Shimano mineral oil "incident"

Shimano mineral oil "incident"

Author
Discussion

numtumfutunch

Original Poster:

4,761 posts

140 months

Monday 20th May
quotequote all

Ugh

Ive just bled the brakes on my commuter and due to an unexpected distraction I have managed to hose mineral oil (brake fluid) over the pads and disc

Of course i have cleaned each bit as much as I can with a paper towel however my front brake now makes enough noise that its probably being heard on the other side of Leeds and braking power is probably best described as modest

Has anyone done this before please?
Id like to think Im not the only numpty

If so will things get better with use or is it best to bin the rotor and pads and replace them?
This option does not sit well with a Yorkshireman smile

Cheers

Rough101

1,854 posts

77 months

Monday 20th May
quotequote all
Degrease the rotors, do the same with the pads, then when dry, warm the pads up with a blowtorch to burn the oil out of them.

There is of course a fine line here on not destroying the pads!

bobbo89

5,324 posts

147 months

Monday 20th May
quotequote all
Rotors will be salvageable with brake cleaner or if really bad, heat.

Pads are more than likely gone although you could try what I've done before and hit them with a flame to burn off anything that might still be on there then take a metal file to them to take a very thin layer of the pad material off.

Hit and miss in my experience but worth a try...

smifffymoto

4,626 posts

207 months

Monday 20th May
quotequote all
Not stopping,falling off and smashing your teeth in will cost a lot more than a new set of pads.

snotrag

14,563 posts

213 months

Monday 20th May
quotequote all
Rotor is saveable with thorough degreasing/solvent cleaning.

Pads in the bin.

OutInTheShed

8,008 posts

28 months

Monday 20th May
quotequote all
If you can get new pads beofre you need to use the bike again, just do it, they are not dear.

Otherwise, solvents, degreaser and heat might help.

troc

3,798 posts

177 months

Tuesday 21st May
quotequote all
We’ve all done it!

Whilst you might be able to resurrect the pads, it’s not easy to get them back to working efficiently, they will probably always make horrible noises and probably never grip as well again. For safety reasons, especially on a commuter where sudden and strong braking might be needed, I would replace them.

You should be able to reuse the rotors but they will need to be seriously cleaned with brake cleaner, degreaser etc to avoid contaminating the new pads.

numtumfutunch

Original Poster:

4,761 posts

140 months

Tuesday 21st May
quotequote all

Thanks all

Pads ordered before breakfast and having just looked in detail at the rotor its not worth me putting in the effort so new brakes!

The pads were only a few hours old though which pains me smile