Brake Fluid

While changing the front pads and rotors on my 93 Saturn some brake fluid spilled from the resevoir. This happened when I pushed the piston back into the bore. My Haynes book says not let this happen. It says to siphon off some fluid before depressing the piston. Well I didn't do this and brake fluid spilled out. Should I be concerned? The level is still OK. Could the brake fluid damage parts is got on?

Reply to
JasonLee
Loading thread data ...

The main concern with brake fluid is that it dissolves paint. If you let it sit on a painted surface more than a few seconds, the finish is toast. It'll eat its way to bare metal quickly.

Reply to
the fly

Yes. Just hose it off with the water hose. Use common sense with the water hose.

Reply to
« Paul »

I wouldn't say "few seconds" or "quickly" in reference to brake fluid on paint. It will eat away at paint if you leave it there and don't address it. Just wash it off with water and you're done. It's not like brake fluid is some kind of highly reactive acid that will strip paint in seconds.

Reply to
Bruce Chang

It's not an acid, but it will lift paint in less than a minute. I'd call that "quickly." if you spill brake fluid on paint, you need to move with some authority to get it cleaned up.

nate

Reply to
Nate Nagel

Oh, I would! It will lift some types of paint completely within a minute. Others it will just soften no matter how long you leave it. It is a great thing to use to strip paint off most plastics, by the way. Great for getting overspray off things like tail light or side-marker light lenses. I've also heard that modellers use it to strip down plastic models (airplanes, cars, etc.) to re-paint them.

Reply to
Steve

Brake fluid works really well as a pain stripper. If you got brake fluid on any painted parts, you need to clean them off ASAP or else they will no longer be painted parts.

------------- Alex

Reply to
Alex Rodriguez

MotorsForum website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.