I am planning on to do a full brake fluid flush soon. And I was wondering what people used for brake fluid and which flush system. I am planning on getting a FirstInfo, Four Uncles or Capri brake fluid extractor:

• FirstInfo -
  Amazon
  Amazon
• Four Uncles -
  Amazon
  Amazon
• Capri -
  Amazon
  Amazon

What I am not sure about is what fluid to use. There is Lexus/Toyota fluid which is not cheap but not necessary that good. There is a number of synthetic fluids available:

• Amsoil -
  Amazon
  Amazon
• Lukas -
  Amazon
  Amazon
• Prestone -
  https://www.amazon.com/Prestone-AS800-6PK-Synthetic-Brake-Fluid/dp/B00B99UNV2
  https://www.amazon.com/Prestone-AS800-6PK-Synthetic-Brake-Fluid/dp/B00B99UNV2
• Bosch -
  Amazon
  Amazon

Has anybody used any of the above fluids? If not which you used and what was the result? How much did it take to do a full system flush? Thanks!

 

I use Bosch and Pentosin, however for this I'm inclined to actually not use a high end fluid for the fact anything more than dot3 will attract water more quickly and in theory wear stuff out faster. I would use and plan to use a synthetic dot3

I don't think you need a fluid extractor for this, I would just pull the hoses from the upper tank and let it drain out. Then refil and repeat until clean then move to doing the lines.

 

I got two large bottles of Prestone Dot 4 and a turkey baster to get out what was in the reservoir. I then refilled the reservoir and used Techstream to begin the process in the rear. Depress the brake pedal and hold, have someone open up the bleeder, and the motor does all the work. It's a remarkably quick process. The front brakes are bled traditionally. I used materials I had laying around, ie. nylon tubing and a water bottle. Also, it only took one bottle of fluid in my case for the fluid to come out clear.

 

I thought you needed Techstream for this job.

 

I got that and I have a Drew Tech adapter that works better than I used before.

 

Ah, too bad. Thought you had come up with a way w/o Techstream. BTW, whats wrong with the OEM fluid?

 

Well, it is not synthetic. Other than it is seems to be OK. For the same money or lower, it is possible to get synthetic type which seems to be more stable.

 

Just picked up one of these at Amazon, $25 Very nice...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iFWG...onicsCo.%2CLtd

 

I use walmart supertech dot 3. I've been happy with it. I read all dot 3,4,5.1 are synthetic regardless of the label.

 

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Yes, I have been using Prestone DOT3 brake fluid (bought mostly from Walmart and O'Reilly) on my LS460. I have also been using it on my GX460 and my relatives' Toyota and Honda/Acura cars that require DOT3 fluid. It's been working fine for me and there have been no issues. For LS460, I typically use 2 bottles of 32OZ of Prestone DOT3 to do a full brake fluid replacement (the "actuator was removed" Techsream procedure).
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So it sounds that DOT 3 works just fine there is no need to reinvent a wheel by using DOT 4 or 5.1. As far as manufacture recommended flush cycle is observed.

 

Yes, the higher spec fluid REALLY pulls water in and is counter productive to keeping the actuator alive.

 

DOT 3 and DOT 4 are similar in that they are both glycol-based, with the main difference being the higher boiling points of DOT 4. It has been for a long time my understanding that, due to this fact, DOT 4 will actually draw in less moisture than DOT 3. I would recommend you research 3 vs 4 before making your final decision. Here is just one article on the topic. I use the Prestone DOT 4 you referenced.
https://www.bendix.com.au/bendix-new...fluid-issue-12

 

That is actually interesting because AutoZone says something completely opposite:
https://www.autozone.com/diy/brakes/...4-brake-fluid/
There is one from motorcareguys:
https://motorcareguys.com/dot-3-vs-d...-a-comparison/

 

Dot 4 and 5.1 when "wet" will outperform dry Dot3 but they both still REALLY want to absorb water. The reason factory Dot4 cars want two year changes is because even with really good sealing you end up with enough water in the system to destroy everything.

Dot3 isn't as good of a fluid for super hard use but it holds so little water relatively speaking you can and do see cars 20+ years old on original fluid without every seal and line on the car dead. If you have 305 stainless brake lines you can basically ignore everything and run 5.1 till you get bored since it doesn't rust at all.

The 4th gen LS however uses high quality coated steel lines. Not stainless, and they seals are still at risk due to this since once lines rust internally the particles that are generated can and will kill seals.

I only run 5.1 in my 305 stainless lined car, 4 in my German and the rest is 3 for ease of maintenance. On my old Jeep when I had a like failure at 275k it was on original fluid, it not has 305 lines and new fluid and it will not repeat the failure.