Whenever I have replaced the rotors on cars, I always use some type of rotor cleaner, usually whatever is cheapest. My father is telling me that I can just use simple green and some of the blue shop papertowels that we have. Is he crazy or am I blowing money on something I don't need?
put new rotors on my mystique the other week, father just washed them with soap and water, then after they were on the car I also wiped them down with brake cleaner to make sure they were clean after handling.
anything that will remove the protective coating will work
all you really gotta do is get rid of any grease/oil or brake fluid you might have gotten on them from installation, the heat from the pads contacting the rotors will take care of the rest. I've never heard of any "protective" coating though.
coating is when they are new so they don't rust from sitting in a warehouse
i used denatured alcohol to clean my new rotors and all is well
Yeah like they guy above said, just make sure they are grease and oil free. Dirt won't really matter since they get dirty as soon as you drive.
As brapple said, they have a oil on them to avoid rusting while sitting there. Just shoot the crap out of them with brake cleaner. You don't want to go out to test them and not stop too well because they're oily...
I just use dishwashing soap in warm water. I scrub them with a nylon brush and dry them off with compressed air. Works just as well as commercial brake cleaner but lots cheaper.
Last time I bought brake cleaner here it was $3 + per can. Guess that's the price I pay for living in a place with no Autozone and not much of anything else.
The FAQ section of Raybestos suggests that soap and water is still the best thing to clean a rotor. They suggest using a sink if you have the rotor off anyway, or using a spray bottle if not. They also recommend drying off the rotor only with paper towels.
Personally, I use brake clean, but I also know that soap and water actually does a better job.
