Synthetic Brake Fluid??? - Toyota Nation Forum : Toyota Car and Truck Forums

rbeleno · 06-12-2007, 07:14 AM

I have an 07 Camry V6 SE. I have about 11k on it and I've already replaced my front pads with factory and my rears warning sqweel is going crazy....this is my SECOND Camry I had the 03 -i4SE b4. ONE thing that is VERY Similar is the mushy/spongy brake feeling.

I rear ended somoene the other day

and i feel i coulda avoided it if my brakes were more effective? It feel like mush the whole way and the tires never really got a chance to "lock up". It felt like an ABS ride the whole way...I used to have Kuhmo ECSTA on my last car aand the grip was great... SO QUESTION IS..... has any one flushed their system and replaced with a synthetic? my friend has a HONDA and he flushed his fact fluid out and got excellent results... ANY IDEAS, INPUT, PAST F**k-UPS would be EXTREMELY Appreciated...

p.s. i already rotated my tires... i have the factory michellin tires.

Chunger · 06-12-2007, 10:54 AM

Sorry about your accident. I also read your reply to the 07 V6 brake thread.

Syn brake fluid will do nothing unless you are prone to overheating your calipers (unlikely) which would also overheat your OE brake pad material. Better brake fluid basically increases the boilover temperature. The decrease in braking performance is pretty gradual so you should start to notice it... Experience and judgement is your best friend to avoid most
accidents. I know this despite driving my Maxima with an 13.1" AP Racing brake kit. I'm not trying to flame, just talking from experience...

Try better tires and better pads (most price effective). Fancy crossdrilled/slotted rotors really don't do much.

rbeleno · 06-12-2007, 04:08 PM

thx man appreciate the feedback.... i put in ebc rotors (cross n drilled) and ebc pads in my 03 and it still felt mushy...on top of that.... i could feel the pattern of the rotors ever timei applied the brakes... sounds kinda cool like a jet landing LOL but THIS IS A 3300lbs Camry! LOL..

ANY advice on better brakes on the CAMRY are appreciated... i gotta take pics!!!

TRDGen5.5camry · 06-12-2007, 04:19 PM

maybe there some air in the brake line

did you try bleeding your brake line to see if you have any air in them

***lammydi*** · 06-12-2007, 04:24 PM

Rick,
Nice ride. I checked out your ride in cardomain. love the rear light.
I don't know if Brembo would fit our Camry. But Brembo brake would improve your brake distance. Maybe the brake shop can tell you if Brembo will fit or not!

TRD VVTi · 06-13-2007, 08:46 AM

Adding performance brake pads is only going to make it worse on initial braking. Performance pads generally have to be heated up before they start biting well.

The way you're going to increase brake performance is by a greater clamping force or larger braking surfaces, or both.

Typically, drilled and/or slotted rotors do not increase brake performance on street driven vehicles. You only decrease the area that the brake pads contact. The only real advantage on a street car is in initial wet weather braking.

If you're relying on pedal "feel" itself, you'll never like the brakes on your Camry.

I have to adjust to the Camry all the time after driving a car with a huge brake system. When I simply apply the brakes on my other car you have to wear your seatbelt to keep from eating the windshield.

Camry brakes are what they are. They are an average brake system for an average car. They give average brake performance and average stopping distance.

If you expect more than that from the stock system, you will be hitting people/things frequently.

Joe B · 06-13-2007, 08:56 AM

No synthetic fluid here.
I just flush the brake system every 2-2.5 years.

rbeleno · 06-13-2007, 11:55 AM

thx for the advice.... im glad i didn't invest into flushing the brake fluid out! Thanks guyss...

I changed my rear pads yesterday and the overall braking improved. I guess more meat at the rear is allowing more over all presssure on all the calipers. The pedal "feel" more confident!

What is the thinking on ALWAYS cutting rotors? I changed my front pads at about 8k but did not cut the rotors (they didn't need to only 8k of wear on them) But now thati have 11-12k the "wear pattern" is more noticable on the front rotors where I feel i want to cut the rotors smooth on the next pads (or even sooner?) (can i cut the rotors and put back the same pads? pads only have 3-4k of use on them)

***toyomoho*** · 06-13-2007, 12:25 PM

Rotors are turned if they become warped, or badly glazed or scored. Cost is one issue when turning rotors. The other is the process removes material reducing the rotors service life and heat absorption capacity.

Manufacturers such as Ford and GM recommend reusing rotors if no pedal pulsation is present and they are not scored. The rotors must also meet inspection requirements such as minium thickness, runout, etc.

If the rotors meet Toyota inspection specs it should be OK to reuse them. If the rotor on one side requires resurfacing, the other side should also be done to prevent braking issues.

TRD VVTi · 06-13-2007, 01:11 PM

I never resurface my rotors. It takes material off and makes them more prone to warping and overheating.

