Cleaning oil soaked brake pads .

[Bob_Roller]

I think I may have found another way to remove oil from brake pads and shoes .

I have a set of pads that got oil soaked, put them in my ultrasonic cleaner with one cup of Simple Green soap .

The ultrasonic cleaner I have, also heats the cleaning solution, I don't think the temperature indication is very accurate, it says 65 C. and I put my hand in it, and it was nowhere near 65C.

Actual temp is around 120 F. (49 C.) .

After about 2 hours of cleaning, you can see oil coming out of the 'pores' in the friction linings, along with some soap foam .

[Mike V]

Bob,

I'm glad you gave this a try, I've been wanting to try it with some oil contaminated pads I have laying around.  I've often heard of this experiment - sometimes successful - sometimes not.  I guess my biggest concern regarding this is if the heat and cleaning solution will also degrade the adhesive that bonds the friction material to the backing plate.  At least for those shoes/pads that are not rivoted.

Are you going to try them out?

-Mike V.

[Bob_Roller]

Yes, these pads are from my '82 LS, I forgot that I had both fork drain plugs develop leaks while the bike was parked for the last 5 months, so they are going back on the LS this week .

Remembered it this morning, pulled the pads wiped them down with mineral spirits to get the surface grunge off of them before putting them in the ultrasonic cleaner .

I don't think that this treatment will do any harm to the bonded friction linings .

The cleaning solution is 120 F., far below the kind of temps that pads can get to under heavy brake use and Simple Green, is one of the mildest soaps/cleaners you can get and spraying brake cleaner on the pads and shoes doesn't seem to harm them and brake cleaner is some pretty harsh stuff  .

Tomorrow, I'll try cleaning the K&N air filter that came off of the Guzzi .

[Bob_Roller]

Here's an observation on cleaning the brake pads .

It takes about 2 hours for the cleaner to come up to it's maximum temperature, which is in the 120-130 F. (49-54 C.) range .

After around 3.5 and 4 hours of cleaning, the foam stops coming out of the friction lining .

I put a set of brake shoes that I had cleaned at work in a spray type cleaner, washed them for about 40 hours at 175 F. (79 C.) with a similar cleaner as Simple Green .

After about an hour, the foam started to come out of the friction linings, continued for about 3 hours, then stopped .

I've got the pads and linings in the cleaner now, with just tap water to 'rinse' them off for a few hours .

I guess time will tell, if I got all of the oil out of them .