While modern cars have all sorts of safety tech, including ADAS, the brakes are still the first line of defense. Without fully functional brakes, even a slow-driving car can get you into trouble.
Since car brakes are highly important, it is equally important to ensure their functionality at all times. This includes checking the pads, callipers, discs, and, most importantly, the brake fluid itself.
Hence, to help you learn everything about brake fluid and pick the right one, we are here with a detailed, comprehensive guide. This comprehensive guide will take you through everything that you need to learn about brake fluid and picking the right one.
What is Brake Fluid?
Starting with the basics, let’s learn about brake fluid itself in this brake fluid comprehensive guide.
So whenever you press the brake pedal in your vehicle, the force is transferred to the brakes via hydraulic fluid, which happens to be the brake fluid. In other words, the brake fluid is responsible for ensuring that the brakes have enough force to stop the wheels and your car.
The Importance & Function of Brake Fluid
If you are familiar with how hydraulic fluids work, you must have already understood the importance and function of brake fluid.
However, if you are not familiar with hydraulics, you must be wondering how brake fluid works. In that case, this comprehensive guide to brake fluid will definitely help you.
When you press the brake pedal, you increase the pressure in the braking system. This pressure is handled by the brake fluid to move the master cylinder. Because of this, the brake fluid gets further pressurized, which transfers the force from the master cylinder to the callipers. As a result, the pressurized brake fluid makes the callipers stop the car.
Because of this, brake fluid is highly important, and your car’s brakes won’t work without the same.
How does Brake Fluid Work?
Some of you might be wondering how the brake fluid is able to transfer force from one place to another inside the braking system.
Well, to keep it short and consider in this brake fluid comprehensive guide, the brake fluid is a hydraulic fluid. This means that this fluid does not compress under pressure. Instead of compressing, this fluid takes the incoming pressure and exerts it into a different place. Hence, the force is applied from one place to another, which is important for your vehicle’s braking system.
Understanding Different Types of Brake Fluid
Now that you know the basics of brake fluid, it is important that you also learn about the different types of brake fluids in this comprehensive guide.
Even though there are multiple types of brake fluids available out there for different vehicles, here are some of the most common ones:
DOT 3 Brake Fluid
DOT 3 is the most common brake fluid out there since it is used in most cars. While some DOT 3 brake fluids can corrode and absorb moisture, that is not a major issue with high-quality options like the Magnum brake fluid DOT-3.
DOT 4 Brake Fluid
Moving to DOT 4 brake fluid it is generally found in higher-end European cars because of its better performance and quality. It offers better temperature ratings and lower chances of corrosion, which makes it great. One such great high-performance option is the Magnum brake fluid DOT-4.
DOT 5 Brake Fluid
Lastly, you can consider DOT 5 brake fluid if you don’t have any budget restrictions. While most won’t feel a performance difference with DOT 5, it does offer the best performance on paper.
DOT or Department of Transportation classifies all of these various types of brake fluids. Since it is highly important to have properly working brakes in all cars, the brake fluids are classified by the Department of Transportation.
Top Brake Fluids in the Market
Now that you know the basics of brake fluids, you might be looking to buy one as well. In that case, consider these top brake fluids in the market:
Magnum Brake Fluid DOT-4: Perfect all-rounder.
Castrol 591: Ideal for bikes.
STP Heavy Duty: Ideal for commercial vehicles.
Factors to Consider when Choosing Brake Fluid for Your Vehicle
Here are some factors that contribute to these high-performance brake fluids:
Low and consistent viscosity
Low compressibility
Highly lubricant
Standard DOT grade
Why is understanding brake fluid important to your car?
Without using the right brake fluid, you can be at risk of road accidents. Hence, understanding brake fluid is highly important.
Importance of Maintaining Proper Brake Fluid Levels and Quality
While getting high-quality brake fluid is important, maintaining it is also important to ensure the same performance over a long period of time.
Impact of Brake Fluid on Braking Performance and Safety
As mentioned earlier, your car’s braking performance will be highly impacted if you don’t have high-performance brake fluid. So, good-quality brake fluid is extremely important for your safety.
Frequently Asked Questions About Brake Fluid Comprehensive Guide?
When should I replace my brake fluid?
What kind of brake fluid does your vehicle need?
Where can I buy brake fluids?
Is it time for you to get a brake service?
What exactly is brake fluid, and why is it important for my car?
How does brake fluid work within the braking system?
Are there different types of brake fluid, and how do I know which one to use?
What are some top-rated brake fluids available in the market?
Why should I pay attention to my car's brake fluid, and how often should it be checked or replaced?
Conclusion
As you would have understood by now, checking your brake fluid from time to time is extremely important. Since your car’s brakes won’t work without the right type and enough brake fluid in them, checking the same is highly important.
Thus, you can already find a comprehensive brake fluid guide for buying and choosing the right one. This guide covers everything that you need to consider while picking brake fluid.
If you find this comprehensive brake fluid guide helpful, share your thoughts in the comments section!
