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MG MGA - Can you clean & reuse oil soaked brake shoes?

Hello,
I think the answer is no and in the past I have used new ones but I have a leaking rear axle oil seal and don't want to put new shoes in only for them to get oily again if the oil seal repair doesn't work for some reason
Many thanks
Phil Parmenter

Normally the answer is that you do not clean oily brake linings, but I can see your problem, you are fitting a new oil seal and you do not want to risk ruining new linings until you are sure the new seal works.
In this case I would clean them with petrol (gasoline). The risk is not great as you obviously have been driving with oil soaked linings on one wheel anyway.

Mick
Mick Anderson

I had a new set that got contaminated by a leaky seal. I was stuck for time so I put them in my barbeque and baked on medium heat. In two hours they were clean . These were a riveted set. I do not know how much heat the bonded ones will take.
Sandy Sanders
Sandy Sanders

Now I would have expected the Australian to be the one to put the on the Barbie, next to the shrimp!
Derek Nicholson

If they are riveted, I've been told to soak in gasoline and set them on fire! This burns out much of the oil, or at least liquefies it so it will come out to the surface.

If they are bonded pads, I wouldn't do this due to the risk of weakening the bond.
Steve Simmons

Phil. Many years ago, I was in a similar situation. Had the work done by a competent mechanical shop and they decided to re-use the old shoes. Said they sprayed them with brake cleaner, wiped them down with paper towels to get all of the surface off off, sprayed them with brake cleaner again and put them in front of the heater outlet for the shop. (Winter in Cheyenne.) Never had a problem with reduced braking power (that I noticed) and when I pulled the rear drums off, several years later, the residue inside the drums was dry rather than oily, showing that the oil had been effectively removed from the shoes.

If it is someone else's car I was working on, I would replace the shoes. If it was mine, I would be tempted to clean the shoes throughly with brake cleaner, dry them throughly, spray them down again, then heat them in an old toaster oven I use for baking on applied finishes. If they looked clean, I would use them and be extra careful until I had a good idea of how well they were working.

A note on baking of parts. Best to pick up an old toaster oven for such things. I have both a toaster oven for small parts and an old kitchen oven, supplied by a neighbor who did not have a truck to take it to the dump. I do not think I would use any form of oven used to prepare food for the baking of any auto parts. Too much chance of residue being left behind.

Les
Les Bengtson

Over the years I also have cleaned and reused brake linings without problem after cleaning them with gasoline in the old days and brake cleaner when that became commonly available. The newer type lining materials are pretty much non-porous, so there is little oil that gets soaked into the lining, usually only on the surface and perhaps a couple of thousandths in, so a light sanding after the chemical cleaning usually does the job. As Les said, for someone else I'd replace them, but for myself I'd try cleaning.
Bill Young

Agreed,
Back in the day this it was common practice to clean brake shoes, spark plugs and air filters.
Nowadays they are thrown away and replaced.
I can recall a young lady customer back around 1980 who lost oil pressure in the middle of the Rockies and had a piston disintegrate. After having her car towed 500 miles back to town and our shop she had no money for a rebuild. Everything, other than the fact that all no.3 cylinder contained was a rod and a wrist pin, appeared operable, so we pulled tha pan, cleaned out the broken rings and lumps of aluminum, honed the cylinder, flushed the engine out, replaced the piston with one we found under a bench, with new rings, oil filter and oil, and fired it up. Good oil pressure, and the car ran fine for at least a couple of years after that. Unusual? Yes, but it proves that throwing out parts that MAY be damaged isn't always necessary.

In the end, it's your choice, if you have an extra $30.00 you may want to replace the shoes, but it's probably not necessary.

Cheers,
Rich
Rich McKIe

This thread was discussed between 11/03/2007 and 12/03/2007

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