Caliper Cleaning - Desperate Measures?

Hi Guys,

I'm rebuilding the front brake calipers on my 95 ZX-9R project bike. The area under the seals is so caked with dirt and corroded that I'm worried that I'm wasting my time. It's just impossible to get it all clean. I'm starting to consider letting the calipers soak in carb cleaner overnight. Do you think that's a reasonable plan, as long as I'm careful to get it all out when I'm done? Or is carb cleaner so corrosive that I'm just asking for a bigger mess?

Thanks,

 

The Carb Cleaner will dry up and possibly damage the seals. I'd use a bucket with dish soap and water and soak them.

 

I had a set of RD400 calipers that sounds like yours. I read on some other forum that the best way to clean them when they are almost hopeless is to blast them with glass bead media.


Also try toothpaste. I did this first and was surprised at the positive result.

 

I posted on here a while back about cleaning a gummed up carb. Used Pinesol at the recommendation of some on here and it worked great. Not sure if it would harm seals or not, so maybe someone else can chime in on that.

 

Anyway you can take them apart and put them in an ultrasonic bath? I've not used one personally but seen some awesome results of people cleaning carbs with them.

 

Bead blast after you tape over the painted parts.

 

Don't 1/2 ass it, split the calipers, pop the pistons and seals out and clean it properly. It's not that hard. Dipping a fully assembled caliper with seals still in it into carb cleaner is not a wise idea at all.

I explained the whole process here at the bottom of the page.

http://forums.13x.com/showthread.php?t=284701

 

Soak them in WD-40. I've rebuilt some pretty messy dirtbike calipers and they always come out sparkly after bathing in WD-40 for a while.

 

Desperation is pulling a brake lever at triple digit speeds and nothing happens.

Disassemble, clean properly, replace seals and reassemble. Then you know they are good. No questions.

 

Thanks for the info, guys. As a note, I have them apart. I have the seals out. The "interior" of the caliper is AFU. It's like dirt got behind the seals and sat for years. I can scrape it off with a pick or a small screwdriver, but then that creates a bunch of gunk that i'm having a hard time getting out. i don't want to put in new seals and put it back together with a bunch of dirt and corrosion in there.

Kepp those ideas coming. I appreciate it.

 

Ahhhh

Well if you have the seals out of harms way and it's just the aluminum caliper body halves then I suppose you can dip it in whatever to see if it softens up some of that crud.

 

That is exactly how mine look. I did the toothpaste trick with just my finger and it cleaned them up about 25% better than they were but I feel your pain.....getting the grooves clean is just a royal PIA.

I rubbed the toothpaste inside the grooves and then cut a Q-Tip in half and used the "stick" part of the Q-Tip to gouge out the inside of the grooves. This also helped quite a bit but it still looks like it needs something else.

I went to get some glass beads from a local supply store but they would only sell me a big $50 bag of it and I'm too cheap right now to do that.

I also tried some 1000 grit sandpaper on a very small section but I was afraid that would screw up the inside of the caliper.

 

I used a friend's heated ultrasonic cleaner on a tired NSR50 caliper after tearing it apart. Came out spotless, been working like a champ ever since. Did the same to my WR250's caliper, and other than the fact that my helicoil job on the fork axle boss has the caliper and rotor slightly off angle to each other, it works like a champ as well.

 

Ultrasonic cleaner. If that's not available do not blast, scape, sand, or do any similar thing to the caliper. A perfectly good service can be performed by hand but takes a long time.
It sounds like your calipers need a complete service.
I was going to suggest popping pistons out and cleaning everything with soapy water (dawn dish soap). Soaking in other chemicals is not advised. Air blasting into the ports might be a good idea to see if things are clogging. Normally the manf does not want the caliper halves unbolted from one another - if you have done this make sure you buy new crossover seals. New piston seals are a must and check the pistons for damage while you are at it. Racing will require you to spend long periods of time cleaning things, if you do not clean them properly or at all you may have a failure or problem. Get used to the mundane.

 

If they're that bad I would hope nobody would even consider not replacing the seals.

 

I'm always amazed at home many racers have never cleaned their calipers . Not even just the outside.

 

Hard to argue with that.

Half ass cleaning your golf clubs, and you get a dirty bag. Half ass cleaning your bike, and you get a helicopter ride, if you're lucky. And that costs a lot more than caliper seals.

 

This ^

 

why not upgrade to better, newer, cleaner (easier to clean) calipers? lots of these for sale on ebay, zx6r.com zx10r.net, and kawiforums. Ski

 

A little bit of simple green and toothbrush go along way in between tire changes or after every race weekend. As far as street bikes...