brake cleaner warning -- DANGER!!!

C

chris0626

New member
I had picked up a good tip here -- to use brake cleaner for engine-cleaning. On much of the engine I use the EFHI or Gunk's engine cleaner. But on hard-to-reach places, I like the brake cleaner because it does a good cleaning job and evaporates quickly -- so it's great for hard-to-reach spots where it's hard to wipe. It leaves little residue and and doesn't require careful/thorough wiping. Yesterday, I spent about 12 hours detailing the engine in prep for concours. Did all I could with cleaners, degreasers, etc. As a last step, I decided to do the brake cleaner on the engine head (where to spark plugs go in), because it has so many little nooks and crannies. But I'd had enough trouble with electrical and water that I decided to start the engine, then apply the brake cleaner on the block. GUESS WHAT??? The engine burst into flames!!! :eek: Fortunately, I snagged the extinguisher and put it out without too much trouble. But ... if there are any newbies out there who are as stupid as I am, you might want to stay away from this application. I'm guessing that the brake-cleaner has some solvents that somehow caught fire; fortunately (and thanks to quick action), the flames didn't actually melt or discolor any engine components significantly. But .... please, don't anybody else be as stupid as I was. :( Don't use brake-cleaner with your engine running.
 
Good Lord, Lynn!! Glad you are ok and your car is ok! And good thing you have an extinguisher close by (though, you do have a Jag... ;) ). The reason brake cleaner evaporates so quickly, leaves no residue, and readily removes grease is that it is all solvents and such. It is highly flammable. Glad it was just a :o and not a :scared as your car burned down.
 
Sheesh!! Be thankful you didn't get burned Lynn. Brake Cleaner is basically ALL solvent. It's main function is disolving grease and grime on rotors so the pads can seat in correctly.



Flames + Brake Cleaner = Bad. ;)
 
Further note of caution: many brake cleaner products are very harmful to plastics, paints, rubber, etc.



I've seen more than a few brake cleaner products cause plastic parts to turn brittle and crack/shatter easily...it's good stuff when used properly, but IMHO, too many people use it as a "cure all."



Glad to hear you're ok - fire ain't fun!
 
Welllllll .... If I had posted this yesterday, it would have sounded lots more hysterical. :lol But today, I'm pretty calm about it all. "All's well that ends well," as the Bard said.



The recommendation to use brake-cleaner fluid is a pretty good one, PROVIDED you get all the caveats. And, thanks, geeky for your warning about plastics; I never thought about that; but also, I did not apply it to any plastics -- just to metal parts.



So .... use braker cleaner only on a cool engine that's not running, and only on metal parts. Right? Or are there other cautions we need to add?
 
geekysteve said:
I've seen more than a few brake cleaner products cause plastic parts to turn brittle and crack/shatter easily...it's good stuff when used properly, but IMHO, too many people use it as a "cure all."
Click to expand...



Indeed. Make sure to ALWAYS use a Non-chlorinated cleaner. Even then, you need to be careful. :)
 
ShowroomLincoln said:
Indeed. Make sure to ALWAYS use a Non-chlorinated cleaner. Even then, you need to be careful. :)
Click to expand...



Actually, a chlorinated brake cleaner is not flammable, while a non chlorinated brake cleaner typically contains mostly toluene, which is very flammable. Chlorinated brake cleaners are very hard to find and they have their own inherent problems, but are excellent degreasers. Definitely make sure the cleaner is dry before starting the engine if you are using a non chlorinated brake cleaner. :eek:
 
Chlorinated brake cleaner also destroys plastic and rubber parts, non-chlorinated is less harmful to the said parts.
 
Aargh! Chlorinated? Non-chlorinated? I don't have a clue. All I know is: I bought brake cleaner. Used brake cleaner. And that puppy went up in flames like an Iraqui oil field. :eek:



So ... UGH! I've been out in our 102-degree heat, trying to re-clean the engine. :( The rubber spark-plug covers don't seem to have melted, though they have darkened due to the smoke/fire damage. But the worst is trying to clean all the little remnants of fire-extinguisher chemical. Thanks to my day job, I know that fire-extinguisher residue is very caustic, and I thought I'd cleaned it all up yesterday. But, alas, there's still some residue sitting on the engine. :( So I'm working on it, slowly and Autopianly.
 
"Holy Smokes"

Be Careful, It Would be Terrible To Damage The Jag, Or Even More importantly, Yourself!

Always Use Caustion When Combining Chemicals And Heat, Etc!



Thank Goodness You And The Car Are Both OK!!
 
Lynn- YIKES indeed! I can see why you directed me to this thread...sure glad you're OK and that the car didn't suffer any major damage. A cautionary tale for everyone doing underhood work.
 
Wowzers Lynn! :scared



I'm sure glad you and the Jag are ok...



No need to tell me about that "watch for flammables" stuff though... I go looking for them! :D Every now and then when I'm bored, I'll go to the garage and see what I can get to catch on fire. Along with WD-40, brake cleaners are among my favorites.



What can I say? I'm a pyro... :angry :lol
 
Wow, Magellan. But I didn't realize it was flammable. :( I guess I read the label warnings ('cause I'm the nutso type who even reads the labels on toothpaste and aspirin!) when I first started using it for engine-cleaning. But after several details of using it that way, on cold engines, I just never thought to re-read the label before cranking up the engine. :(
 
Most aerosol brake cleaners also contain perchloroethylene, which is an amazingly good cleaner (some in the industry use it on impossible carpet/fabric stains with success, at the risk of removing adhesive backings however) but also very toxic. It's the primary solvent used in dry cleaning businesses ( hence it's success with fabric stains), and a classified probable carcinogen to boot. Even if you use it on brakes, wearing gloves is a smart idea.



Be careful out there. :)



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Well I guess labels don't hold a candle to experience.



Moral of the story; Make sure you've tried to light anything you apply to a car on fire before you apply it to the car.



:LOLOL
 
Lynn, You might want to "Backyard Test" your plug wires for poor insulation. Fill a squirt bottle with water. At a low light condition, lightly mist the wires(Engine running) and look for a "light show", indicating suspect wire/wires. The Brake Cleaner got touched off by an errant spark....Why?
 
Holy Smokes! Seriously, sorry this happened to you Lynn, and glad you are ok.



Brake cleaner is a solvent and like most solvents, is flammable. Like the can reads, don't use near heat sources or open flame. Even the engine degreaser you are using and flush away with water can catch fire if it isn't washed away properly or if it pools in cavities in, for instance, the exhaust manifold area or by the downpipes.



Brake cleaner does not, however, hurt all paint or all plastic. That strictly depends upon the composition of both. In fact, in my experience it shows no effect on over 80% of the finishes I use it. But like anything, TEST it before you use it in an onbious place. Carb spray, which is a much more potent solvent, will damage both nearly every time.
 
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