Sil-Glide Grease for sliding pins, pad ears, etc

[Blinker]

The best stuff I’ve ever used for brake jobs is the 3M Silicone Paste. I believe that is what GM uses on the assembly line, and what they provide you in little packets when you buy ACDelco replacement pads.

It is ridiculously expensive though. A jar of it will set you back a little over $20 at most retailers.

 

[Dave9]

^ It's not ridiculously expensive when you consider that you may never need to relube the part again.

The issue is the degradation of it. In a sealed system, it is good for decades. If talking about brake slider rails or pad ears, those get contaminated no matter what you use, so that has to be cleaned off eventually but the staying power of the silicone paste, retards rust much better so you don't get the binding types of problems that other shorter lived lubes cause, which can pay for itself in longer life, several times over.

Only someone duped by marketing agencies, uses something castor or petroleum oil based for this application, unless they are a shady shop that hates customers so much that they'd rather screw people by saving a few cents per job.

Silicone paste is the only rational grease to use. It would be different if we were talking about something exotic where it's 10X the price then you would weigh the cost vs benefit. It's no contest in this app, the labor alone is worth 10X the grease cost difference for a vehicle worth at a time.

 

[artbuc]

3M says shelf life is only 3 years. I don’t understand why it has an expiration but maybe I will ask 3M when I get a chance. I would think silicone paste would last forever. 3M says product may separate but can be reconstituted by mixing.

 

[doitmyself]

Here's an older msds of the Kleen Flo showing some of its ingredients: http://www.monarchoil.com/pdf/KF331.pdf

 

[X15]

I say all of that because I wonder if it might be a better choice for situations like this. I don't EXACTLY know what the melting point of the Dow-Corning grease is, but it is labeled as high temperature, and I've never seen it get noticeably thinner at say ~200ºC.

Does anyone have any thoughts on how this might fare on sliding pins?

Probably just fine, as I understand it Molykote High-Vacuum Grease is more or less just a purer version of Molykote 111.

200C is a pretty typical upper service temperature for silicone compounds, and it's higher than the ~150C melting point of the EPDM rubber used in the boot and or bushings.

 

[Luftmasse]

Sil-Glyde will work but there's always something better for the application. Castor oil or petroleum based greases, metal or ceramic in them or not, don't last nearly as long. Use silicone paste, not dielectric grease which has too low a viscosity.

Once you get all the old goop out of the slider pins (very important) and fill with silicone paste, you may never need to do it again (virtually, in reality nothing lasts forever), caliper may wear out first unless your boots are shot and contamination gets in.

Which silicone paste that is not dielectric grease you are refering to? Never had any problems with 3M silicone paste (dielectric grease).

 

[Dave9]

Which silicone paste that is not dielectric grease you are refering to? Never had any problems with 3M silicone paste (dielectric grease).

Link to exactly what product you are referring to? 3M silicone paste, is not dielectric grease. I mean, sure it's "dielectric" but nobody refers to it as dielectric grease because it does not have the same uses as products called dielectric grease, is too viscous for many electrical uses.

In other words, if someone goes out and buys a silicone grease which is primarily described as "dielectric grease", they have too low a viscosity for brake use. Doesn't matter which brand, there are several brands of silicone paste that will get the job done.

 

[Luftmasse]

Link to exactly what product you are referring to? 3M silicone paste, is not dielectric grease. I mean, sure it's "dielectric" but nobody refers to it as dielectric grease because it does not have the same uses as products called dielectric grease, is too viscous for many electrical uses.

In other words, if someone goes out and buys a silicone grease which is primarily described as "dielectric grease", they have too low a viscosity for brake use. Doesn't matter which brand, there are several brands of silicone paste that will get the job done.

https://www.amazon.com/3M-08946-Clear-Silicone-Paste/dp/B005RNEH5O/ref=sr_1_3?dchild=1&keywords=3m+silicone+paste&qid=1618555096&sr=8-3

 

[Dave9]

^ Yeah, that product is not what the automotive world normally calls dielectric grease, even if the marketing dept put that on the container. It is too viscous for some electrical contacts, which may not displace it and cause a bad connection.