XJ Front MC Spooge Hole Pics

[Jerry]

I rebuilt my XJ's front master brake cylinder over the weekend. Here are a couple photos of the infamous spooge hole:

Master cylinder:


Spooge hole:


Spooge hole is the tiny top-of-photo hole, the one with the "dish" around it. I cleaned it with a single stand of wire from an 18 gauge speaker cable.

Black cable in top photo is the fluid level sensor, for those of you not familiar with the XJ's more complicated system of sensors and wiring. Rear master cylinder has a similar sensor.

Rebuild was staight-forward, had a bit of an issue getting my snap ring pliers into the plunger recess to remove and install the snap ring, but worked through it OK. No real problems bleeding the front caliper. (The XJ has a linked system, rear and front-left caliper run off the rear master cylinder, front right caliper runs off the front master cylinder.) Bench-bled the cylinder before I put it back on the bike, bled at the caliper until bubbles were out and brake lever worked as intended. Nice to have that front brake back in service!

Reason for rebuild was pressure not releasing from the right-front caliper, a sure sign the spooge hole was plugged.

[DiverRay]

Jerry,
Is this the fix from problems you had last fall?
Ray

[Jerry]

Yep. Actually, I had gotten pretty good about not using the front brake. PITA not having it in some circumstances.

This spring I am doing quite a bit of long-defered maintenance, like the master cylinder rebuild, re-wiring the Vetter fairing harness, and next week a carb clean and synch. Put on a new front tire a few weeks ago. 1 project per weekend. Also on the list is middle and final gear lubricant changes. Working up the nerve to change the cam chain and adjust valves. After that, taking care of the first-gear skip.....aren't old bikes fun?

BTW, found complete Molex connectors with the .093 AMP pins at Radio Shack. Store did not have the pins as separate items, so I bought the smallest (2-pin) connector to get them. Radio Shack guy told me that within a month all these small parts and pieces will be returned to the warehouse and most stores will no longer carry them.