Topic: my brother greased my pads

[skyguy1984]

Hey all, im here changing out the brakes on my sky and i let my brother take command of the fronts.....

well all went well yesterday and i go and check this morning and i see red grease on my rotor..... so i call him and ask him, (hey did you by chance put the anti squeal grease on the front of the rotor?) he replies( yes i thought i was suppose to......)       good thing i never test drove the car yet or bedded the brakes in......

sigh, so now i am stuck taking off the front pads again today.... my question is, are the front brake pads completely ed now that they have grease on them? or can they be cleaned and reused? i haven't driven on them yet and they are hawk hps pads. good thing i kept my factory brakes as an emergency brake pad......

i called a mechanic and he said the pads are made for high heat and as long as i clean them off they will be fine and they will be okay too use still, however my father is saying once the grease is on them they are toast throw them out and buy new.......

so what should i do?

[skyguy1984]

also i have dot 3 and dot 4 fluid here,

the reservoir says DOT3 only, can DOT4 be used? or only DOT3?

DOT3 is no name
DOT4 is motul performance fluid

i would prefer to use the dot4 but should i?

[TempeRacerGuy]

Take off the pads and rotors, wipe them down as best you can, then clean them down with brake cleaner.

Go with the Motul, you'll be good.  Dot 4 is compatible to dot 3.  Are you using 5.1 or 600?    I use Motul all the time, It's a great fluid.  I use 600, but change my fluids often.

[Ben L]

Agree with TempeRacer on all counts.  Clean everything really well with brake cleaner, and then follow new pad bedding procedures.  Pads are consumable, and its doubtful that  grease on the rotors overnight saturated the pad.  I guessing you'll cook off whatever's on there right quick.

[skyguy1984]

ok thank god there not toast, and it is motul600 not the 5.1 (non silicon based)

[skyguy1984]

will a grease remover work the same as a brake cleaner? or should i specifically go and buy brake cleaner?

its all the same right is it not?

[Ben L]

Buy brake cleaner specifically.  It comes in powerful aerosol cans. 

It is very volatile (super solvent properties), will capture the grease and crud in suspension and the strong aerosol blast will wash it away, and then (very important) will evaporate completely, leaving no residue behind.  Do not breathe a lot of it unless you want to wake up later.

Brake cleaner is brake cleaner, but not all grease remover will be suitable.

[TempeRacerGuy]

Just to clarify...  600 is their racing fluid, 5.1 is a DOT 4 performance fluid (not a DOT 5 brake fluid).  I use 5.1 on all of my vehicles that get fluid changes once a year, and 600 on all of my performance vehicles that get regular bleeds.

600 is VERY hydroscopic and gets contaminated easily, so it needs to be bled often.

Warning with the brake cleaner...    DO NOT GET IT ON ANYTHING PAINTED OR POWDERCOATED.  It will bubble off the paint and ruin it.  (which is why I recomended REMOVING the pads and rotors to clean them)

[DaveOC]

For future reference . . . keep your brother away from your car.