Brake Pads Soaked in Brake Fluid - Salvageable?

JamesK · Aug 19, 2013

OK, so I'm a cheap *******.

I bought some spare calipers, which came with 7k mile pads, these look brand new. The problem is that the brainiac who pulled these off and wrapped them up for shipping in plastic wrap, didn't bother to drain out the brake fluid out of the calipers.

By the time I received the calipers (with the pads), the pads were soaked in brake fluid.

I would love to be able to make use of these practically new pads, saving myself what here costs around $350 of new OEM pads.

I have tried to clean them off with brake parts cleaner, which made a difference, but I feel there is still fluid in the material. I thought of soaking the pads in gas for a day or so, but am concerned that it would impact the adhesive securing the pad material to the backing plate.

Does anyone know, if there is any way to salvage these brake fluid soaked pads so that they can be safely used?

TIA.

SoCalFJR1300 · Aug 19, 2013

I'd have a family member or friend buy them for me in the states and ship em to me.

I'd be paranoid that a componant like that might fail at the wrong time.

JamesK · Aug 19, 2013

SoCalFJR1300 said:
I'd have a family member or friend buy them for me in the states and ship em to me.
I'd be paranoid that a componant like that might fail at the wrong time.

I have a mailforwarding mailbox (www.myus.com), but these are on the heavy side so the shipping negates most of the savings.

I just can't help but think that there must be a solution.

majicmaker · Aug 19, 2013

I had the same thing happen on one of my early bikes years ago and it never worked right. Ever. They are toast. The good news is that the OEM pads are just as expensive here so don't even think of the cost. Those pads will never have the same stopping characteristics as a new set will. Sorry!

P.S. I miss living in Japan sometimes. I lived in Yokohama. What a nice place.

FJRay · Aug 19, 2013

I would soak them in hot soapy water for a few hours and then after rinseing put them in the oven at 300 for awhile. I have had pretty good results over the years. Bkake fluid in water soluble and the soap will help lift it off the surface.

This won't work with oil soaked pads from bad fork seals

Mihalis fjr · Aug 20, 2013

Don't use them..

Their life finished too early...

wild1 · Aug 20, 2013

You can do anything you want to them and never get that fluid out. Replace them.

kaitsdad · Aug 20, 2013

They're your brakes. Kinda necessary. eh?

JamesK · Aug 20, 2013

FJRay said:
I would soak them in hot soapy water for a few hours and then after rinseing put them in the oven at 300 for awhile. I have had pretty good results over the years. Bkake fluid in water soluble and the soap will help lift it off the surface. This won't work with oil soaked pads from bad fork seals

Thanks for the replies guys.

No harm in trying FJRay's suggestion, and if they still look iffy as they do now I'll trash them. I might even try to cook them a bit, while they are in the soapy water, the logic being that the hot water will open up the "pores" and possibly help the water dissolve the brake fluid.

RossKean · Aug 20, 2013

I think I would try Ray's suggestion - can't really hurt. The glycol-based fluid is water soluble and what doesn't dissolve may bake out. Note: Will likely get some fumes with the baking so make sure you have good ventilation.

The pads are sintered and are obviously designed to run at high temperatures so baking them shouldn't hurt anything. I think I would grind off a half mm or so before putting them on the bike and would test carefully under controlled conditions before I trusted my life to them. The Yamaha pads are stupid-expensive. After the OEM's were worn out, I replaced with the EBC Double H pads for half the cost and have been happy with them for 60,000 miles or so. (just about done now) I got less life with the OEM's - mainly because I did not "rotate" them left-to-right at mid-life.

Fred W · Aug 20, 2013

I disagree (with some prior comments, not Ross who was posting in parallel) . Brake pads get brake fluid on them often and that doesn't mean they are trashed. In case you never noticed, brake fluid is glycol-ether based, not oil or grease. It is not particularly slippery and is not a very good lubricant. As FJRay (a pro wrench, BTW) said, it can be washed off and the pads still used.

Even getting oil on sintered metallic pads doesn't mean they are necessarily useless. Those pads will not "absorb" fluid (like an organic pad would) as it is just ground up and pressed metal particles. Using brake cleaner you can clean pads of unintended oils and they will still work fine. I've had a fork seal leak all over my calipers before, and was able to salvage the relatively new pads with a good cleaning (after fixing the seal).

Of course, this is a personal safety decision about your brakes, so everyone should do only what they feel comfortable with. IOW, YMMV.

Donal · Aug 20, 2013

I'm in the FJRay camp. Couple of interesting links here Singletrack & here MTBR.

They are both cycling forums but the basics are still the same. Having read both of them my preference would be the dishwasher first, followed by removing a millimeter or so with abrasive.

In the past I have removed contamination from brake & clutch material by soaking in petrol and setting fire to them. YMMV (it is your ass on the bike)!

infrared · Aug 20, 2013

JamesK,

The risks outweigh the rewards, with contaminated brakes. I believe that a rider should know exactly what to expect from the brakes, with no surprises even possible. If you never faced an emergency situation, you might get by with those pads, but that is not the real world in which we live (or not). Your engine cost a lot, just to make some speed; brake pads are very much a bargain, in making it all stop in time.

