Aluminium brake caliper cleaner
Discussion
About to rebuild my brakes, looking at get Holt's Brake cleaner from euro car parts, https://www.eurocarparts.com/p/holts-brake-cleaner...
They are unpainted (anodised?) Aluminium callipers of a 2006 SV650S.
Will the calipers be ok sat in there for a few days for a good long soak to dissolve the crud before the rest of the parts arrive?
They are unpainted (anodised?) Aluminium callipers of a 2006 SV650S.
Will the calipers be ok sat in there for a few days for a good long soak to dissolve the crud before the rest of the parts arrive?
Do you want to rebuild them? Reason I ask is there are rebuild services for around £100 including the postage.
By the time you have bought all the bits you won't be saving much. If they really are in such poor condition that you think they need soaking for hours in brake cleaner it will be a struggle to get a nice finish diy.
By the time you have bought all the bits you won't be saving much. If they really are in such poor condition that you think they need soaking for hours in brake cleaner it will be a struggle to get a nice finish diy.
Glade said:
About to rebuild my brakes, looking at get Holt's Brake cleaner from euro car parts, https://www.eurocarparts.com/p/holts-brake-cleaner...
They are unpainted (anodised?) Aluminium callipers of a 2006 SV650S.
Will the calipers be ok sat in there for a few days for a good long soak to dissolve the crud before the rest of the parts arrive?
You won't be able to sit them in brake cleaner for a few days unless you have them in a sealed container; brake cleaner is a solvent and evaporates very quickly.They are unpainted (anodised?) Aluminium callipers of a 2006 SV650S.
Will the calipers be ok sat in there for a few days for a good long soak to dissolve the crud before the rest of the parts arrive?
The anodised finish is perfectly safe, it won't be affected at all; spray, scrub, spray, wipe, rebuild.
Brake cleaner doesn't actually clean brakes it's just a very good de greaser to clean the oil off new discs etc
I suspect the SV calipers are painted - mine are
I use wheel acid on calipers, works in seconds (to a few minutes depending upon brand / how bad they are) but can stain discs etc if in doubt try a small area first
I suspect the SV calipers are painted - mine are
I use wheel acid on calipers, works in seconds (to a few minutes depending upon brand / how bad they are) but can stain discs etc if in doubt try a small area first
trickywoo said:
Do you want to rebuild them? Reason I ask is there are rebuild services for around £100 including the postage.
By the time you have bought all the bits you won't be saving much. If they really are in such poor condition that you think they need soaking for hours in brake cleaner it will be a struggle to get a nice finish diy.
Yeah new pads and all the seals etc came to over £100. I did buy new pins which might not be required but figured I would do the whole lot. They probably aren't that bad, could just clean in situ, but the rear is definitely binding on, hard to just push the bike - I thought the tyres were flat, but it's the pistons not retracting.By the time you have bought all the bits you won't be saving much. If they really are in such poor condition that you think they need soaking for hours in brake cleaner it will be a struggle to get a nice finish diy.
Bike has been off the road for ages but want to get back on it this year, and probably sell it so due an overhaul.
Bike is 16 years old. I guess I did the rear 10 years ago. Never done the front, just dropped the pads and fluid. Fluid hasn't been changed often enough though.
Plus, gives me something to do
ETA: to a certain point I used to commute every day all weathers because I didn't have a car, so I am expecting around the pistons, dust seal area to be bad. Am hoping that the fluid hasn't absorbed water and caused a load of internal corrosion. We'll see.
Probably should have stripped before ordering the parts but had a flash of motivation!!
Edited by Glade on Monday 27th February 19:22
Well... Used methylated spirit to clean, and brake cleaner to do a final blast through to get any final residues. As stated above the brake cleaner evaporates really quickly. It's not for heavy degreasing tasks. Found some pages online from aluminium parts manufacturers that recommended meths as that type of solvent does not attack aluminium and anodised surfaces.
Came up ok. However under the dust seal there is a lot of white aluminium oxide buildup.
Owners club forums reccomend using a Dremel with a brass bush to clean out all the white s
te, so guess I'll try that carefully.
Not too happy about touching the inner surfaces in the sealing area, but at the moment that area is technically no good as a sealing surface anyway.
Might be time for a new bike, lol.
Incidentally only one piston was a bit slow, the rest moved fine. But the grease I applied to the sliding pins had dried and gummed the whole thing up. The calipers took a lot of force to slide off the pins.
Turns out I had used the wrong grease. Should be silicone based for the pins and I had just used some generic mineral oil based grease there. So it dried out, but also could cause the rubber boots to deteriorate (but they seemed ok).
I had put anti seize compound (I think I got some molyslip from work at the time) on the threaded parts that don't move so fortunately everything came apart easy enough.
Got to wait to borrow a Dremel and for my silicone grease to arrive now.
Came up ok. However under the dust seal there is a lot of white aluminium oxide buildup.
Owners club forums reccomend using a Dremel with a brass bush to clean out all the white s
te, so guess I'll try that carefully. Not too happy about touching the inner surfaces in the sealing area, but at the moment that area is technically no good as a sealing surface anyway.
Might be time for a new bike, lol.
Incidentally only one piston was a bit slow, the rest moved fine. But the grease I applied to the sliding pins had dried and gummed the whole thing up. The calipers took a lot of force to slide off the pins.
Turns out I had used the wrong grease. Should be silicone based for the pins and I had just used some generic mineral oil based grease there. So it dried out, but also could cause the rubber boots to deteriorate (but they seemed ok).
I had put anti seize compound (I think I got some molyslip from work at the time) on the threaded parts that don't move so fortunately everything came apart easy enough.
Got to wait to borrow a Dremel and for my silicone grease to arrive now.
If there's corrosion where the seals go you could try some vinegar and a toothbrush. I found that Bendix Ceramasil brake grease does a good job at lubricating. I used red rubber grease on some seals and it was a bit sticky. Cleaned it all off and used the Bendix and it slides much easier. Also check that your seals are symmetrical in their cross section. Some have a bit of a taper to help the pistons draw back after releasing the pressure. Get them around the wrong way and you'll have drama with the brakes sticking on. As for which way they go, I can't remember - I think it's the fatter bit towards the disk.
I used a brass brush on the Dremel when I rebuilt my calipers last summer. It works really nicely - brass is softer than aluminium so you won't score the bores or damage the seal grooves, but the brass does a good job throughly removing the crusted white aluminium oxides.
My calipers are Nissin, I bought a set of 8 pistons and all seals for about £165 from a (well recommended) supplier with an eBay store, they came up like new once done. Mine are opposed piston types so no sliders, but that means I had to split the calipers in half to do the job properly, and internal seals need replacing too.
Quite a satisfying job actually, a very light smear of red rubber grease all around the new seals and the pistons (new ones are stainless, so won't corrode in the future) slid in quite easily. Bleeding them afterwards is a bit of a bh though, when the system is completely empty it takes forever! But at least it's all fresh fluid now, even in the ABS unit.
My calipers are Nissin, I bought a set of 8 pistons and all seals for about £165 from a (well recommended) supplier with an eBay store, they came up like new once done. Mine are opposed piston types so no sliders, but that means I had to split the calipers in half to do the job properly, and internal seals need replacing too.
Quite a satisfying job actually, a very light smear of red rubber grease all around the new seals and the pistons (new ones are stainless, so won't corrode in the future) slid in quite easily. Bleeding them afterwards is a bit of a b
h though, when the system is completely empty it takes forever! But at least it's all fresh fluid now, even in the ABS unit.Gassing Station | Biker Banter | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff