Switched from Permatex Purple to Mission Silicone

[Deontologist]

I hadn't even used the Permatex Purple for two weeks and my front brakes were seizing up. Coming to a stop, the car would violently pull to a side. This is a Lexus IS350c with the monobloc calipers and the single slide pin is pretty much 100% exposed to the elements, and water+brake dust like to make a goo that seizes the slide pin.

I ended up cleaning off all the pins, front and rear, and replacing the Permatex ceramic brake grease with 100% silicone grease. No more sticking and pulling! I drove through heavy rain and deep puddles and that didn't faze the grease at all!

 

[demarpaint]

I use their green disk brake grease on the ears of the pads and contact points. I use Sil-Glyde for the pins. I have been doing this for as far back as I can remember w/o issue. I used their ceramic grease on my 2000 Century and ended up cleaning it all up and going back to the green and SG lubes after about 2 months of winter driving.

Having said that, if it works good for you stay with it.

 

[Patrick0525]

I also use Mission Silicone on a dual caliper pin Toyota Venza and do far it is ok.

 

[CharBaby]

Originally Posted by demarpaint
I use their green disk brake grease on the ears of the pads and contact points. I use Sil-Glyde for the pins. I have been doing this for as far back as I can remember w/o issue. I used their ceramic grease on my 2000 Century and ended up cleaning it all up and going back to the green and SG lubes after about 2 months of winter driving.

Having said that, if it works good for you stay with it.


Dido!

I've been doing the exact same thing. Permatex Green(or Black) on the ears and often on the backing plates of the pads if needed to eliminate squeal, & Sil-Glyde on the caliper sliders.

I've been entertaining the thought of getting the Permatex Purple(~$20) since I need a new jar of goop/paste anyway. But I'll hold off for now and may just stay with what I've been using.

Also, should I find a large tub of CRC Black Silicone Brake Lube(PepBoys), I may just buy that as I've had good success with it as well and it's a good price. Plus, I use the CRC around the garage for other things. However, I just don't get to PB's very often. But, you get a lot more CRC for ~$20 than with the Permatex.

 

[qdeezie]

Ok, this thread has my attention.

I just had a problem with my Ford Focus brake calipers seizing up using this stuff and did not connect the dots. I figured dirt somehow got into the caliper boot and caused the pin to seize up. I replaced the pins and boots on both sides of my vehicle literally on Wednesday this week and lubed them with Permatex Purple. I went to Amazon to read about this product, then made my way over to the source itself - Permatex's site - and this stuff is meant for metal to metal contact.

Great. My car has rubber boots (metal to rubber contact).

Looks like I have to tear into my brakes right now and get this stuff off and hope it hasn't already caused damage to my rubber boots.

In y'all's opinion, would it make sense just to order new rubber boots and play it safe or hope that no damage has occured to the new boots over the last few days?

 

[CharBaby]

The rubber boots should be available at just about any of your local parts stores for you Focus and they should not be too expensive in the grand scheme of thing. And, they're quite easy to replace for the DIYer.

I believe that many manufactures have these rubber boots in kits of 4 for the front and 4 for the rear(if the rear are disc). This should be quite an easy job with a few hand tools like, pliers to pull'em out and a deep socket(of the correct size) to tap'em back in and can probably be done right on the car without removing the calipers(maybe)!

 

[spasm3]

I never use the purple stuff on slide pins. I would only recommend sil-glyde ( there are 2 kinds of sil-glyde, get the bk4 not sg4), mission, 3M, or some other silicone grease.

https://www.amazon.com/AGS-BK4-Brak...qid=1564841701&s=gateway&sr=8-12

https://www.amazon.com/Mission-Auto...keywords=brake+grease&qid=1564841733

https://www.amazon.com/3M-08946-Cle...qid=1564841818&s=gateway&sr=8-11

 

[qdeezie]

Originally Posted by spasm3
I never use the purple stuff on slide pins. I would only recommend sil-glyde ( there are 2 kinds of sil-glyde, get the bk4 not sg4), mission, 3M, or some other silicone grease.

https://www.amazon.com/AGS-BK4-Brak...qid=1564841701&s=gateway&sr=8-12

https://www.amazon.com/Mission-Auto...keywords=brake+grease&qid=1564841733

https://www.amazon.com/3M-08946-Cle...qid=1564841818&s=gateway&sr=8-11


Thank you for this post. I am going to go with 3M. Never had a bad experience with their products.

