How To Clean Brake Discs: Old, Used, Or Rusty Brake Discs
If you have old, heavily used, or rusty brake discs, then it's
important to clean them. Here's a step-by-step guide to bring your brake
discs back to life.
Brake discs are crucial to your car's lifespan, performance, and safety features. If they get extremely dirty or begin to rust, this can compromise your vehicle's ability to drive, brake properly, or function safely. In particular, rusty brake discs can make driving both dangerous and costly; you could spend hundreds to repair or replace the brake discs.
Luckily, you can prevent this and improve the lifespan of your brake discs by cleaning them regularly. What does this cleaning routine look like, and how often should the discs be cleaned? Let's find out:
How To Clean Your Brakes Discs
It will take 30 minutes to an hour to clean your brake discs. If you don't want to perform this cleaning routine yourself, a skilled Autofusion mechanic can easily handle the process for you.
If you don't mind the time and effort, however, it's possible to do this at home. This saves money, but also allows you to better understand the condition of your vehicle. Here's how to clean your brake discs personally:
Choose The Right Spot
The process will involve using brake cleaner. As such, ensure that you're in a well-ventilated area and do not breathe in the fumes. If needed, wearing a safety mask will help.
You should also carefully avoid getting brake cleaner on your driveway, as it could stain the area.
Jack Up The Car
To access the brakes, you should jack the car up and support it with an axle stand.
It's best to clean the brakes individually, so once the car is securely off the ground, use the wheel nut to take the wheels off one at a time.
Remove The Caliper
With the first wheel off, remove the brake caliper so that the brake disc is fully accessible. It can be removed by taking out the caliper bolts. Then, the caliper should slide up and off the brake disc.
It may be a bit tough to remove, so keep wiggling it until it becomes loose. After it's free, set the caliper aside.
Remove The Brake Disc
With the caliper off, you'll be able to remove the brake disc for cleaning. It's held in place by a few bolts. Once they're removed, the disc should slide out of place.
Clean It Properly
You can now clean it with an old rag and some brake cleaning fluid.
You may notice a line of rust around the disc rim. This is fairly normal. Apply the brake cleaning fluid to the disc and use your rag to gently wipe down the surface to remove it.
Check For Wear And Tear
Once you've cleaned the disc, it's smart to check it for signs of wear and tear. If you can see heavy pitting or score marks anywhere on the brake disc, then it should be replaced. If you're happy with the condition of your brake discs, however, you can move on.
Put the disc back into place using the correct bolts. Make sure to screw them in tightly.
Optional: Clean The Calipers
If you want to, you can also clean your brake calipers. You can do this using the same process as above. For tougher areas of dirt, use a wire brush.
When cleaning the caliper, be careful not to damage the piston seal.
Repeat
Repeat this process for the other three wheels. Once you're done, you can double-check that everything is in its correct place and then take your car down from the jack.
How To Clean Rusty Brake Discs
Rust is common on brake discs, because of their base material (typically cast iron) and their location on your car. Unfortunately, there's little you can do to prevent this rust from building up.
The easiest and most efficient way to remove it is by driving the car and regularly applying the brakes. This will cause the rust to scrape off the discs, revealing the shiny metal underneath.
What Removes Brake Dust?
With that said, every time you brake on rusty discs and the brake pads rub against the discs, tiny metal particles are deposited. Over time, these can build up to produce a fine dust, which is corrosive to the paint around your car's wheels. To prevent that, the dust needs to be removed.
The easiest way is by using a mixture of warm water and washing liquid. You should:
- Use a hose to spray off the worst of the dirt and dust
- With a wheel brush and soapy water, clean the wheels
- Make sure you get into all the nooks and crannies. For extremely small corners, use an old toothbrush
- Once you've removed the grime, give the wheel another hose-down
- Finally, dry it with a thick cloth.
How To Prevent Brake Dust Build Up On Wheels
Brake dust will always occur because of the way your brakes work. However, you can limit it by using a brake dust shield. This is a gadget that attaches to the inside of your wheel to prevent the dust from settling there. It usually comes in packs of two and can easily be fitted at home.
When paired with a regular cleaning routine for the brake discs, your wheels and the paint surrounding them on the car will last longer and better serve you.