brake calliper / piston question

[suzuki rider]

hello good people.

Winter has taken its toll on the brakes on the bike, so gonna atempt a strip and clean.

have read a few posts on what to do but I'm still a little unsure so have a cuppla questions for you all.

1) when pumping the lever to get the pots to come out, do I need the pots to come completely out of the calliper or only enough to clean them.

2) when cleaning the pots will brake fluid be ok or do i have to use brake cleaner?

3) how easy is it to bleed the brakes afterwoods

thanks for your help guys

Rider

[Itchy]

You can pump them out a bit say 3/4 of the way out and clean the pistons if you want, as long as it is cleaned properly, you don't need to pop the pistons out, but I recomend it.


Not popping them however means that you don't have to bleed your brakes,

However you can't change or clean the seals up or the cylinder of the caliper up which may harbour some crud.

Brake fluid , brake cleaner whatever , I actually put the pistons under the tap , scrub them off and pick off any crud using a plastic ruler as it won't damage the steel piston. Dry them up with bog roll and bog roll on the seals that you take out, spray some cleaner on. Pop them back in.

Sickpup has a trick here though to minimise bleeding , put the seals back in , clean the pistons up and the body,

Now how the caliper in the palm of your hand holes facing up , put some brake fluid in about 75% up the barrel on each pot then pop the pistons back in forcing them about 80% the way in with your thumbs...

This allieviates a great deal of bleeding... not that bleeding is difficult as you need a piece of hose that goes to your bleed nipple an 8 spanner and some string if you do not have a mate to help out , you also need a glass or something brake fluid safe.

Its as simple as , pump brake lever, tie with string , undo bleed nipple (with the tube on the end in a glass of brake fluid) , do up nipple, undo brake lever, repeat until the brakes firm up , you can usually hear some creaking as the fluid forces the pistons back out again.....


Thats IF your bike has sliding calipers though.
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[suzuki rider]

thankyou for your help there itchy,

I think the front callipers are floating, as there are only two pistons on the one side of the calliper.

so popping the piston out of the calliper is recomended then?

Right my understanding of the job so far is this:

1 remove calliper from fork

2 remove brake pads

3 pump out pistons using the brake lever (what is the likelyhood of getting brake fluid everywhere?)

4 remove piston seals

5 clean the pisons, seals, and the inside of calliper using either brake cleaner or fluid.

6 replace the seals and pistons once dry

7 replace brake pads and reatach calliper to fork

8 put a bit of plastic tubing over bleed nipple and place other end into a glass jar

9 open up the master cylinder resivior and open bleed nipple and pump brake lever till fluid runs into jar

10 fill master cylinder resivior with fresh fluid of correct type

11 repete steps 9 & 10 untill the fluid running into the jar is clear brake fluid

12 repete steps 1 - 11 for the other calliper on the front wheel

is this the correct procedure?

thanks again for your help folks

Rider

[lonner]

if you are going to re-use the seals make sure you install them the correct way round as they have a leading edge and that goes to the inside.
So raised edge facing in.

you should fit new really

[suzuki rider]

Thank you zzr lon,

I didn't know that the seals had to be a particular way round. (can ya tell I've never donr this before?)

Are the 12 steps in my pevious post correct or is there any thing else that i need to do / consider?

thankyou for your help

Rider

[Shay HTFC]

I would put a piece of wood or something in the caliper when you are pumping out the pistons, because often one piston will pop out easily, but one (or more) will be stuck.
Once one has come out, there is no more pressure, so the stuck pistons won't be forced out when you continue pumping the lever.
Putting a piece of wood by the pistons and stopping them popping fully out at first stops this. Get them all out as far as possible at first without any actually popping fully out.

Try not to get in the position where you have the caliper off the brake line with a piston still stuck in the caliper. It can be a real bugger to try and get out!
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[Davie_G71]

Remember that the pistons won't move if you think they are sticking, which i'm guessing is the reason you want to re-build them

I've done this recently, only a couple of weeks ago on my SRAD, and the re-build part was fairly easy.

Bleeding brakes is the single most frustrating task on earth. I think I used all of the brake fluid in my area.

Remember to keep the resevoir toped up or you will never bleed them.

Mine need bleeding again. Pain in the arse.

What suzuki do you have?
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Suzuki GSXR600 SRAD, 1997 & Kawasaki Z1000, 2003.

[suzuki rider]

thanks for the advice Shay HTFC ill keep that in mind.

