Brake nipple question

Unread post by **myglaren** » 24 Apr 2009, 16:32

If they are at all stiff to move I'd be replacing them as a matter of course as they will only be worse next time. I'd also put a trace of Coppaslip or graphited grease on the new threads to reduce the chance of them sticking again. At least baptise them in LHM.
I used to go round them and check the brakes every couple of months (just a visual check) and crack the bleed nipples at the same time, so they were always free.

Never even look at them now

I have found that with difficult nipples, it sometimes helps to slightly tighten them first, then work them back and forth to wear the corrosion off a bit before unwinding them all the way.

Unread post by **myglaren** » 24 Apr 2009, 18:37

If you remove them you will need to bleed the brakes but you may as well anyway and remove any crud that is trapped in there but swapping them isn't a problem.

May be judicious to do it somewhere else than the drive as you are guaranteed to dribble (or worse) some LHM. Or have a load of absorbent material on top of some plastic to prevent it getting onto the drive.

It does seem to disappear fairly quickly though.

Unread post by **myglaren** » 24 Apr 2009, 19:04

Absolutely not. The discs will clean with petrol or a similar solvent but the pads are a different matter.

The pad material can be softened by oil/diesel/petrol/LHM and similar contaminants. They will have reduced efficiency and may eventually break up altogether. Either remove them (difficult when bleeding the brakes) or cover them when removing the nipples. There shouldn't be any fluid come out when just removing and replacing nipples, only when bleeding and that should be transferred away from the pads with a plastic tube, but it doesn't hurt to cover the pads with a bit of polythene and an old cloth on top to absorb and spillages.

I would be tempted to replace the contaminated pads but only you know how badly they are affected. Remember that brakes are a primary safety item though and pads are comparatively cheap.

citronut · Unread post by **citronut** » 24 Apr 2009, 19:36

LHM dose not affect pad material at all, unlike brake fluid and other oil's LHM will clean off with petrol/brake cleaner, then any residue will burn away with use,

also there is no need to depresureise the hydraulic system to remove brake bleeding kniples,

regards malcolm

George · Unread post by **George** » 24 Apr 2009, 20:46

"just not 8mm"

It is really! Maybe your spanners ain't? I've a selection of the most expensive 8mm spanners known to man and when tackling brake nipples it's likely I'll try them all.

For this job I also have a little blow lamp, no bigger than a marker pen. Refillable with those gas canisters you'd use to re-fill your cigarette lighter. Great for concentrating heat onto a tiny area as you wouldn't want a big flame melting the flexi brakehose.

Cat litter, the best for absorbing oil spills on driveways, even once had a diesel spill in the boot, within an hour it had removed the smell, left it there for a couple of weeks, hoovered it out and hardly a stain left on the carpet.

Unread post by **CitroJim** » 24 Apr 2009, 20:59

Malcolm, I'll second that LHM does no harm to pads. Give 'em a good clean in brake cleaner and no worries.

George wrote:"just not 8mm"

It is really! Maybe your spanners ain't? I've a selection of the most expensive 8mm spanners known to man and when tackling brake nipples it's likely I'll try them all.

Yep, I'll agree with that. It took me ages to find a decent (and expensive) 8mm combo spanner that fitted nippes snugly. I guard it with my life!

George wrote: Cat litter, the best for absorbing oil spills on driveways, even once had a diesel spill in the boot, within an hour it had removed the smell,

Magical stuff! I had a massive diesel spill on my drive a few months back and it cleared it up a treat. Also good for absorbing spilt LHM. Even the cheapest Tesco value stuff works well.

George wrote: left it there for a couple of weeks, hoovered it out and hardly a stain left on the carpet.

Bet your car was popular with all the local moggies

Still, it avoided a catastrophy

George · Unread post by **George** » 24 Apr 2009, 21:18

Tesco's cheapo cat littler, I'll remember to put that on my shopping list, as I always like to keep some in the workshop.

Tried Asda's cheapo once, wasn't worth the saving as they added some other mineral to bulk it out.

Unread post by **myglaren** » 25 Apr 2009, 08:15

citronut wrote:LHM dose not affect pad material at all, unlike brake fluid and other oil's LHM will clean off with petrol/brake cleaner, then any residue will burn away with use,

also there is no need to depresureise the hydraulic system to remove brake bleeding kniples,

regards malcolm

That really surprises me as almost any oily contaminant will penetrate the pad material and degrade it.
Something learned there.