I do not recommend trying to grind away some pad material, trying to find a limit in the contamination. It's about impossible to do that job accurately enough. You will end up with pads that are always partly in contact with the disk, and your brakes will always be running hot. If the brakes then get too hot, the brake fluid will boil, and lock the wheel from any speed. I was lucky, I was on a city street, not the freeway. First, the front brake lever went rigid, and the engine had to work more, at keeping up speed. I pulled off to the side, and once I slowed down, the front wheel locked and slid the last yard (meter) to a stop. Once things cooled down, I was able to ride home in slow, short cruises, and pulling over each time the front brake lever got even a tiny bit stiff. Those brake pads went into the trash, and gladly.

Let me say it again: when it comes to brakes, the risks involved far outweigh the rewards of saving a few coins.

Warpdrv · Aug 20, 2013

EBC HH pads for FJR on Ebay..... deals are out there to be found, I prefer those pads over OEM...

Don't risk your life or anyone elses using contaminated brake pads....

ionbeam · Aug 20, 2013

Warpdrv said:
EBC HH pads for FJR on Ebay..... deals are out there to be found, I prefer those pads over OEM...

<HIJACK>

I have used several sets of EBS HH pads in the past. They work as good as OEM but produce prodigious amounts of black brake dust that is hard to get off the wheels and the reason I have used several sets is because they wear out quickly (on my mostly 2-up riding). The last set of EBS HH pads put a hurting on my rotors, I dunno why all the other sets were fine but this last set really ground down my rotors. I have gone back to OEM pads and will suck up the $$$ and stay with OEM over EBS.

</HIJACK>

Fred W · Aug 20, 2013

infrared said:
JamesK,
The risks outweigh the rewards, with contaminated brakes. I believe that a rider should know exactly what to expect from the brakes, with no surprises even possible. If you never faced an emergency situation, you might get by with those pads, but that is not the real world in which we live (or not). Your engine cost a lot, just to make some speed; brake pads are very much a bargain, in making it all stop in time.

I do not recommend trying to grind away some pad material, trying to find a limit in the contamination. It's about impossible to do that job accurately enough. You will end up with pads that are always partly in contact with the disk, and your brakes will always be running hot. If the brakes then get too hot, the brake fluid will boil, and lock the wheel from any speed. I was lucky, I was on a city street, not the freeway. First, the front brake lever went rigid, and the engine had to work more, at keeping up speed. I pulled off to the side, and once I slowed down, the front wheel locked and slid the last yard (meter) to a stop. Once things cooled down, I was able to ride home in slow, short cruises, and pulling over each time the front brake lever got even a tiny bit stiff. Those brake pads went into the trash, and gladly.

Let me say it again: when it comes to brakes, the risks involved far outweigh the rewards of saving a few coins.

These are your opinions, and clearly you are entitled to them, but I do not see anything factual in your post to back up your dire claims of doom and general hand waving. Yes, brakes are important. There is no doubt about that. They do require regular attention to perevent unwarranted surprises.

In fact, this is why you should have serviced your own brake calipers before they would no longer retract properly, overheated your brake rotors and eventually seized. Dirty caliper pistons cause such wheel locking calamities, not dirty (or contaminated) brake pads. A simple inspection and cleaning of the caliper pistons at each tire change is enough to head off any such problems such as yours.

Shaving / sanding down old pads is not to be feared. Yes, you will have to re-bed them in again, just like you do with a new pads installed on previously used rotors, but that happens relatively quickly in both cases. Also, having a (newly) flat brake pad in contact with a normally scored irregular rotor surface will not create excess heat. If anything it will create less heat due to the decreased friction in the non-matching surface areas. Braking performance will be somewhat reduced until the bedding in allows the pads to assume the shape of the rotors.

If the pads were going to provide less than adequate friction, which is the basis of the big fear with contaminated brake pads, you would know this upon initial use. It would not be something that would increment further over time (assuming you fixed the source of contamination).

Bounce · Aug 20, 2013

FJRay said:
I would soak them in hot soapy water for a few hours and then after rinseing put them in the oven at 300 for awhile. I have had pretty good results over the years. Bkake fluid in water soluble and the soap will help lift it off the surface. This won't work with oil soaked pads from bad fork seals

use a "shop oven" as the vaporized residue might not be healthy for cooking afterward.

FJRay · Aug 20, 2013

Bounce said:
FJRay said:

I would soak them in hot soapy water for a few hours and then after rinseing put them in the oven at 300 for awhile. I have had pretty good results over the years. Bkake fluid in water soluble and the soap will help lift it off the surface. This won't work with oil soaked pads from bad fork seals

Click to expand...

use a "shop oven" as the vaporized residue might not be healthy for cooking afterward.

Good point.

wild1 · Aug 20, 2013

I have been a heavy duty mechanic for a while 13 years now and did automotive before that. While I agree that brake fluid is not as bad as having oil soaked pads I would spend the 40 bucks and replace them if they were on my bike. If you insist on reusing them I would clean them as best as you can then use a torch to heat the pad itself to see if any fluid still comes out. You have to be careful with this as you can loose the bonding between the pad and the plate it is glued to if you use too much heat.

Brake Pads Soaked in Brake Fluid - Salvageable?

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