Oily brake linings

[Grant Bowker]

Originally Posted by greg anderson

Here in Canada I have found that auto parts stores sell what is claimed to be a solvent specifically for cleaning brakes - I have not had a chance to use it but I would like to hear from any one who has -Greg

If you are talking about the brake cleaner sold in aerosol form, it is a very good degreaser for surfaces but I don't know how good it would be for oil/grease soaked into brake linings. It also makes a superb wasp killer, but so far hasn't killed any other inhabitants of the Hammond barn. In past, I cleaned a set of M135 brake linings to what I considered an acceptable standard using lacquer thinner followed by alcohol (methyl hydrate). After cleaning, the linings didn't seem oily and were inspected several times after use to see if heat cycling was causing oil to leach out and be cooked to a glaze on the suface of the linings. Since the linings kept looking good, I kept using them. I may have been lucky in having linings that weren't fully soaked in oil. The choice of solvents came from what I had available and what I thought might be agressive enough to do the job without leaving residue.