- Joined
- Oct 7, 2013
- Messages
- 106
Why the world does NOT use DOT brake-fluid. Never did. Never will.
DOT brake-fluid exists in a tamper-evident container. It does not - and cannot - exist in brakes. You dear reader do not use DOT brake-fluid. Never did, never will. If we read the regs, it's in the first line. ‘Scope of the standard'.
FMVSS 116 S1 (Dec. 2, 1971)
Fact is, millions of gallons of DOT brake-fluid are manufactured. Not one drop is used. Hence the start of an urban-myth.
There’s a falsehood propagated which claims blue brake-fluid was banned. This is not based in truth or logic.
None of us uses DOT brake-fluid. What we DO have is brake-fluid, and this brake-fluid will change.
We cannot stop it going to seven shades of p**s if we try. Thus... brown fluid is fine, pink is fine. Rust is fine. Your 20 year old beater has black soup, and it's fine.
Blue fluid certainly is. All are legal.
Find the law that stops brake-fluid changing to dirty? Find the regulation which defines the color of brake-fluid when ‘in use’. While we’re on... find aliens that live under to the sea.
Turns out there’s ‘manufacturer compliance’, and after that, very little law.
What we cannot do is attempt to SELL our striped brake-fluid as DOT brake-fluid. DOT brake-fluid ONLY exists behind the seal of a DOT compliant container. With a DOT label, compliant fluid will be amber or clear - Section 5 of the standard. FMVSS 116 S1 (Dec. 2, 1971)
Back in the day, ATE would sell blue brake-fluid with a DOT label. The “Not for Street-use” sticker was hogwash. Indeed, since Dec 2, 1971, the DOT brake-fluid claim was hogwash. It was blue.
Blue brake-fluid is fine. Manufacturers can produce it, the problem is, most choose not to. The DOT label helps sell brake-fluid, we won’t find much fluid without a DOT label. When, ahem… when we do, see blue fluid 'on the public highway’… and knock yourself out. Give it time, and GM’s copper lines, it'll go greenish-blue anyway. You can buy Project Mu. However.... you can't sell it with a DOT label. Not even as 'race' non-street use' fluid.
Some state-regulation refers to ‘contaminated/adulterated fluid’, and er, no… we can’t sell this as ‘DOT brake-fluid’ either.
The DOT standard is for manufacturers. The regulation has been in place before most people reading this were born. ATE had a good run - they withdrew before things went septic. The regulation is in plain sight, there is no ban.
Highly likely the brake-fluid in your brakes **WAS** DOT fluid. The fact that now - or next week - it's black, and fails the boil-points is irrelevant.
The regs are sensible enough. The 1971 color-spec sets to reduce the possibility of confusion with other fluids. This was the regulator’s opener to see each automotive-fluid a different color.
You're reading this, hence it’s unlikely you’re the sort to confuse brake-fluid with say, washer-fluid. Yet the myth has a life of its own. Doubtful it’ll ever go away.
Read the regs. Provided, we don’t label fluid as something it plainly isn’t, making brake-fluid illegal won’t be easy.
In states with inspection, murky fluid which is not clear or amber is deemed ‘contaminated’ thus will not pass inspection. However it must pass when reported as “Not DOT compliant”. Fluid is never DOT compliant. Be careful to not miss this distinction. Thus we won’t start using the expression ‘DOT legal’ etc etc. Why? When others do, it shows they’ve not understood.
Unless its fresh, brake-fluid is found the ‘wrong’ color anyway. Does anyone bother? Right or wrong, most will sport the same fluid as left the factory, and still our prisons are not full of brake-fluid felons.
Thus, we never use DOT brake-fluid, we never see it. Until we swim in a tin of the stuff, and seal the top, we never will.
But you know, if we want to pretend there’s a ban, and it’s all about losing our freedom/ how incompetent the ’government’ is, that’s cool too.
DOT brake-fluid exists in a tamper-evident container. It does not - and cannot - exist in brakes. You dear reader do not use DOT brake-fluid. Never did, never will. If we read the regs, it's in the first line. ‘Scope of the standard'.
FMVSS 116 S1 (Dec. 2, 1971)
Fact is, millions of gallons of DOT brake-fluid are manufactured. Not one drop is used. Hence the start of an urban-myth.
There’s a falsehood propagated which claims blue brake-fluid was banned. This is not based in truth or logic.
None of us uses DOT brake-fluid. What we DO have is brake-fluid, and this brake-fluid will change.
We cannot stop it going to seven shades of p**s if we try. Thus... brown fluid is fine, pink is fine. Rust is fine. Your 20 year old beater has black soup, and it's fine.
Blue fluid certainly is. All are legal.
Find the law that stops brake-fluid changing to dirty? Find the regulation which defines the color of brake-fluid when ‘in use’. While we’re on... find aliens that live under to the sea.
Turns out there’s ‘manufacturer compliance’, and after that, very little law.
What we cannot do is attempt to SELL our striped brake-fluid as DOT brake-fluid. DOT brake-fluid ONLY exists behind the seal of a DOT compliant container. With a DOT label, compliant fluid will be amber or clear - Section 5 of the standard. FMVSS 116 S1 (Dec. 2, 1971)
Back in the day, ATE would sell blue brake-fluid with a DOT label. The “Not for Street-use” sticker was hogwash. Indeed, since Dec 2, 1971, the DOT brake-fluid claim was hogwash. It was blue.
Blue brake-fluid is fine. Manufacturers can produce it, the problem is, most choose not to. The DOT label helps sell brake-fluid, we won’t find much fluid without a DOT label. When, ahem… when we do, see blue fluid 'on the public highway’… and knock yourself out. Give it time, and GM’s copper lines, it'll go greenish-blue anyway. You can buy Project Mu. However.... you can't sell it with a DOT label. Not even as 'race' non-street use' fluid.
Some state-regulation refers to ‘contaminated/adulterated fluid’, and er, no… we can’t sell this as ‘DOT brake-fluid’ either.
The DOT standard is for manufacturers. The regulation has been in place before most people reading this were born. ATE had a good run - they withdrew before things went septic. The regulation is in plain sight, there is no ban.
Highly likely the brake-fluid in your brakes **WAS** DOT fluid. The fact that now - or next week - it's black, and fails the boil-points is irrelevant.
The regs are sensible enough. The 1971 color-spec sets to reduce the possibility of confusion with other fluids. This was the regulator’s opener to see each automotive-fluid a different color.
You're reading this, hence it’s unlikely you’re the sort to confuse brake-fluid with say, washer-fluid. Yet the myth has a life of its own. Doubtful it’ll ever go away.
Read the regs. Provided, we don’t label fluid as something it plainly isn’t, making brake-fluid illegal won’t be easy.
In states with inspection, murky fluid which is not clear or amber is deemed ‘contaminated’ thus will not pass inspection. However it must pass when reported as “Not DOT compliant”. Fluid is never DOT compliant. Be careful to not miss this distinction. Thus we won’t start using the expression ‘DOT legal’ etc etc. Why? When others do, it shows they’ve not understood.
Unless its fresh, brake-fluid is found the ‘wrong’ color anyway. Does anyone bother? Right or wrong, most will sport the same fluid as left the factory, and still our prisons are not full of brake-fluid felons.
Thus, we never use DOT brake-fluid, we never see it. Until we swim in a tin of the stuff, and seal the top, we never will.
But you know, if we want to pretend there’s a ban, and it’s all about losing our freedom/ how incompetent the ’government’ is, that’s cool too.
