time to clean the spooge

[kevxs]

Hey guys my brakes were locking up at the end of last season so I'm
going to change the fluid and clean the spooge hole(s). I've read the spooge hole tech tip but it seems to apply for when your not changing the fluid. Any words of wisdom for me?

[CatatonicBug]

The spooge hole is a tiny passage between the fluid resevoir and the piston chamber. You can only really clear it when you have the MC all the way apart. Just disconnect it from the brake line and dump the fluid out. Pull the piston and the resvoir and look for that tiny passage. Feed a sewing needle or some other small metal object through the passage until you can see it appear in where the piston once was. Wiggle the needle a bit, then spray some brake parts cleaner in the hole. Clean it all up and re-assemble, then bleed the brakes.

[SFerinTEXAS]

Bite the bullet and tear it all down. Crap built up on the caliper pistons and on and under the seals can do this also.Do it all at once and forget about about it for a while.

[DGXSER]

Brakes ;ocking up on a bike can be a REALLY bad thing...DAMHIKIJK. I would strongly suggest to listen to these fine folks and just clean the entire system. Start by pulling a caliper, use the MC to push the piston out. Clean it well, then pull the other and use compressed air to push the other one out. Then tear down the MC also.

I use brake cleaner to wash out the lines as well.

Good luck, and if it is the back brakes, I have no clue how you could even get to the spooge hole without removing the MC and tearing it apart.

[natemoen]

Agreed. Tear it all apart and clean it all at once so you are starting with a clean slate.

[kevxs]

Yeah i pulled the front calipers off but can't get the pistons out. Don't have any compressed air and i already drained the fluid so i can't push them out with the brakes. Any other way to get those buggars out? looks like they are definately due for a cleaning

[natemoen]

You can get grease zerks that fit the bleeder hole and a bolt for the brake line hole and then pump grease into the caliper with a grease gun till it pops out.

[kevxs]

thanks guys, looks like i'll have to go back to canadian tire tomorrow for grease zerks and a bolt that fits.
Also i have the 4 screws out of the front MC and i can spin the plastic resivor around but cant get it off, should i just keep prying? i didn't want to break anything so i didn't give it all i had, i would like to take it off for cleaning though.

[crazy steve]

You don't need zerk fittings; the top of the bleeder screw will accept a grease gun. Put a bolt in the brake line hole, loosen the bleeder, put the gun on it and it'll pop right out.

A tip; fill the caliper with brake fluid by filling it through the line hole after it's off but before you put the bolt in. This limits the amount of grease you have to put in for getting the piston out, and also makes cleaning the grease out easier...

[SFerinTEXAS]

You can use the banjo bolt to plug the hole. Find a nut the banjo bolt will slide thru to take up the space of the actual banjo. Use the copper washers.

[newc4]

With my stuck pistons, I tried compresed air. What worked was connecting my MC up to each of the brake lines, did a quick bleed, then pumped the pistons out. It's a sure thing.

[James England]

I just used a mole wrnch, gripped the piston and rotated it a few times before pulling it out. I did all three of mine like that......

As everyone else has said, rebuild them completely. You can buy new stainless steel pistons if your old ones are bad.

[kevxs]

thanks very helpful, any tips on getting the plastic reservoir off the handlebars so i can clean it? so i just have to get aggressive with it?

[CatatonicBug]

thanks very helpful, any tips on getting the plastic reservoir off the handlebars so i can clean it? so i just have to get aggressive with it?

I've only dealt with ONE of those plastic resevoirs myself (the LH ones are solid metal), and I just had to twist and bend it, prying ever-so-gently around the edges until the o-ring let go. I had to replace the o-ring afterward though, and had a heck of a time finding one. Finally found a comparable replacement at a local mom-and-pop hardware store.

[kevxs]

hmm maybe i'll just leave it in and wipe it out with something