Disc Brake Grease?

[supton]

Saw it someplace, am curious now. Would be used between disc brake pad and the stainless steel shims that they slide on. Good/bad to use? I have seen a few times where the pad refuses to slide properly in the caliper, due to rust, and I have to file things to make the pad slide. *NOT* related to the slider pins not sliding.

I could see grease of any sort attracting dirt/crud and winding up back at square one (pads not sliding), though, so I'm thinking it's not wise to use, unless if necessary. OTOH grease would fix the rusting bit.

 

[partspro]

Use the grease, it works well. It's available in the small packets at AZ and AAP. Lubricate the back of the inboard pad, the caliper pins/bolts and all sliding surfaces. You must clean off all the rust and crud before.

 

[supton]

This stuff would be different than the grease used on the sliders, correct?

 

[spackard]

My Acura's service manual says to apply it.
A small packet came with my rear pads and shims.
What's to question?
Don't gob it on. Just a dab.

 

[scurvy]

Originally Posted By: supton
This stuff would be different than the grease used on the sliders, correct?


Yup, Sil-Glyde on the slider pins; anti-squeal grease on the backs of the pads.

 

[supton]

Never used disc brake grease before, never had it come with pads before. Then again, never bought OEM pads either, and have only touched brakes a couple of times, maybe three or four times now that I think about it. I don't think I've had a vehicle which had this grease on the sliding contacts, and now that I've seen pads stick twice (once on the parents car, and just now on my Camry) I want to "fix" the issue on all three of my vehicles so I don't run into it again.

I know my Camry has "dry" pads, and I know my Jetta has "dry" pads; no idea on the Tundra. But if it's recommended for general usage then over the summer all will get lubed. Wife and I are kinda peeved at the fact that the Camry ate a brake pad this early.

 

[E365]

I've been working on a tube of Sta-Lube Brake Caliper Synthetic Grease for many years. I use it on every brake job I do and I've had no issues. I clean off the slider pins thoroughly and reapply it thinly. I also use a wire brush on the caliper where the caliper touches the pads - mostly where the pad "ears" touch and slide (where the OP is talking about). I also use it on the backing pads everywhere it touches the caliper or piston. Although my personal cars get CRC Disc Brake Quiet goo.

My BMW is at 90,000 miles on the front pads and they've never made a peep.

The only car I've done that did make noise was a Range Rover with big Brembos up front. After regreasing twice it turned out I needed to do an actual brake bedding sequence. First car I've ever done that truly needed it - it's usually theoretical/academic.

 

[supton]

Thanks; better description of my problem. The brake pad "ears" are what is giving me grief. Lubrication on those is what I'm after.

 

[spackard]

Sorry, I didn't realize you were talking about the ears.
No, I haven't seen instructions to lube the ears.
There's a smooth piece of metal that clips to the caliper that helps retain the pad and probably helps the pad slide as it wears, but I don't put grease there.

 

[doitmyself]

Originally Posted By: supton
This stuff would be different than the grease used on the sliders, correct?


I have seen several different types of products in those tiny packets: sil-glyde, anti seize, permatex, etc..

One school of thought is to use one type of dedicated brake grease in the rubber enclosed pins (silicone, sil glyde,permatex, etc.) and a second type of grease/paste on the weather exposed metal to metal sliding parts (high solids paste).

This concept is described in this Car Quest Bulletin and also in one of the Larry Carly automotive tech. bulletins: http://www.docstoc.com/docs/92463194/Bulletin-CQB-00-04-Subject-Lubricating-Brake-Components-to

http://www.brakeandfrontend.com/Article/38625/brake_lubricants.aspx ..Larry Carly print

The second grease is generally a very high solids (40%+) paste lubricant (vs. grease). One example is Honda Molykote77. I use a product called Paste lube 2400. It seems that anti seize would work, but be careful to keep off rubber components (maybe).

The idea of this second grease is that as the oils dissipate, the boundary lube (moly) remains as tiny lube "marbles" to provide "slipperyness". This stuff is extremely water proof, very tenacious, and very heat resistant.

http://www.hondapartsdirect.com/honda-sh...-oz/08798-9010/ ....can be found cheaper.

http://www.gwrauto.com/gwrmain.html ......Paste Lube source

 

[doitmyself]

The black moly Sta lube described by E365 is less than 4% solids (moly,graphite,teflon) compared to the 40% solids pastes I described above.

 

[stephen9666]

FWIW, The Sil-glyde website says it's "recommended for the entire brake assembly."
http://www.agscompany.com/lubricants/automotive/154

Quote:
The material is formulated for optimal performance for all braking systems. Protects and
seals out moisture, where other types of lubricants may deteriorate the rubber parts
causing failure. SIL-GLYDE Brake Lubricant is recommended for stopping pad squeal,
caliper slides, back-side of disc pads, for ease of rebuilding & assembly, backing plate
contacts, for lubricating caliper piston bores, anchor & slider bolts, adjusters, and parking brakes.


Obviously, you don't want to get it on the friction material, but it appears they recommend it for many parts of the brake system. My understanding is that "backing plate contacts" would include the pad ears. I've used it successfully to lube the pad ears and other things in the braking system that weren't caliper pins.

 

[doitmyself]

Stephen,

I went back to using sil glyde for my caliper pins. It is old schoold, but seems to really work. The other new fangled products I used seemed to dry out. I would not hesitate to use silicone brake lube for pins either.

