Is any brake caliper pin better than Sil-Gylde needed

I think if you are taking the caliper pins out each year to clean and check, syl-glyde works fine.
But if you are not in the rust belt and go a few years between removal, it gums up, probably due to the castor oil.

Pure silicone grease works better for this.
 
Another way to look at it -- at one point in time, Castrol GTX, Turtle Wax, Simoniz, Sea Foam, and the like might have represented the state-of-the-art.

One can still buy them, and they might do the intended job in a competent fashion. But it's 2025, not 1975, and there are better alternatives available.

I suspect a tube of faucet grease has more silica content than a tube of Sil-Glyde.
 
And PAG ones seem to be better.

Another thing to consider would be the NLGI grade of the caliper pin grease (some pairs may not be particularly happy with a higher one) .
PAG ones tend to be grade 2 while silicone ones can vary from grade 1 (MOLYKOTE® G-807) ...to NLGI grade 3-4 (MOLYKOTE® 111 , Motorcraft XG-3-A , 3M etc.)

Great thread with a lot of info :

X

Thread 'My study of Compounds, Greases, and Pastes for Lubricating Brakes on Japanese Automobiles'

I've spent way, way, way, too much time (no, seriously, way too much!) researching this to not share it and hopefully save others the frustration, there's no shortage of bad info out there, including annoyingly from the OEM's themselves. This is primarily focused on brake part lubrication but does include some odds and ends and is far from complete or definitive, if you can believe that!


Manufacturer is listed first if known / Followed by other sources of the same product (Part Number) - Color of the product (NOT the packaging), Description with known info, absence of info does not...
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rollins. said:
And PAG ones seem to be better.

Another thing to consider would be the NLGI grade of the caliper pin grease (some pairs may not be particularly happy with a higher one) .
PAG ones tend to be grade 2 while silicone ones can vary from grade 1 (MOLYKOTE® G-807) ...to NLGI grade 3-4 (MOLYKOTE® 111 , Motorcraft XG-3-A , 3M etc.)

Great thread with a lot of info :

X

Thread 'My study of Compounds, Greases, and Pastes for Lubricating Brakes on Japanese Automobiles'

I've spent way, way, way, too much time (no, seriously, way too much!) researching this to not share it and hopefully save others the frustration, there's no shortage of bad info out there, including annoyingly from the OEM's themselves. This is primarily focused on brake part lubrication but does include some odds and ends and is far from complete or definitive, if you can believe that!


Manufacturer is listed first if known / Followed by other sources of the same product (Part Number) - Color of the product (NOT the packaging), Description with known info, absence of info does not...
  • Like
  • Wow
Click to expand...

Where I used to work, an Aerospace component manufacturer) we used Molykote 111 in mass quantities. It was used to lubricate O-rings, and as a water barrier. Our designers never speced that stuff for lubrication of sliding parts.
 
Nessism1 said:
Where I used to work, an Aerospace component manufacturer) we used Molykote 111 in mass quantities. It was used to lubricate O-rings, and as a water barrier. Our designers never speced that stuff for lubrication of sliding parts.
Click to expand...
In scuba diving, Molykote 111 is used for the same purpose - to lube dynamic O-rings and to pack the ambient chamber of piston first stages. But, scuba has adopted fluoropolymer grease. Silicone and higher concentrations of oxygen don’t mix.
 
Yet it was used as a brake lubricant (among many other applications).
Some would say it has been the same stuff Motorcraft sells as xg-3-a, I have not yet verified it. Solid performer judging by the feedback .
Anyway, PAG otperforms them all .

dow corning.webp
 
@Donald you have posts in other threads where @Trav also posts and has links.

Recent one on odyssey I posted also.

The Sil-Glyde never really worked well for me. Always thinned out to much. The other slide pin greases definitely swelled the rubber on my Toyota so haven't used it since.

This Silicone Paste was linked from @Trav on other discussions. Mission Automotive was always recommended but not available. That and 3M or AC Delco.

Get new boots, clean it out well again, do the silicone and insert/spin/remove a couple times then do the boots. Any other rubber parts there like the pin sleeve thing should be changed also. I don't know on Odyssey but the Toyota's had a small plug on outside that often disappeared from too much grease etc. That then let water right in on the one pin.

Like many things from different areas in all BITOG discussion, @Urshurak776 and @2strokeNorthstar are in places that don't have to much rust belt salt issues.
 
So what do I use my container of Permatex purple for?

Red Muscle grease for hub, silicone paste grease for caliper pins, nothing on pad ears.

And a tiny container of Molykote M77 for under the SS clips if I file the caliper bracket.

This brake job the calipers are new & coated. So no Molykote M77 under the SS clips..
 
Sequoiasoon said:
@Donald you have posts in other threads where @Trav also posts and has links.

Recent one on odyssey I posted also.

The Sil-Glyde never really worked well for me. Always thinned out to much. The other slide pin greases definitely swelled the rubber on my Toyota so haven't used it since.

This Silicone Paste was linked from @Trav on other discussions. Mission Automotive was always recommended but not available. That and 3M or AC Delco.

Get new boots, clean it out well again, do the silicone and insert/spin/remove a couple times then do the boots. Any other rubber parts there like the pin sleeve thing should be changed also. I don't know on Odyssey but the Toyota's had a small plug on outside that often disappeared from too much grease etc. That then let water right in on the one pin.

Like many things from different areas in all BITOG discussion, @Urshurak776 and @2strokeNorthstar are in places that don't have to much rust belt salt issues.
Click to expand...
Yes, I’m in South Carolina (Charlotte suburb.) Roads here are pretty clean, but it gets hot hot hot. SIL-Glyde is probably just fine here. Says right on the tube it’s for the pins. I haven’t had any issues with it anyway. Used it in Georgia also. Same situation.
 
Urshurak776 said:
Yes, I’m in South Carolina (Charlotte suburb.) Roads here are pretty clean, but it gets hot hot hot. SIL-Glyde is probably just fine here. Says right on the tube it’s for the pins. I haven’t had any issues with it anyway. Used it in Georgia also. Same situation.
Click to expand...
I think the question for Sil-Glyde is will it harden in a few years.

People in the non rust belt area really don't need to clean and lube the brakes every year. So caliper pins might not be touched for 3?? years?

People in the rust belt area can get rusting of pad ears, especially if they were filed, gunking up of pad ears with salt and dirt if lube was used and rust under the SS clips causing them to be too tight and not allowing the pad ears to move.
 
Donald said:
I think the question for Sil-Glyde is will it harden in a few years.

People in the non rust belt area really don't need to clean and lube the brakes every year. So caliper pins might not be touched for 3?? years?

People in the rust belt area can get rusting of pad ears, especially if they were filed, gunking up of pad ears with salt and dirt if lube was used and rust under the SS clips causing them to be too tight and not allowing the pad ears to move.
Click to expand...
True. I don’t touch them until the wear indicators start making noise. When I swap pads, I clean and grease the pins and all contact points on the brakes. I also do a run-out of the rotors (even new ones.). Still plenty of grease on pins, so the SIL-Glyde seems to work okay in my application. I certainly haven’t experienced any hardening.
 
KrisZ said:
This product has been around for ages.
The possibility that the formula changed is quite high, which could explain why some people don’t experience it hardening over time and some do.

It would be good to know how old their sil-glyde tubes are.
Click to expand...
Great point. I bought a new tube of it on Amazon (March 2nd) when I did my son’s Hyundai Santa Fe pads (front and back.) so, will be interesting to see how the SIL-glyde holds up. Only been 6 months since the brake job. So far, so good.
 
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