Do I Really Need Toyota Brake Fluid?

[spta97]

I'm going to bleed the brakes on my GFs RX300 this weekend. Do I really need to get the brake fluid from Toyota or will the Prestone DOT 3 / DOT 4 work fine?

I tend not to buy into the hype of the dealers with their "special" fluids, but I want to do the right thing here.

Thanks!

[TunedRX300]

Any brake fluid that is DOT 3 approved is fine. But pick one that has higher wet boiling point.

[spta97]

Thanks. Dot 4 wouldn't be better?

[TunedRX300]

Thanks. Dot 4 wouldn't be better?

I put ATE Superblue into my RX for over one year, a DOT 4, no problem.

User's Manual calls for DOT3 if you follow everything to the letter. Brake fluid is mainly a hydraulic fluid that can resist high temperature and DOT 4 is nothing but DOT 3 with higher standards (e.g. dry, wet boiling point). Just don't put DOT 5. Here is a good link

http://www.gs610.com/abc.htm

I like ATE because it has a blue dye, make flushing so much easier since you know when the old fluid is 100% gone. Next time I want to flush, just use ATE fluid with gold dye, same chemical composition, just different dye.