Is wrong brake grease bad or should I clean it off?
Using the wrong lubricant on brake pads can cause rubber boot deterioration and trapped contaminants. It leaves you wondering whether you need to disassemble the brakes again to clean it off before it causes premature part failure.
What the numbers show
Counted from the threads quoted below. How we count
- This comes up 13.2× more often in r/AskMechanics than across the site as a whole.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
Found another way around this?
Share your steps and trade-offs so fellow engineers don't have to reinvent the wheel. No account required.
- 1leaving the current grease on if it isn't causing noiseDid this help you?
- 2pulling the pads apart to clean off the incorrect grease and reapply the specified typeDid this help you?
- 3using standard silicone-based brake lubricant like sil-glydeDid this help you?
- 4Using multipurpose brake caliper synthetic grease for both applicationsDid this help you?
- 5Replacing the grease with Sil-GlydeDid this help you?
- 6Using simple gel lubricantDid this help you?
- 7Using graphite powder combined with gel instead of ceramicDid this help you?
- 8Cleaning out the incorrect grease and replacing it with Sil-Glyde silicone brake lube.Did this help you?
- 9consulting Reddit for advice from other mechanicsDid this help you?
- 10using general-purpose silicone lube for multiple brake componentsDid this help you?
In their words
Unedited, grouped by where they were said, most upvoted first within each place, each linked to the thread it came from.
“Would this cause the rubber boots to deteriorate any faster than their regular sil-glyde brake lube?”source ↗
“Any harm leaving the copper grease on or should I pull the pads and clean it off?”source ↗
“Starting to question if I should clean and replace this grease with SIL Glyde tomorrow.”source ↗
“3rd time taking these brakes apart this week. Starting to annoy me”source ↗
“Gotta change the rear rotors and brake pads off my 09 Honda CR-V.”source ↗
“Do I need 2 different kinds of lubricants ? 1 for the slider pins and 1 for other metal to metal contacts?”source ↗
“Starting to question the quality of this grease and wondering if I should clean everything out and replace with Sil-Glyde tomorrow?”source ↗
“Slide pins... Inside? Not a good idea, but will work, as advertised.”source ↗
“Pins must move freely, ceramic can become like a glue.”source ↗
“Im overthinking it. People saying there pins seized using the purple stuff”source ↗
Where this came up
People with this problem also raised
- 2Accidentally put the wrong oil in my car
- 6How do I know if brake pad hardware is installed correctly?
- 3Why do brakes get squeaky and stick even after you lubricate them?
- 5I accidentally put the wrong fluid in my car
- 7Why are my front brake pads wearing unevenly?
- 8Why do brakes still fail after replacing calipers and bleeding?