Off season maintenance/upgrades

[Tom Goldman]

One thing I find most racers overlook is changing brake fluid .
Unlike our street cars that usually see use every day, our race cars are subject to long periods of setting unused ,and many times stored in the trailer or a cold garage .
During storage the fluid can absorb moisture which will contaminate the fluid and cause corrosion and rust to form in the system.
I used to service and inspect several SCCA raced Corvettes . SCCA required the fluid to be changed before EVERY event , and believe me the fluid looked like crap every time .
Most times you can suck out the fluid from the master cylinder ,refill it and just crack open the bleeder screws one at a time and bleed out most of the fluid by gravity , and then do a finish bleed.
Use a high quality DOT4 fluid like Wilwood EXP 600 PLUS or Motul 600 or 660.

[Dave Gantz]

Originally Posted by Tom Goldman

I used to service and inspect several SCCA raced Corvettes . SCCA required the fluid to be changed before EVERY event , and believe me the fluid looked like crap every time .

Hi Tom, just curious, how did the SCCA verify that it was changed?

[Tom Goldman]

Originally Posted by Dave Gantz

Hi Tom, just curious, how did the SCCA verify that it was changed?

Dave there is a inspection report that the inspecting mechanic had to fill out and verify that the fluid was changed.
I was told by the owners that the tech inspectors sometimes removed the reservoir cap and used a test strip to indicate the condition of the fluid.
We used similar test strips at the dealership I worked for to test the corrosiveness of brake fluid .
When Antilock brakes became common the manufacturers recommended changing the fluid every two years or 30K miles because old ,contaminated fluid would damage the antilock pump and control valves,