Gumout Brake Parts Cleaner and rubber parts

[fenixus]

just a quickie. i purchased below Gumout Brake parts Cleaner spray. in close future will be doing some brake job: replacing caliper pins and pads without detaching the brake line.
I was wondering if it is safe to spray this cleaner on rusty metal parts like caliper itself, torque plate and rotor. but since i will be doing it on mounted pieces (except for caliper) I would probably spray also surrounding rubber parts (brake line, rubber boots, piston dust seal, and other rubber stuff down there like big joint rubber boot, etc.).

http://automotive.hardwarestore.com/...er-129361.aspx

have you used it? will this destroy the rubber?

[Stillrunning]

Originally Posted by fenixus

will this destroy the rubber?

What do the instructions on the can say?

[fenixus]

it says "remove wheel and protect rubber, plastic, and painted surfaces from overspray", so will this destroy the rubber parts meaning instantly or what?

i will protect them, but what if i miss some tiny details or this spray goes somewhere i didn't suppose it would. is it an instant rubber killer?

[DxElite]

Haven't used it myself before, but I'm pretty sure it's not instant rubber killer. It probably takes some time for it to absorb and degrade the rubber.

Just wipe it off if it gets on anything that's supposed to be protected, don't let it sit on it too long or it'll probably degrade it. Probably might help to use some dilute soapy water to help wipe it clean.

[carsrus]

Brake parts cleaner wont hurt well, brake parts. You can spray it on rotors, drums calipers, anything really.

Keep it away from painted surfaces since the paint WILL bubble and come off in a matter of seconds. I wouldn't spray plastic either.

But yeah its wont harm any rubber brake components. The shop im around a lot just spray everything down after they have everything disassembled. They do the same thing with oil leaks since brake parts cleaner works alot better then engine degreaser usually.

[JohnGD]

First of all it's very important to properly clean the brake hardware. And brake parts cleaner is very effective at doing so without leaving a residue. So if you have grease, oil , dirt or whatever you have to clean them off properly using brake parts cleaner.

The reason the label says to protect rubber is that petroleum solvents are soluble in rubber, but are not instant rubber killers. What happens is that they break down the molecular chains and the rubber swells as the chains are broken down by the solvent.

While I personally don't use break parts cleaner to clean off the top of the master cylinder reservoir (as I said, toothbrush and alcohol and let dry), I'd point the brake parts spray away from the rubber (such as the pads and bracket rails where the pads sit) and clean the daylights out of them. Because you don't want grease/oil or the pads to stick on caked in dirt and you can do so aiming away from the anchor pin boots for example.

You can also dip a copper wirebrush, steel wirebrush, or toothbrush in some brake parts cleaner and scrub at caked in dirt/brake dust. You can wipe the anchor pin boots/piston dust boot areas with towel and alcohol. At least that worked for me. If necessary cover the pin boots, but I've not found it necessary.

That's another reason why you don't use coolant hoses on ATF lines. There is a rubber formulation for each application, and I specify the application at the NAPA parts counter. That's why 3/8" ATF hoses are like ~$5/ft vs ~$1/ft for similar coolant hoses. And AFAIK, brake system rubbers aren't as resistant to petroleum oil as ATF hoses.

Originally Posted by fenixus

just a quickie. i purchased below Gumout Brake parts Cleaner spray. in close future will be doing some brake job: replacing caliper pins and pads without detaching the brake line.
I was wondering if it is safe to spray this cleaner on rusty metal parts like caliper itself, torque plate and rotor. but since i will be doing it on mounted pieces (except for caliper) I would probably spray also surrounding rubber parts (brake line, rubber boots, piston dust seal, and other rubber stuff down there like big joint rubber boot, etc.).

http://automotive.hardwarestore.com/...er-129361.aspx

have you used it? will this destroy the rubber?

[fenixus]

i got the point. thanks guys for input!

I assumed it destroys plastic easily as it contains acetone which is well known for matting and discoloring plastic.

I will attempt to fully clean the front brakes (calipers, rotors, torque plates) when it comes to changing the pads (2-3mm less than now).

recently i wanted to change caliper pins in front driver brakes (one pin is sticking sometimes), but wanted to get it done with anchor boots replacement - for some reason those little bastards are stuck so tightly that I wasn't able to remove them with anything, so i did not clean anything with brake cleaner spray as i was afraid to destroy all the rubber parts.

next time (when it comes to brake pads change) I will have to replace caliper sliding pins and anchor boots on both sides. if anyone knows any good method of pulling them out of torque plate ... any input appreciated. once that done I would clean all brake parts with peace of mind (protecting only brake line and joint rubber boot).

thanks!