Brake Caliper Slide Pin Cleaning and Lubrication

Sil-Glyde Brake Lubricant will ship anywhere? Maybe try a trial add-to-cart and see what it comes up with for shipping for charges. Not sure what sort of excise/duty would be incurred.

Sil-Glyde Silicone Brake Lubricant, Tube, 4 oz - AGS Company AGS Company

 

That might have been the grease the dealer wanted to sell for €30, I didn't ask any specifics though. I've never heard of local dealers with online parts shops around here - I guess it's hard to justify the cost with the low population they cater for (compared to dealers in the US). My local Peugeot dealer actually shut down their parts shop last year (I had a 406 before the Prius), though they're not doing so great in general these days.

Only $35 shipping

It must have been the rubber kit I was thinking of that came with the grease. Didn't think of it at the time, though I might get one for spares as you say. The brakes are the same on the plug-in - AFAIK the rear brakes are the same on the E140/150 Corolla/Auris, XP90 Vitz/Yaris and a few other Toyotas.

Only $87 shipping! And I'd pay 23% VAT on top of that. I definitely only selected one tube, not 100.

I'm sure the Mintex stuff I ordered will be fine... I think they're a British brake manufacturer so probably know a thing or two about lubricating them.

Anyway, the current crappy but lubricated slide pin seems to have fixed my problems so far. I drove a bit today, and there was no obvious noise from it. It would usually start whining when I drive off after being parked outside for a while (e.g. when at work), especially when it's cold or wet (like today).

 

Oh, evil sneaky. I pulled that straight out of search results on ebay.ie where it prominently said "free postage", but it still meant to the US. It must have been geocoding my connection....

-Chap

 

Seems like life is getting tougher for DIY'rs.

 

Was looking at what Honda recommends in my '06 Civic Hybrid Shop Manual:

Honda Silicone grease p/n 08C30-B0234M

Searching for that, found an interesting pdf of Honda Lubes, thread locks, sealants and so forth (I'll attach complete pdf at bottom):



Text format of the above:

Honda Caliper Grease 08C30-B0224M 4853958 High-temperature, silicone-based grease used to lubricate caliper slide pins.

Searching for the pin lube above, Amazon returns an alternative pin lube from Ford:

Genuine Ford Fluid XG-3-A Silicone Brake Caliper Grease and Dielectric Compound - 3 oz.

Canadian Amazon site with the above, fwiw:

 

I got the new slide pin and boots, and fitted them earlier today. I had some fun with the boots which kept popping out of the mounting when I pushed the pins in - maybe I overdid it with the grease I cleaned up the pads, shims and mountings as well.

Just to confirm the pin was 47835-12150 as previously thought, and the individual boots were 47875-12150. Probably should have gone for the rubber kit instead as the boots were €5.46 each :/ I had forgot at the time I ordered...

I've attached a picture of the disc - it doesn't look great but the inside seems OK in comparison? The other rear disc looks much better and the fronts look fine but I'm still gonna check the slide pins on all of them and replace the other two rear boots.

 

Looks like the disc is 50% unused/rusty. To me that points piston cross pattern riding up on the pad's backing plate pin. Check they're relatively free turning now, aligned right.

 

Yes, the piston was mis-aligned too. The wheel is spinning a lot more freely now.

 

I suspect that might be at least in part the culprit. Constant extra drag (due to pin bearing on piston's spoke) kept the brakes hot (and sadly knocks down mpg) and bakes the grease. The rear brakes are a poor design: when so much care and attention is needed during brake service, and problems with misalignment can easily be missed.

 

I think it's a pretty standard design for modern rear disc brakes with integrated parking brake - I think the only other common option is to use an integrated drum brake for the parking brake (in addition to the disc for service brake) and they have their own various problems. I think the main problem with the hybrids is that they get used a lot less so need less maintenance (i.e. actually replacing pads/discs), but don't take well to neglect.

 

Yeah this is our first car with rear disks, of any design.

 

Posting an update for some statistics

Cleaned and lubed (Sil-Glyde brake lube) front/rear caliper pins about 1.5 year 12k miles ago. Discussed the brake design and best lube back then on this thread. Just did a checkup and still clean and lubed. Will be posting 20k and 30k updates when I get there.

I suppose it depends on usage. Car is wife's daily driver and she's zippy driver and we live in a hilly region so brakes probably gets a bit of use.

I'm guessing clean+lube caliper pins are a 30k mile item on our gen3 Prius for typical use (not hypermilers). Have experienced and hear a lot become stuck at higher (40-60k) miles. So while we don't need pads to well over 100k miles, clean+lube the caliper pins at 30k intervals is necessary.