Davie_G71 I no longer own a suzuki, it was written off in a crash last year. Its for a 600cc hornet.

the reason i think the pistons are sticking is beacuse when I move the bike the front wheel squeals like a pig and it takes a fair bit of effort to move the bike.

thanks for your help and any more that you might be able to provide.

Rider.


P.s How do I get my user name changed?

[lonner]

a good tip for bleeding brakes is when you start the process .

ring spanner on the bleed nipple pipe to container.
all movements with the leaver should be done slowly (2 seconds to pull leaver to bar and same speed letting out)

then 1/2 turn on the bleed nipple as you pull leaver.
hold leaver to the bar nip up the bleed nipple.

repeat this until you see the air is about gone odd tiny bubbles.

if you now have a spongy leaver or reasonably solid feel the best thing to do is apply pressure to the leaver then tie it to the handle bar so the brake is applied and leave it for a few hrs or over knight is best.
this works and will usually solve the spongy brake issue.

this task is a lot easier if you get a one way bleed kit or a syringe for drawing the fluid through as it will free your hands up.

but the most important bit is always nip up the bleed nipple with the leaver pulled up fully to the bar and take your time .


doing it up with it in the out position just draws air back in and hence the feeling its a impossible task.


as with any brake work keep everything spotless and use new brake fluid

[Howling TerrorOutOfOffice]

something i overlooked was how nasty brake fluid is to your hands.
use some disposable 1's or at the very least borrow some from your local petrol station !


Pat
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[stinkwheel]

[suzuki rider]

Thanks for all your help folks.

I have just ordered a Motrax Little Bleeder Kit, so should be with me by wednesday. I'll be phoning my local garage tomorrow to ask them if they have front and rear piston seals and master cylinder seals in stock, I will also be going into halfords to pick up some brake fluid.

Would it be an idea to put a little bit of copper grease on the thread of the pad retaining pins and on the thread of the calliper fixing bolts?
I know I have to put a small amount on the back of the pads but I dont know what this is for, I presume its to stop the pads corroding on to the pistons

I will post pictures of my progress so everyone can laugh at my stupidity when i make a total mess of things.

Again I say thanks for all hellp given

Rider

edited for spelling

[lonner]

good lad your doing things the right way for a novice (preparation)

copper grease is a good thing on all the exposed parts as it prevents corrosion

will keep up with your progress and help where poss if needed

[Itchy]

No no no ! , copper grease is only ok for the back of brake pads and then only a smidge as it is highly abbrasive.

What you want is red rubber grease (a tub will last years if not decades) to put around the pistons.
____________________
Spain 2008France 2007Big one 2009 We all die. The goal isn't to live forever, the goal is to create something that will. In the end, your life will flash before your eyes. Make sure it is worth watching.

[lonner]

copper grease is a anti seizing compound and has a very high melting point.

it is used for threads as a anti seizing agent

works well on the rear of brake pads to reduce squealing.

and is great for use on exposed threads as gives good protection

try here for relevant uses
https://www.mandp.co.uk/productinfo/526842/Lubricants/Lubes-other/Granville

[suzuki rider]

[Itchy]

[lonner]

I'm of the opinion that hydraulic seals need to be replaced as they should not be exposed to detergents and the likes.

and as this is a learning curve for you new seals will be the right way to go as bodging on brakes is fookin dangerous and i would rather you did it correctly for this reason and also you are removing the chance of a seal failing and then having to do it all again.

when you go to the shop ask if the mechanic can show you or give you a heads up and a few tips as seeing is the best way.

[suzuki rider]

[djr]

[sickpup]

[lonner]

[suzuki rider]

Hello good people,

I thought I would post an update for thoes that are following the thread.

Went into town this morning to get some brake fluid and some copper grease so thats that bit done.

I have just gotten of the phone after ringing my local garage to find out how much piston seals are for the callipers. was told by the mechanic that they would have to order them from honda. Is that right? I thought that they would of been an off the shelf item.

Does anyone know where I could get a full set of calliper seals front and back? The bike is a Honda Hornet 600cc

Thanks for your help folks

Rider

e2a I have looked on sickpups ebay shop but could not find anything for the hornet.

[Davie_G71]

Not always

check out www.wemoto.com for parts.
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Suzuki GSXR600 SRAD, 1997 & Kawasaki Z1000, 2003.

[suzuki rider]

Nice one Davie_G71.

Thank you for the link and for the quick reply.

I wasnt expecting a reply so soon.

Will keep the thread updated as to my progress and post pics when I attempt the job

Rider