My rotors are never warped because I torque my wheels properly. That's the most common cause right there.

Note: When you install new pads and don't turn the rotors your braking distances will INCREASE initially. Make sure that you understand that means the brakes WILL NOT WORK AS GOOD when you first install them. It takes some time for the pads to wear to the irregular pattern on the rotors. Rotors don't wear perfectly flat and the new pads will be. It's also possible that they may be a little noisy initially.

I just thought that information might be helpful to you.

rbeleno · 06-13-2007, 05:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lammydi

Rick,
Nice ride. I checked out your ride in cardomain. love the rear light.
I don't know if Brembo would fit our Camry. But Brembo brake would improve your brake distance. Maybe the brake shop can tell you if Brembo will fit or not!

thx ur ride is hott too... im going to updating cardomain with the pics of my 07

rbeleno · 06-16-2007, 11:13 AM

i WAS AT THE PERFORMANCE SHOP YESTERDAY AND THEIR WAS A DISCUSSION OF THE SYNTHETIC BF AND A MASTER MECHANIC TOLD ME THAT IT WOULD IMPROVE THE BRAKING PERFORMANCE.

WHEN I EXPLAINED THAT MY BRAKES FADE AFTER ALOT OF HEAVY BRAKING HE SAID THAT DEFINATELY WOULD IMPROVE THE SITUATION. HE SAID UNDER NORMAL CONDITIONS THEY'D BE ALMOST EXACTLY THE SAME..... SO DOES THIS IN FACT BUY THE THE ADDITIONAL INSURANCE I'D LIKE?

IN NYC TRAFFIC AND SINCE I AM A LEAD FOOT... I THINK IM MORE CAN CONFIDENT THAT IM HEATING THESE BAD BOIS UP! I SAY THIS TOO B/C USUALLY WHEN THE BRAKES FADE A LIL I'LL MORE THAN LIKELY SMELL THE PADS. STEEL LINES WOULD DEFINATELY MAKE A DIFFERENCE.

THEIR IS NOT ALOT OF AFTERMARKET PERFORMANCE STUFF IN THE BRAKE ARENA FOR THE 07'S....... ANYONE FIND LINES? ROTORS? PADS? CALIPERS? IF SO SHARING IS CARING

touringcamry · 06-16-2007, 11:44 AM

When it comes to brakes, mileage is a very meaningless value because it really depends on your driving. I've seen people drive 65000 miles on original pads and still have 50% after 5 years.

You can change the brake fluid to synthetic if you want and it might help slightly. Brake fluid, over time, absorbs moisture which can contribute to brake fade because water boils off and you have to apply more brake to counteract this. I have used Valvoline synthetic brake fluid in my 2000 Camry and it worked fine. I had the brake fluid in that car for nearly 6 years and it was horrible. Castrol LMA, I've read, is a very good product too but I've never seen it in stores.

In my 2000 Camry, during a 60-0 stop, my stopping distances increased maybe 30 feet towards the end because the brake fluid was boiling off in a hurry. Replacing the brake fluid fixed that situation.

Replacing all the brake fluid took me about 1 hour of time and 1 qt of brake fluid ($8 or so) including time for removing wheels and cleanup. I've done this to a 2000 and 2002 Camry and a 1995 Honda Accord before. If you don't have someone helping you, one of those one man brake bleeder kits are great.

TRD VVTi · 06-16-2007, 01:16 PM

at all the people that think they're boiling the brake fluid in their stock Camry.

That's so stupid, I can't believe that people think they're boiling the brake fluid...

Keep it going. I need some more laughs.

***lammydi*** · 06-16-2007, 03:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by touringcamry

When it comes to brakes, mileage is a very meaningless value because it really depends on your driving. I've seen people drive 65000 miles on original pads and still have 50% after 5 years.

You can change the brake fluid to synthetic if you want and it might help slightly. Brake fluid, over time, absorbs moisture which can contribute to brake fade because water boils off and you have to apply more brake to counteract this. I have used Valvoline synthetic brake fluid in my 2000 Camry and it worked fine. I had the brake fluid in that car for nearly 6 years and it was horrible. Castrol LMA, I've read, is a very good product too but I've never seen it in stores.

In my 2000 Camry, during a 60-0 stop, my stopping distances increased maybe 30 feet towards the end because the brake fluid was boiling off in a hurry. Replacing the brake fluid fixed that situation.

Replacing all the brake fluid took me about 1 hour of time and 1 qt of brake fluid ($8 or so) including time for removing wheels and cleanup. I've done this to a 2000 and 2002 Camry and a 1995 Honda Accord before. If you don't have someone helping you, one of those one man brake bleeder kits are great.

It also depends what their wheels+tires. When I sold my 2001 Camry. It has 98,000 miles with original brake pads on it. But with my 07 Camry with 20" wheels, I will be lucky if I can get 40,000 miles on it.