BY MIKE HAGERTY / ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED NOVEMBER 21, 2018 / NATIONAL AUTOMOTIVE PARTS ASSOCIATION / You step on the brakes one day and hear a squealing sound. And&hellip;{"id":10908,"date":"2018-11-21T13:25:54","date_gmt":"2018-11-21T21:25:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pomonaswapmeet.com\/blog\/?p=10908"},"modified":"2018-11-21T13:25:54","modified_gmt":"2018-11-21T21:25:54","slug":"brake-cleaning-tips","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pomonaswapmeet.com\/blog\/2018\/11\/21\/brake-cleaning-tips\/","title":{"rendered":"Car Brake Cleaning Tips"},"content":{"rendered":"<h5><span style=\"color: #000000;\">BY MIKE HAGERTY \/ ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED NOVEMBER 21, 2018 \/<\/span>\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.napaautocare.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">NATIONAL AUTOMOTIVE PARTS ASSOCIATION<\/a>\u00a0<span style=\"color: #000000;\">\/<\/span><\/h5>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">You step on the brakes one day and hear a<\/span>\u00a0<strong><a class=\"SWhtmlLink\" href=\"http:\/\/knowhow.napaonline.com\/how-to-fix-squeaky-brakes\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">squealing sound<\/a><\/strong><span style=\"color: #000000;\">. And it\u2019s not the tires \u2014 it\u2019s the brakes themselves. That noise from the disc brakes is often caused by brake dust, and the answer is a good cleaning. Below are some useful car brake cleaning tips to help keep your brakes running smoothly.<\/span><\/p>\n<h5><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Question: Can I Clean My Brakes?<\/strong><\/span><\/h5>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">The answer is yes. You should be able to manage the cleaning, as long as you\u2019re fairly handy and follow some simple but important safety steps along with these car brake cleaning tips.<\/span><\/p>\n<h5><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Raise the Car<\/strong><\/span><\/h5>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">A garage-style hoist is best for this, but if you don\u2019t have access to one, jack stands are the next best thing. Note that you will need more than one jack stand for the job. First, jack up the car, place the car on the jack stand (always use jack stands!), pull off the wheel, and clean the brakes. Then, put the wheel back on, reverse the jacking process, and repeat until all four brakes are done. This process will go especially smoothly if you can jack up both front wheels or all four at once. If you raise all four at the same time, your workflow will likely look something like this: jack the car up in the air, take all the tires off, clean the brakes, put the tires back on and lower the car back to the ground.<\/span><\/p>\n<h5><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Make Sure You\u2019re Equipped<\/strong><\/span><\/h5>\n<p><a class=\"SWhtmlLink\" href=\"https:\/\/www.napaonline.com\/en\/p\/CRC05088PS?cid=social_blog_102018_brake_parts_cleaner\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>A good brake cleaner<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0<span style=\"color: #000000;\">is essential for this process, as is eye protection. You\u2019ll want an appropriately sized container underneath to catch what falls while you clean. Also, check your local regulations to determine the proper method for disposing of the used brake spray and debris. Note \u2014 brake cleaner is toxic.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Be sure to carefully read the cleaner\u2019s instructions and any other literature related to the procedure. The good news is that the liquid does most of the work. You just need to spray it on the rotors, hubs, linings, springs, fasteners, cylinders and drums, and other brake hardware at a distance of 18-24 inches. Make sure to avoid getting any on the plastic, rubber and painted surfaces of your car and garage. Spray from the top down, cleaning the dirt away from the brake. Get the surfaces good and wet with the spray. A lot of the gunk will dislodge and come off on its own.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">After you\u2019re finished spraying, you\u2019ll need a wire brush. Use this to remove any dirt and dust from the caliper housing and backing plate. After that, you can either let the brakes air dry or wipe them down with a clean rag. If you\u2019ve got a severe buildup of dirt, dust and grime, you might have to repeat this process.<\/span><\/p>\n<h5><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Time for a Road Test<\/strong><\/span><\/h5>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">After you\u2019ve put the wheels back on, tightened the lug nuts to the correct<\/span>\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.napaonline.com\/en\/p\/BK_7768077?cid=social_blog_102018_brake_parts_cleaner\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>torque specification<\/strong><\/a><span style=\"color: #000000;\">, and lowered the car, take your vehicle for a spin! Enjoy the quiet when you step on the brake pedal.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Check out all the<\/span>\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.napaonline.com\/en\/c\/chemicals\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>chemical &amp; lubricant products<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0<span style=\"color: #000000;\">available on<\/span>\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.napaonline.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>NAPA Online<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0<span style=\"color: #000000;\">or trust one of their 16,000\u00a0<\/span><strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.napaautocare.com\/store-finder.aspx\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">NAPA AutoCare locations<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0<span style=\"color: #000000;\">for routine maintenance and repairs. For more information on brake cleaning tips, chat with a knowledgeable expert at your<\/span>\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.napaonline.com\/en\/store-locator\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>local NAPA AUTO PARTS store<\/strong><\/a><span style=\"color: #000000;\">.<\/span><\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><em><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Photo Credit:<\/span> <a href=\"https:\/\/commons.wikimedia.org\/wiki\/File:Brake_caliper_honda_jazz.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>Brake Caliper of a Honda Jazz<\/strong><\/a> <span style=\"color: #000000;\">by Tharish (<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-sa\/3.0\/legalcode\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>CC BY_SA 3.0<\/strong><\/a><span style=\"color: #000000;\">),\u00a0from Wikimedia Commons<\/span><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\"><i><span style=\"color: #000000;\">This article has been reproduced with the permission of the copyright holder, National Automotive Parts Association. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Click here for more<\/span>\u00a0<\/i><strong><i><a href=\"http:\/\/knowhow.napaonline.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">automotive tips and stories<\/a><\/i><\/strong><i>\u00a0<span style=\"color: #000000;\">from NAPA, or here for more information on<\/span>\u00a0<strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.pomonaswapmeet.com\/event-info\/car-show-hours-dates\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">the next Pomona Swap Meet &amp; Classic Car Show<\/a><\/strong><span style=\"color: #000000;\">.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":null,"protected":false},"author":98,"featured_media":10910,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"cos_headline_score":0,"cos_seo_score":0,"cos_headline_text":"","cos_headline_has_been_analyzed":false,"cos_last_analyzed_headline":[],"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[805],"tags":[5325,6705,4958,4373,6699,6700,6702,6703,6701,6590,3491,3037,6704],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.pomonaswapmeet.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/Brake_caliper_honda_jazz.jpg?fit=1000%2C562&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9nnZN-2PW","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pomonaswapmeet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10908"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pomonaswapmeet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pomonaswapmeet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pomonaswapmeet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/98"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pomonaswapmeet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10908"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.pomonaswapmeet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10908\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10911,"href":"https:\/\/www.pomonaswapmeet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10908\/revisions\/10911"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pomonaswapmeet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10910"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pomonaswapmeet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10908"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pomonaswapmeet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10908"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pomonaswapmeet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10908"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}