Master Cylinder Dissasembly

[hyaall]

I'm wondering if anyone can help me with some direction to dissasembly of the (front) master cylinder. I'm looking at this thing and can't tell from either the manual or immagination how I would pull it apart. (This is for a 79 X11 F)

Thanks,
Hyaall

[Mike Hart]

m/c disassembly

Hi there

I moved your post here to XS/XJ discussion area, perhaps we need to re-word the forum tag for How-Do-I, you are far from the first to post a perfectly good 'how do I fix (whatever' bike question there.

Yet another tech tip that needs doing! Can't direct you to a tip with photos. There is a circlip holding the plunger in, and it's waayy in there, once you get that circlip out, the plunger comes out.

There IS a tip on plunger reinstallation once you've solved the circlip bit.

[xjguy]

getting it out

i found out getting the piston out is very trying-
you can get more access to the circlip-by pushing the piston in to the cylinder as far as possible by hand then put a bolt or metal
rod through the side mounting hole to hold the piston down.you will need circlip pliers with a long(1 1/2- 2") reach. kd tools make pliers with interchageable tips-still a pain tho.

[hyaall]

Thanks for the tips folks

[trapper_canada]

Re: getting it out

Originally posted by xjguy
i found out getting the piston out is very trying-
you can get more access to the circlip-by pushing the piston in to the cylinder as far as possible by hand then put a bolt or metal
rod through the side mounting hole to hold the piston down.you will need circlip pliers with a long(1 1/2- 2") reach. kd tools make pliers with interchageable tips-still a pain tho.

K...I need to get the piston out as I am 99.9% sure the plunger has unseeded....it won't 'pump' any brake fluid.

I am not too sure where the "circlip" is. Is it where the lever presses the cylinder? There is currently a rubber do-dad covering it...do I just pull this off?

Any further descriptions for a 100% non-wrench would be appreciated

Thanks

[Ken Talbot]

Yes, the rubber boot needs to come off before you can get to the circlip. There is a good chance the boot will if you just grab it with a pair of needlenose pliers and pull. There is a spring molded into the wide bit at the bottom that keeps it sort of sealed from the elements. See if you can work a fine jewellers screwdriver down in beside the boot to break the wide end free of the side of the housing as you gently tug with your fingers or needlenose pliers on the other end of the boot.

[trapper_canada]

thanks.

Well I got the rubber off and then I used a small awl to pop out a horseshoe spaped metal ring...I assume this is the circlip.

But I can't seem to get the piston/plunger out. Is there something else holding this in? I pulled pretty hard on the piston but couldn't get it to budge. It almost looked like there was another washer tpe thing? It looked rusty?

[Ken Talbot]

Usually, the circlip has to come off first, then the U shaped ring comes out, and finally the piston. If you found the U shaped ring under the boot, but still haven't removed a circlip, it may still be in there. Did you find a lot of cr@p under the boot? Cold be that the circlip is there and just still buried in 'stuff'.....

[Ron]

When I rebuilt my XS1100 m/c it was difficult to pull out the piston. I don't know about a U clip *and* circlip Ken speaks of, I only recall the circlip. Partial circle, need an awl or special pliers to remove as it sits in a groove.

Sounds like you got the circlip out, clean out the hole if it's messy and pull like hell!

It's been probably 4 years since I did it... maybe I forgot something, but I seem to remember that day pretty well. It was a PITA and took a couple hours to get everything figured out and finished. Now that I've done it, it seems very simple - I would not hesitate to do it again.

Ron.

[trapper_canada]

I am pretty sure I got the circlip out...but that piston does not want to come out...perhaps you're right Ron and I just have to pull harder. Is it possible that it is rusted in there?

[Ron]

I don't want to encourage you to the point of breaking your m/c.

But yes, I think it is simply stuck in there and you just need to Pull Harder. Hopefully someone will chime in with more ideas.

Is there anyway to use a drift or something to tap/push it out? I don't recall the piston being accessible from the other end, but it's worth considering. Take a look and use your imagination.

[ratbyk]

Master Cylinder Disassembly

If worse comes to worse you could drill a small hole in the end of the master cylinder. Go in through this hole with a punch and hammer or better yet a hydraulic press and push out the seized piston. If the cylinder is salvageable then tap the hole to accept a 1/8" pipe plug to seal off on reassembly. I have done this to salvage calipers on old English sports cars when replacements were not available or prohibitively expensive.
Ken/Sooke
78E Ratbyk
82 FT500 "lilRat"

[Shadow]

When I got mine, the front m/c was seized & I had to replace it. I carefully hammered my cylinder out of the housing, took awhile and I wrecked the old m/c but it came out. Cleaned the housing out & the new one went in with no problems, brakes work fine so that's what worked for me.

[randy]

Turn the M/C up on end and pour a liberal amount of liquid wrench into the clip end and let it soak overnight.

First, the boot pulls off, it's held on with a 'c' shaped ring. This ring has NO grips on it, it's just a ring of wire.

Next the circlip comes off. This is a genuine circlip with two grip holes on it. It's possible (because I've seen it) that the circlip has corroded to the point that the grips have disintegrated. In this case, you are ****ed, unless you can get a thin sharp tool such as a spring pick in there to spin the clip around and lever under one end, prying it out. It can be done. Don't ask me how I know.

Last, the 'U' shaped washer comes off.

Now the piston should come out under spring power. If it doesn't, then you haven't got the circlip out.

HTH,

Randy