 

Just thought I'd throw in my 2 cents.

I'm a professional mechanic, and I always use 3M 08946 - Silicone paste on brake caliper pins. I've had very good luck with it, no comebacks for pin issues in the past 5 years that I've been using it. I like it better than Napa's Sil-glide, just because it has a thicker consistance that's easier to work with.

Some people have mentioned the difference between grease and paste. From what I've read, the difference in just semantics. For all intents and purposes, they're the same.

Also, some people have suggested Moly lubes. I've read service bulletins from GM and Honda that both recommend using a High-temp Silicone grease on caliper pins. Honda recommends a Moly lube on the backs of pads to prevent the pads from squealing. GM says just use more of the silicone grease on the backs of the pads.

 

Yeah, our Honda's over the years when the brakes were done at dealership you'd always see a bit of of anti-seize squeezed out around the peripheral, sometimes silver, sometimes copper colour. I stuck with that on our Prius. And for the pins I've used Sil-Glyde Brake Lube. It's lasted fine, and is readily available here.

 

While manufacturer recommendations are on the table, Toyota recommends a lithium soap based glycol grease for slide pins, and for piston seals if you open the caliper. The stuff they sell is called "rubber grease" and is reddish-clear, with a smell sort of reminiscent of a musty room.

-Chap

 

I saw the lithium based soap grease in the spec and got some "Carlube Lithium 2 Multi-Purpose Grease"
The blurb says it "has a very high melting point which makes it a super quality. Lithium based grease. It has a very high resistance to oxidation and won't wash away with water. Carlube Lithium 2 Multi-Purpose Grease is excellent for many different vehicle uses including the lubrication of: Vehicle chassis, Wheel bearings, Universal joints, Pump bearings, Other routine maintenance work."

Now I've used it on the pins and copper grease on the back of pads. I've never changed pads my self before but I've got no sequel and they stop the car ok. I don't seem to have any issues although it is quite viscous the pins move freely. There looked to be copper grease on the pins from the last owner that I removed before using the L2 grease.

Any ideas if this will be ok?

 

There are two major ingredients of a grease, the oil, and the thickener (usually a soap of some kind). Lithium soaps are very commonly used as the thickener in lots of different greases.

The Toyota "rubber grease" for the caliper piston seals, slide pins, and boots, is (per the documentation) made with a lithium soap, in a glycol.

I would not assume that just any old grease is equivalent just because it's made with a lithium soap. There are "lithium" greases by the truckloads, I think I've got most of a tub of one from my teenage years, a spray can that sprays the stuff, etc. But the Toyota lithium based glycol grease is not very much like joe random lithium multipurpose grease. It's red and a lot more clear.

You probably haven't done anything that's going to ruin your day. It might turn out over time that the stuff doesn't treat the rubber boots very well. As a precaution, you could pick up a replacement rubber kit from Toyota just to have on hand. It's cheap, contains all the rubbery bits for two calipers, and as a bonus, contains a packet of the proper grease.

Having that on hand will probably ensure nothing happens to your existing boots, the same way taking an umbrella ensures there won't be rain. And if they do swell or deteriorate, you'll be easily able to replace them and clean out the random grease and use the right stuff.

 

I just lubed the front caliper slides with Syl-glide last week... after cleaning out the pin channel as clean as a rifle bore on a infantryman's rifle, of course. Haha Decided to change the rotors today after all. The pins can be moved ok, but I wouldn't exactly call the motion "fluid." If the job is done correctly is the test of a good job simply that they can be moved at all? The grease kind of makes a vacuum if you try to pull pin out so the pin really isn't prone to opening up too easily with a good tug on it. After all the pin is just piston in a cylinder with no intake so made me wonder. Brakes work great though!

Also, looking at the label on the Syl-glide and some other comments it sounds like some use this product for lubing the shims, the caliper, the pad slides etc. Is this a one product for all purposes on the brake pad job? I used permatex green goop on my shims and the pad slides but just wondering.

 

I like Permatex Anti-Seize for contact surfaces, pad backs to shims, and shims to calipers. Just apply a thin/uniform coat on the smaller of two items coming together, and it's very neat, no "overspray".

I do use Sil-Glyde Brake Lubricant on the pins.

 

Thanks, I did follow your advice on the Syl-glide. Yesterday on the rotor replacement I used a thin coat of the the Permatex copper antiseize on the inside of the rotor which was recommended somewhere. When done I was not used to the feel of a rotor moving around loose like that on the lug nuts since they usually are rusted on by the time I see them. I suppose at the factory they are loose too so just have to be careful attaching tire and lug nuts that everything in position correctly. Hope that the antiseize there won't be a problem?