too, was fooled for years by that "synthetic" moniker. Maybe the braking systems on the cars I have serviced are just not that demanding.

 

[Falken]

What others have just said is true.

Personally, if I can get Dot 4 and my car calls for Dot 3 I'd get the Dot 4 if it is close to the same price.

It has a higher temp rating from what I remember, so might as well get the better fluid.

 

[Degreaser]

So what about Dot 5.1? If I were to change my motorcycle Dot 4 brake fluid to Dot 5.1, would that cause a problem? Or is 5.1 overkill.

 

[Falken]

If you can get 5.1 for Dot 3,4 prices goooooo for it

 

[sunruh]

motul 5.1 is the good stuff!

 

[GMBoy]

Only use the fluid recommended. Don't switch any DOT 3 or 4 system to 5.1 and vice-versa.

Dot 4 does have a higher boiling point but it doesn't handle water as well as DOT 3 and will more quickly degrade than DOT3.

I personally flush my brake fluid every 2 years so I do use DOT 4. If I never flushed my fluid I would stick with DOT3.

 

[THE_TROTS]

Originally Posted By: GMBoy

Dot 4 does have a higher boiling point but it doesn't handle water as well as DOT 3


Yup. DOT 4's compatiblitaty with DOT 3 depends on who you ask. Not a motorcycle manufacturer but for example Chrysler specifically recommends not.to mix DOT 4 with DOT 3

 

[ddtmoto]

No good reason to mix 3 and 4. Don't even mix new and old . Use the opportunity to flush with new fresh fluid....your system will thank you......