 

[Nukeman7]

The Permatex Ceramic (purple) brake caliper grease causes many types of rubber to swell up because it is petroleum based, not silicone based. It normally does not create an issue with the slide pin bellow boots; however, it will cause the caliper slide pins to bind up if either the upper or lower pin has a rubber collar ring on it. I now only use 100% silicone grease (such as Sil-Glyde from NAPA) on the slide pins. It is thoroughly discussed on BITOG here:

Permatex Purple Grease Problems

 

[Deontologist]

Originally Posted by qdeezie
Ok, this thread has my attention.

I just had a problem with my Ford Focus brake calipers seizing up using this stuff and did not connect the dots. I figured dirt somehow got into the caliper boot and caused the pin to seize up. I replaced the pins and boots on both sides of my vehicle literally on Wednesday this week and lubed them with Permatex Purple. I went to Amazon to read about this product, then made my way over to the source itself - Permatex's site - and this stuff is meant for metal to metal contact.

Great. My car has rubber boots (metal to rubber contact).

Looks like I have to tear into my brakes right now and get this stuff off and hope it hasn't already caused damage to my rubber boots.

In y'all's opinion, would it make sense just to order new rubber boots and play it safe or hope that no damage has occured to the new boots over the last few days?


The marketing is extremely, extremely confusing. The Permatex bottle says for metal-to-metal contact on the back. The front says fine for caliper slide pins. Eric of South Main Auto on YouTube uses this stuff on everything without a care in the world. The Permatex website says metal-to-metal contact only. This datasheet from Permatex (linked below) says that the purple stuff conforms with JIS K2228 8.10 standard, which is a Japanese standard about compatibility of substances with rubber and EPDM (like caliper boots). JIS K 2228 specifies a non-petroleum base rubber lubricant.

https://441py33rout1ptjxn2lupv31-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/tech_docs/tds/20354.pdf

So, really, everyone is saying different things. I decided to return the Permatex purple and got some 100% silicone paste grease instead. I'm not in the business of supporting businesses that can't even get their information straight.

 

[maxdustington]

Originally Posted by Nukeman7
I now only use 100% silicone grease (such as Sil-Glyde from NAPA) on the slide pins.
You might want to look at the MSDS for Sil-Glyde. It's less that 10% silicone IIRC.

 

[spackard]

They also have a 100% silicone version, red, Permatex 80653, with ceramic solids.

The purple stuff is very difficult to wash off fingers. I assume that means it's difficult for water to wash it away once it's applied to the pins.

 

[doitmyself]

Sil-Glyde bk4 vs. sg4: when I spoke with the company numerous years ago , they said the products were the same, just in different packages for marketing purposes. This is borne out on the SDS that covers all products: http://www.shoptca.com/images/AGSSG4_SDS.pdf ....The sg4 label even states good for brake use. And, yes it's been discussed MANY times here: SilGlyde is a castor oil based lube with just a trace of silicone in it. That's not a bad thing. It's an excellent brake lube with a history of devoted users. It does NOT pass the palm/water test below as well as silicone.

Lots of old timers here have played the high tech grease roulette and have gone back to silicone for enclosed pins and moly paste for exposed metal to metal.

I've been promoting the following grease for exposed to weather metal-to-metal parts. It is a moly paste similar to Dow M77, except has less moly,is PAO base vs. silicone (M77), and is much cheaper. Put some of this on your palm an it will NOT mix with or wash off under running water. Picture doesn't do justice: https://goodson.com/collections/brake-lubes/products/bpl-2400-pastelub-brake-lubricant I use it on ag. gate hinges, rotor hats, etc.. Huge tub will last a LONG time.

 

[JTK]

Originally Posted by Deontologist

Eric of South Main Auto on YouTube uses this stuff on everything without a care in the world. The Permatex website says metal-to-metal contact only. This datasheet from Permatex (linked below) says that the purple stuff conforms with JIS K2228 8.10 standard, which is a Japanese standard about compatibility of substances with rubber and EPDM (like caliper boots). JIS K 2228 specifies a non-petroleum base rubber lubricant.


RIght? I was surprised about this as well. He discusses this too because everyone has opinions and experiences to share about what lube to use. He claims he's never had an issue/return. I had bought a bottle of the purple "ceramic, synthetic.." grease years ago. Like back in 2006. I never have tried it on pins, but I can't say the sil-glyde I have used for 16yrs or so is the best. I've had it turn to a very thick yellow/orange-ish paste over time in/on the caliper pins.