[Mike0105]

Hey Gang,

I have a bottle of Castrol SRF that's unopened and ~ 18 months old...still good or should I order a new bottle to bleed my brakes?
Thanks,
Mike

[5.M0NSTER]

For SRF and ONLY for SRF I will say go for it.

The beauty of this fluid is that the boiling point doesn't drop much from dry to wet. Other fluids are far more effected by moisture, with wet boiling point dropping to half. For SRF it's a difference of ~50F. With other fluids you'd have to wonder how good the seal was.

[PLF69]

Originally Posted by Mike0105

Hey Gang,

I have a bottle of Castrol SRF that's unopened and ~ 18 months old...still good or should I order a new bottle to bleed my brakes?
Thanks,
Mike

Unopened no problem at all

[2020M2Competition]

Should be fine

Furthermore there has been a shortage of SRF for quite some time now and it is getting harder to find these days

[larry.beck]

Yeah I can't seem to find any

[Mike0105]

Thanks everyone...that'll be next weekends project now
Mike

[evilspiritM3]

What fluids are people using in place of SRF?

[bentom2]

I didn’t realize it went MIA again. Fortunately I stocked up while it was briefly available again over the winter. Does anyone know the backstory on why it has been so hard to find? It stocked out pre-COVID, so there’s something else driving it.

If you’re really desperate, there’s some on eBay...

Gouging worse than PPE right now, just $9,129.95

To actually add something helpful, my local shop is recommending Brembo HTC 64T. My wife is running it in her Cayman for track use currently, and no complaints. It isn’t DOT certified, so no wet boiling point published, so I’d replace it more often than SRF just to be safe.

[5.M0NSTER]

Motul RBF 600 is also quite good. And only $12 per bottle.

[PLF69]

Here is an interesting article about brake fluid, if you replace it in a regular fashion don't be too caught up with specs.

I was running Gulf R1000 (supposed same as SRF) but my local supplier is out of it so I will be trying out the cheap ATE type 200. I figured it would run cooler with the Essex bbk and if I replace it every season it will never have time to reach its wet boiling point.

https://www.essexparts.com/news-blog...more-important

[bentom2]

Interesting advice from Essex PLF69, and probably makes sense for most of us looking at this section of the forum.

I find myself bleeding/flushing the brake fluid 2-3 times per year for various reasons as part of system upkeep.

I ran ATE TYP200 in my SS Sedan prior to switching to the M2 and never felt any fade. Different brake systems, but a 400lb heavier car. I switched to SRF when I bought the M2, figuring it was cheap insurance being commonly thought of as the ‘best’ fluid option by many track rats.

I forgot I bookmarked this table a couple years ago. Might help some of you narrow down your search a bit.

https://thebuildjournal.com/tech-gui...parison-guide/

[eeyang92]

I've been running the same SRF fluid in my car for maybe a year now with a few HDPEs here and there - haven't had to switch my fluid yet (mostly because I can't buy any lol). That's the beauty of SRF. Although if this goes on long enough, I do have some backup motul 660 in the garage.

[Anthony1s]

I don't see a problem with an unopened bottle. I don't think humidity will seep in through the bottle.

I picked up a bottle on ebay on March 2nd (just before the coronavirus got serious here) for $90. Haven't used it yet. After that, there was a time the same seller had it for $130 pre-order, now he has some listed for $102. However there's a different seller with it for $75.

What was the price you guys paid for it before all this? I'm a new user so thought $80-90 was normal.

[FaRKle!]

Originally Posted by Anthony1s

What was the price you guys paid for it before all this? I'm a new user so thought $80-90 was normal.

I bought a bunch at $50-$55 over the last two years.

[Daytona_550]

SRF available and at more reasonable prices:

Castrol SRF Racing Brake Fluid - 1 Liter 12512 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B002TM4GBQ

[j0oftheworld]

I used to run Prestone synthetic in my spec Miata and gutted e30 track car and flushed them between every event. Once you're on the closer side of 1.5 tons or have a car with inadequate brakes you may end up boiling lesser fluids and in turn ruining your later sessions. The S2K is notoriously under-braked for it's abilities on track.
I'm lazy now so I'm running srf without touching the brakes for 12-15 months. 😯😛 Can't beat the wet/dry performance.. and if your car is 3000lbs or your track has some +120mph straights it's one less weak point to worry about. $0.02

[Megator]

Originally Posted by Mike0105

Hey Gang,

I have a bottle of Castrol SRF that's unopened and ~ 18 months old...still good or should I order a new bottle to bleed my brakes?
Thanks,
Mike

Buy one of these, stick it in, and have your answer.

https://www.amazon.com/PTE-Tester-Ca.../dp/B005HVG4GQ

Everything else is just pissing in the wind and guessing where its coming from. Also handy to check if the fluid in the car is still good.

[iBrakeLate]

Skip the Castrol and Motul, get the Brembo HTC64T.

The least compressible racing fluid on the market. Provides excellent pedal feel, and has a wet boiling point as high if not higher than those fluids mentioned on here.

https://millionautos.com/collections...brembo-htc-64t

[5.M0NSTER]

Do you know what the wed boiling point of the Brembo fluid is? I can't find it anywhere... all specs I found say not applicable for wet boiling point.

[iBrakeLate]

Originally Posted by 5.M0NSTER

Do you know what the wed boiling point of the Brembo fluid is? I can't find it anywhere... all specs I found say not applicable for wet boiling point.

Not too sure, but it definitely is at the level of the SRF and Motul 660 or higher. This is the best brake fluid that Brembo has to offer. I've tried all of the above mentioned fluids, and the HTC 64T stands out. The only downside is that it is a bit pricey.

[Megator]

Originally Posted by 5.M0NSTER

Do you know what the wed boiling point of the Brembo fluid is? I can't find it anywhere... all specs I found say not applicable for wet boiling point.

Originally Posted by iBrakeLate

Not too sure, but it definitely is at the level of the SRF and Motul 660 or higher. This is the best brake fluid that Brembo has to offer. I've tried all of the above mentioned fluids, and the HTC 64T stands out. The only downside is that it is a bit pricey.

HTC 64T is not DOT approved and hence does not need to publish a wet boiling point.

https://www.racetechnologies.com/pro...64-brake-fluid

So maybe not great for street/track cars as in an accident your insurance might become invalidated. OFC they would need to think to and test the brake fluid in there but still.

[5.M0NSTER]

Originally Posted by Megator

HTC 64T is not DOT approved and hence does not need to publish a wet boiling point.

https://www.racetechnologies.com/pro...64-brake-fluid

So maybe not great for street/track cars as in an accident your insurance might become invalidated. OFC they would need to think to and test the brake fluid in there but still.

I was thinking about that as well, but it's only a problem in EU. In US you can have your reservoir filled with Canola oil, rear end someone, and insurance will still pay.