[serper3]

Hi!

I am planning on switching to Castrol SRF for my first track day in a month and a half hopefully.

I heard something about how it is better to have the dealer do the first flush so they can activate the ABS module? Is that really necessary? I have never done that before with any of my cars and never had any issues. I am taking the car in anyway for an alignment (appt in two weeks) and they told me the fluid flush with my own fluid will be ~$125!

If i do it myself, I am picking up the motive bleeder as it seems like this is the go to.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...AN9A0OWP&psc=1

Also was wondering on the trans fluid.. my buddy told me to change the trans fluid also, although I dont hear too much recommendation on that around track prep. ZLE only has 9k miles. I thought the recommendation was to do the trans fluid at ~40k-50k miles, or every other year or something like that if you are doing ~7 track days a year. Maybe I am way off though?

I am for sure doing oil and rear diff.

Thanks!

[Vtor_ZL1]

As long as it makes it to caliper - you should be OK - that's where ALL the heat is and fluid that should get changed most frequently.

[kropscamaro16]

i would just take it to a shop to make sure its done right the first time yu dont want air bubbles in your system



i just got oil change diff fluid and brake fluid done friday and i brought it all including filter and it was less than 300$

[UnknownJinX]

Doing an ABS flush is not necessary unless you somehow got air into the ABS module itself, like if you ran the MC completely dry somehow or you have replaced the ABS module itself.

There might be some scan tools that also allow you to DIY the ABS flush, but I haven't checked it for my Camaro.

If you track the car, you go by the hours for your trans and rear diff oil interval. I think the trans is like 12 track hours, I am a little too lazy to open up the Owner's Manual right now LOL.

I have personally bled brakes one-man style without a pressure/vacuum tool for a long time, and I think it works fine as long as you don't have any air in the lines and you are just flushing out the old fluid. If you have air in your lines, then yeah, two-man or a pressure/vacuum tool will be necessary.

I am not super convinced with the Motive bleeder, since the review for it is a bit mixed for our cars due to how the MC reservoir cap works, and combined with the price, I think it makes more sense to just treat my buddy to a meal. Some people use the Motive bleeder dry, meaning they just use it to pressurize the system instead of putting fluid in the big jug as I heard some cases where the hose fittings exploded and sprayed brake fluid everywhere which is obviously very bad (so do make sure you get a pair of safety goggles). It's more time-consuming than how it's supposed to be used, but also safer and you keep the Motive bleeder clean.

[kropscamaro16]

if your just doing a flush its pretty easy but if your trying to replace the old fluid with all new fluid its alot harder at least thats what my tech told me lol i have motul 660 and was gonna change to castrol srf and he said it would take him like an hour or more

[serper3]

Originally Posted by kropscamaro16

i would just take it to a shop to make sure its done right the first time yu dont want air bubbles in your system



i just got oil change diff fluid and brake fluid done friday and i brought it all including filter and it was less than 300$

Was that at the dealer? Lots of people around here go to Abel chevrolet. Apparently they are very familiar with track prep/setup and I know they host track days also. I know there are some small shops around too that probably do it for a lot less than Abel chevrolet.

Originally Posted by UnknownJinX

Doing an ABS flush is not necessary unless you somehow got air into the ABS module itself, like if you ran the MC completely dry somehow or you have replaced the ABS module itself.

There might be some scan tools that also allow you to DIY the ABS flush, but I haven't checked it for my Camaro.

If you track the car, you go by the hours for your trans and rear diff oil interval. I think the trans is like 12 track hours, I am a little too lazy to open up the Owner's Manual right now LOL.

I have personally bled brakes one-man style without a pressure/vacuum tool for a long time, and I think it works fine as long as you don't have any air in the lines and you are just flushing out the old fluid. If you have air in your lines, then yeah, two-man or a pressure/vacuum tool will be necessary.