From MY investigations, sil glyde contains only a trace of silicone. It contains castor oil and polyethylene glycol (I think) as the main lubes (confirm for yourself, because info is sketchy). The "SIL" might represent silicate more than silicon.

In a palm under spigot test, the Sil glyde doesn't even begin to compare to the paste lubes I described above in water proofness. The Sta lube 2400 I use is water proof for all practical purposes.

 

[The Critic]

Originally Posted By: supton
Saw it someplace, am curious now. Would be used between disc brake pad and the stainless steel shims that they slide on. Good/bad to use? I have seen a few times where the pad refuses to slide properly in the caliper, due to rust, and I have to file things to make the pad slide. *NOT* related to the slider pins not sliding.

I could see grease of any sort attracting dirt/crud and winding up back at square one (pads not sliding), though, so I'm thinking it's not wise to use, unless if necessary. OTOH grease would fix the rusting bit.


This is the stuff that Hyundai recommends:

http://www.procutinternational.com/pdf/OEM_Hyundai_10-BR-001.pdf

For me, I use either 3M Silicone Paste or Motorcraft XG-3A on the slide pins, and Honda Molykote M77 paste for the metal-to-metal surfaces. The M77 is a dry-lube that would work excellent for the purposes that you described.

 

[Bgallagher]

Originally Posted By: E365
I've been working on a tube of Sta-Lube Brake Caliper Synthetic Grease for many years. I use it on every brake job I do and I've had no issues. I clean off the slider pins thoroughly and reapply it thinly. I also use a wire brush on the caliper where the caliper touches the pads - mostly where the pad "ears" touch and slide (where the OP is talking about). I also use it on the backing pads everywhere it touches the caliper or piston. Although my personal cars get CRC Disc Brake Quiet goo.

My BMW is at 90,000 miles on the front pads and they've never made a peep.

The only car I've done that did make noise was a Range Rover with big Brembos up front. After regreasing twice it turned out I needed to do an actual brake bedding sequence. First car I've ever done that truly needed it - it's usually theoretical/academic.


I love the CRC stuff. Orange/red goo but it does a nice job. Very durable as well.

 

[Sequoiasoon]

Originally Posted By: The Critic
Originally Posted By: supton
Saw it someplace, am curious now. Would be used between disc brake pad and the stainless steel shims that they slide on. Good/bad to use? I have seen a few times where the pad refuses to slide properly in the caliper, due to rust, and I have to file things to make the pad slide. *NOT* related to the slider pins not sliding.

I could see grease of any sort attracting dirt/crud and winding up back at square one (pads not sliding), though, so I'm thinking it's not wise to use, unless if necessary. OTOH grease would fix the rusting bit.



This is the stuff that Hyundai recommends:

http://www.procutinternational.com/pdf/OEM_Hyundai_10-BR-001.pdf

For me, I use either 3M Silicone Paste or Motorcraft XG-3A on the slide pins, and Honda Molykote M77 paste for the metal-to-metal surfaces. The M77 is a dry-lube that would work excellent for the purposes that you described.


The CRC synthetic grease linked (not the red goo) I just found to be totally dried out and sticky in the rubber boots on rear of my Sequoia. Brakes are 2 years old. I actually had a VERY HARD time getting the caliper slide pins out. I just picked up Sil-Glyde and some of the new Permatex Ceramic counter packets. I might try one on each side to see how it works at next round/check up.

Hyundai and I'm sure have the TSB's that discuss filing the ears slightly before install. The paint/dirt/rust etc. makes it tight and they don't move correctly. Once they hang up the pads wear much faster.

 

[Gabe]

Originally Posted By: Bgallagher

I love the CRC stuff. Orange/red goo but it does a nice job. Very durable as well.


I have been wanting to try this stuff, but I am having a hard time justifying the $15 price tag.

 

[The Critic]

Originally Posted By: Gabe
Originally Posted By: Bgallagher

I love the CRC stuff. Orange/red goo but it does a nice job. Very durable as well.


I have been wanting to try this stuff, but I am having a hard time justifying the $15 price tag.

Don't. It is not for pads with shims. The orange goop may cause the shims to detach from the pads.

Use Molykote M77 for metal-to-metal contact...it is a far superior product.

 

[Tegger]

Originally Posted By: The Critic
Use Molykote M77 for metal-to-metal contact...it is a far superior product.

+1,000. It's the best there is. Expensive, but the best.

It's especially excellent where corrosion is an issue, such as in the north-east.

 

[Sequoiasoon]

I did all 4 brakes on the Sequoia today and flushed the fluid. I used the Sil-Glyde for the rear slide bolts as they are in the rubber boots. One of teh 2 year old boots ripped trying to get bolt out. That CRC black synthetic brake grease was sticky like glue. All the metal contact parts got the Permatex Ceramic Extreme from the packets at counter. Red goo light coat on back of pads where they contact caliper. The fronts have no rubber boots so just Ceramic extreme and red goo. So far nice and quiet and much better braking. I went with Hawk LTS all around.

The rears had 2 year old Thermoquiets and they were shot (less than 15k). The fronts had Carquest Premium pads and still had more than half the pad left with 20k on them. From day one of shop doing them (I was out of town)they had noticeably less friction/grip and required more pedal effort to stop (especially with scout trailer or full load of people). I'll need to ask the shop as they used a pink colored grease that after three years of north east use was still greasy. The back of pads had a thick coat as evident by what was left.

I hated those Carquest pads, if I had recalled how easy the front pads were to swap I would have done that long ago.

Doitmyself- the link for pastelube also has new ceramlube. Any recomendations over the pastelube or Molykote?