Please Help! I'm an idiot without front brakes!

[Falcor]

Sooooooo, hi guys .

Usually I never have problems replacing my pads but for some reason on this day, everything just went down hill. I take the caliper off, take the pads out, push the pistons back, put new pads in and try to mount it. Hmm pistons aren't pushed back far enough, so I try pushing them further, no dice no matter how hard I try and even if I get them both all the way in at the same time they both pushed back out.

Soooo I had this brilliant idea of pulling the front brake lever to get the pistons all the way back out, except only one piston would come out all the way and the other was stuck at about 50%. Now, here is where my IQ jumps through the roof into the Genius level. I thought to myself, maybe if I just keep pulling the lever the other one will come out further.

Plop! The freaking piston that was out all the way falls out of the caliper and I quickly move the caliper away from everything and luckily the brake fluid only got on things that it won't damage.

So now I'm at the point where I got the piston back in and was able to push them both all the way in since the liquid had now released itself into the wild. I got the pads on and put the caliper back on the rotor and bolted it in.

Now the problem is since the brake fluid came out My brake lever no longer does anything aside from flop around, yay.... Which obviously is intentional when the fluid leaves the system. So I put more brake fluid in and tried doing a ghetto brake bleed to get the front brakes to function at least a little, no dice. That thing is still flopping around like it drank way too much Whiskey.


Help

[Motofool]

Originally Posted by Falcor

..........Now the problem is since the brake fluid came out My brake lever no longer does anything aside from flop around, yay.... Which obviously is intentional when the fluid leaves the system. So I put more brake fluid in and tried doing a ghetto brake bleed to get the front brakes to function at least a little, no dice. That thing is still flopping around like it drank way too much Whiskey.

Your system has lots of air inside.
Your problem is pulling all the air out while keeping the system full of fluid.

[misfitsailor]

Some of the air that gets trapped is often at the top of the brake line. Loosen the banjo bolt where the brake line connects to the master cylinder. Use it like another bleeder; pump, hold, loosen bolt, snug it down, release lever, repeat. I just did this when changing brake lines recently.

Be sure to cover anything that may get brake fluid on it. Use DOT-4 only.

[Falcor]

I ran over to my father's to get a 8mm wrench so I can easily do the bleed instead of using the 5/16th ratchet I had which wasn't cutting it.

Bled it real nice and good and made sure I still had a good amount of brake fluid up top and everything seems to be working perfectly now.

There was a lottttt of air in there.

Ha, well at least it makes for a good story .

[alex.s]

lets not leave out the most important detail that started all of this...

your disgusting stuck piston.

you need to do something about that.

[Falcor]

Yeah this weekend i'll probably sit down and take the caliper back off and clean everything.

[alex.s]

maybe it's just me, but i would not even bother installing a caliper with a stuck piston. and riding it with a stuck piston is asking to melt your caliper and scorch your rotor

[Falcor]

Oh it's not completely stuck.

I've had a stuck piston in the rear before when I got the bike. It just doesn't come out all the way, it will come out enough for the little travel distance it needs now with the new pads so i'll be fine for a few days.

[Falcor]

So I rode it around the msf course the next block over and the brakes work fine, the only problem I'm having is backing the bike up. Seems like it goes a little bit and then the brakes are just grabbing onto the rotor.

So that piston s definitely seizing on me it seems.

From what I can tell i'll be fine to ride it but backing up is going to be a pain. I don't have the time tonight or the 8mm wrench anymore incase I need it to do anything tonight so I'll probably take it back off tomorrow.

[rojoracing53]

Originally Posted by Falcor

Sooooooo, hi guys .

Usually I never have problems replacing my pads but for some reason on this day, everything just went down hill. I take the caliper off, take the pads out, push the pistons back, put new pads in and try to mount it. Hmm pistons aren't pushed back far enough, so I try pushing them further, no dice no matter how hard I try and even if I get them both all the way in at the same time they both pushed back out.

Soooo I had this brilliant idea of pulling the front brake lever to get the pistons all the way back out, except only one piston would come out all the way and the other was stuck at about 50%. Now, here is where my IQ jumps through the roof into the Genius level. I thought to myself, maybe if I just keep pulling the lever the other one will come out further.

Plop! The freaking piston that was out all the way falls out of the caliper and I quickly move the caliper away from everything and luckily the brake fluid only got on things that it won't damage.

So now I'm at the point where I got the piston back in and was able to push them both all the way in since the liquid had now released itself into the wild. I got the pads on and put the caliper back on the rotor and bolted it in.

Now the problem is since the brake fluid came out My brake lever no longer does anything aside from flop around, yay.... Which obviously is intentional when the fluid leaves the system. So I put more brake fluid in and tried doing a ghetto brake bleed to get the front brakes to function at least a little, no dice. That thing is still flopping around like it drank way too much Whiskey.


Help

I'm sorry but

we all have those moments of brilliance

[rojoracing53]

Originally Posted by alex.s

maybe it's just me, but i would not even bother installing a caliper with a stuck piston. and riding it with a stuck piston is asking to melt your caliper and scorch your rotor

[Falcor]

Originally Posted by rojoracing53

Yeah i'll probably be taking the cage tomorrow .

Although, on the bright side I got 2 gallons of free gas to top off my tank for helping someone push their stuck car from a light to the gas station on the corner of the intersection .

[alex.s]

Originally Posted by Falcor

Oh it's not completely stuck.

I've had a stuck piston in the rear before when I got the bike. It just doesn't come out all the way, it will come out enough for the little travel distance it needs now with the new pads so i'll be fine for a few days.

any stuck is stuck. take the piston out and clean the crap off the sides and walls and make sure any seals are in good shape. you can keep it from happening in the future by cleaning all of the crap on the pistons off before you shove them back in

riding on this thing is asking for front brake failure. do you know what front brake failure means? often times it means you crash. either the front wheel locks up, or it simply stops working and you smack into a car or a pole or something. or the caliper just melts. look up photos of melted calipers from stuck pistons.

be smart.

[Falcor]

Just to update everyone I did a thorough cleaning and lube job on the front caliper last night and it works beautifully now.

I often forget how much wear and tear my bike gets with 24k miles and being outside the majority of it's life.

[csmith12]