I am not super convinced with the Motive bleeder, since the review for it is a bit mixed for our cars due to how the MC reservoir cap works, and combined with the price, I think it makes more sense to just treat my buddy to a meal. Some people use the Motive bleeder dry, meaning they just use it to pressurize the system instead of putting fluid in the big jug as I heard some cases where the hose fittings exploded and sprayed brake fluid everywhere which is obviously very bad (so do make sure you get a pair of safety goggles). It's more time-consuming than how it's supposed to be used, but also safer and you keep the Motive bleeder clean.

I think they have two caps - a plastic crappy caps and a metal cap. I think a lot of people have issues with the cheaper plastic version.

I have always done it two man style, but now that i moved to the east bay i dont really have anyone to help me. so i was thinking the motive bleeder would be the best/least likely issue way for me to do it.

Originally Posted by kropscamaro16

if your just doing a flush its pretty easy but if your trying to replace the old fluid with all new fluid its alot harder at least thats what my tech told me lol i have motul 660 and was gonna change to castrol srf and he said it would take him like an hour or more

I have flushed the fluid completely with the two person method to new fluid and I have never had issues, but i also never heard of anyone mentioning anything about the abs system. If I had a friend here that would help me, i would just probably do the two person method but since i do not i am honestly thinking about just having the dealer do it this time.

[kropscamaro16]

na im in socal and dont trust my car to the dealer anymore especially with the race seat in it now i took it to lsxdr in socal



and oh yea gotcha i just moved into a house and i have a garage now but im too lazy haha

[Silveradoss573]

I bleed my Camaro, Silverado and the wife's ride using the Motive bleeder not to long ago. I was pleasantly surprised how well the setup did start to finish. Makes bleeding brakes a cake walk.

[arpad_m]

We did the last brake fluid flush in my car together with fellow member L78toLT1 using the Motive bleeder (dry), and it does make the process much easier. As stated above, no need to flush the ABS if the master cylinder is never allowed to run out.

(When I say "together", it means he did at least 90% of it, heh, but I did help a bit )

[Dabjbr]

Another vote for the motive bleeder. I do the dry method too and it works great… even with the plastic cap and I’ve swapped fluids twice so far. It does take a little time simply because theres two nipples to bleed on each corner and you don’t want that fluid getting on anything.

Abel is very well regarded like you said. If I need something serious, I’ll likely drive to them even though they’re 1hr further than my closest dealer.

I say take it on if you don’t mind the work and have the time. I find basic maintenance somewhat therapeutic. Also, gives you a chance to become more familiar and appreciative of how well this thing is put together.

[UnknownJinX]

Originally Posted by serper3

I think they have two caps - a plastic crappy caps and a metal cap. I think a lot of people have issues with the cheaper plastic version.

I have always done it two man style, but now that i moved to the east bay i dont really have anyone to help me. so i was thinking the motive bleeder would be the best/least likely issue way for me to do it.

I have read people on the forum having issues even with the metal cap, which is why I didn't end up buying one. It's just that with the price, I was expecting more positive reviews on the forum, but as it is, the people who have trouble aren't exactly flukes.

If Camaro has the European-style cap with many fine threads, I think it could have worked better, but as it is, it seems like both plastic and metal caps are at least a bit fussy to work with.

Again, I have never had trouble with a more basic one-man style bleed (connect bleeder to a bottle with a hose, open bleeder, depress the pedal a few times, then close up the bleeder quickly) unless there is actually air in the lines, in which case, I think a pressure/vacuum bleeder or a buddy makes sense.

[serper3]

Thanks everyone!

My alignment appointment is in a week and a half, so I have plenty of time to change my mind back and forth on if I want to do it, or have the dealership do it

With two young kids and working a lot, i probably should just have it done, but agree with the therapeutic aspect, plus, there is some peace of mind and satisfaction knowing i am doing it myself.

[kropscamaro16]

i just talked to my buddy that works at able who tracks his car and he said they do all of that stuff there and they do alot of it!

[DaveC113]

I have the motive + metal cap and use it dry. Very simple to use, 1 person can do it. There is no issue at all with the cap, imo it's 100% user error. Just be careful to install the cap properly.