Rear Brake Locked

[ripchord11]

Hey everyone; I posted on another thread this problem and got some good answers, so I thought I would update it, in its OWN thread.........I have had a few days to see if the brake would ease off, but it has not, maybe the cold weather, or whatever..... anyway it is a new problem that I have recieved good responses for.....this includes banging it with a rubber mallet or piece of wood, ( did not help) I was hoping though!!!
I do not have a repair manual yet.....but I have one at clymers site (25.00 USD) I could get......unless someone has one cheaper they could spare!!
I could try cleaning the spooge hole out, pretty good pictorial on that on this site......or rebuild the whole thing, caliper and master cylinder, as I have stated here before, I am not a mechanic, but I am willing to try it, if it is not too difficult, and someone could walk me through it, I mean it has to be darn easy to do!!!! If not, could I at least get the caliper off to take it to a good mechanic( driving the bike without rear brake) where I have to get other things done anyway, before spring... Thats it, Oh , I did get a member that would send me the pages out the book but my fax is out of ink, and my printer is in the garbage, so if it would not be too much trouble.........I APPRECIATE IT TREMENDOUSLY
Bobby

[webbcraft2150]

Where the hell is Newcomb? Lived in NM for 30 years and that one has missed me . The caliper is a simple device that is easy to rebuild, even for a newbie. Push comes to shove, e-mail me with your address and I will send you copies of the caliper breakdown and rebuild procedure. The bleeding procedure can be frustrating sometimes. Once you do a caliper rebuild for the first time, you will see how easy it is. Or, send me the caliper and a kit and I will do it. Do get bummed out, these old bikes just need some love and TLC.

[TopCatGr58]

Hey Ripchord/Rob,

That's about the best price you're going to find for a manual, get it!

Clean the spooge hole in the MC.

Getting the caliper OFF might be a little difficult due to some natural grooving around the edge of the rotor, and the tightness of the caliper and pads against the rotor. You will need to compress the piston, but just a little, enough to allow you to clear the caliper assembly from off the rotor! Don't compress the piston too far into the caliper, or you'll make it much harder to get it back out!

Then pull the caliper and take it apart. There is a small "C" ring wire that holes the dust cover on, you'll need to be careful prying it off so as not to tear a hole in the dust cover. Then remove the dust cover, it fits into a groove around the outside edge of the piston. Next it getting the piston out! Many techniques have been discussed, from compressed air, to a grease gun, to hooking it back up to the MC line and using the brake lever to pump it up/out. Just put a piece of wood where the pads were to prevent the piston from flying out and hitting raw metal, and keep your fingers out of there!!

I used a pair of channel locks, squirted some penetrating fluid PJ Blaster, around the piston and seal, and then used a blow dryer to heat up the caliper body. I had the body in a benchvice, and then slowly grabbed the outer lip with the channel locks and rotated it and pulled at the same time, and it slowly came out!

Then you'll probably see a bunch of corrosion inside the caliper piston housing/chamber, as well as inside the groove where the square edged rubber O-ring piston seal fits, remove the seal carefully, you can probably reuse it. Clean it with brake fluid and your fingers to scrape off flakes of aluminum corrosion from it! Use gently a screwdriver or other tool to scrape inside the caliper housing "groove" again to remove corrosion.

FOLKS have stated to use only brake fluid to clean the housing! I've used brake parts cleaner, and then thoroughly dried the insides. They just don't want to leave any petroleum residue inside the chamber! The piston will probably have pits on it near the bottom, just sand them down to remove the rough burrs. Just hopefully you won't have any near the O-ring portion of the piston!? And then put it all back together, bleed it and it should work fine after that!

[ripchord11]

Thanks Guys!! Webcraft, Newcomb is on RT 491, formerly known as Rt 666( ooooooohhhh, thats the devils road!!!!) It is in between Gallup, and Shiprock( or Farmington, in case you do not know Shiprock) Most people do not know Newcomb, it is on the Indian Reservation.........probably not on a map!!! LOL
TOPKAT............I loved your explanation, and I was with you, and trying to "imagine" your picturesque instructions............but It was just tooo technical for a mechanical idiot like meI would like to do it myself, but if I get stuck somewhere with parts all over, it is 85 miles to the nearest bike shop!! yes I live in the boonies, but.....the advantage is, I can go 100 mph almost the whole trip, and never see a "bear"...........( I need those pictures you guys do , similiar to the spooge hole cleaning pictorial) Webbcraft I appreciate your willingness to clean these parts for me, but, I guess this bird has to learn to fly eventually......

[TopCatGr58]

Caliper Photos

Hey Rip,

Okay, forgot I had a broken down caliper from Basket Case lying around, took it out and took some photos!

This first one show the caliper with pads already removed, and the piston mostly out of the housing. The dust seal is around the lip of the piston, and the metal O-ring is already loose, but you can see the lip on the caliper housing that that O-ring fits onto OVER the dust seal!



This next shot shows just the caliper sticking out, note the little plier notches around the lip, they have no effect on it, the dust seal just slips over this lip, it's ONLY A DUST SEAL, not a fluid seal!



Next, you get a look down into the caliper housing. Note the large hole on the left, that's to the main brake hose, the little hole on the right is to the bleeder screw. That's it, just a bowl with 2 holes in it! Just need to remove any corrosion you find in here. You can see the rubber Square O-ring in place in the groove in the housing!



This next shot shows the O-ring after it was pryed up partially out of the groove, and you can see the white oxidation corrosion that's down in the groove, just carefully scrape that out with a small screwdriver, knife edge, etc.



The last shot shows the piston, fortunately this bike had the stainless steel types, but there are still small pits in the sides of the piston, and I'll be taking some fine emory cloth to it to smooth it out! And this O-ring still has nice sharp square edges, so it'll be going back in, no need to get a rebuild kit!



So...you can see it's fairly easy to work on, take apart and put back together, you don't need to be mechanic, I'm proof of that!

So...once you get it done, it'll be another nice feather in your cap! Inside 'jab' !! Wish I had a "feather" to put in my cap! Sorry to hear that you burned up the middle gear I sent you last year.
T.C.

[ripchord11]

Damn you are a GREAT MAN TopCAT!!!! This is perfectly illustrated, this is what I am talking about!!!! Now I think I can do it, it is not that I can't, it is just the fear of the unknown metal gizmo, that always seems to appear, that you can't remember where it came from, or that EXTRA Screw...........By the way, the mid gear is still being used, just the shaft inside was replaced, I think it was 30.00 USD....I have been meaning to tell you, I have not forgotten the Gift I told you about, I know it has been awhile but it is still in the works....... I do not forget these things......You are much deserving of it, and It is just a matter of getting the wife to make it into a nice charm.....She took on a big project last summer and has not had a moment free, but she is about finished. I will let you know, because I will need a forward address again. Thank you forthe time it took you for this....

[skids]

Is there an on-site or off-site tech-tip link to this? It is a well-illustrated tip and should be linked. Webmasters????

[TopCatGr58]

Ready for Prime Time in Tech Tips?

Hey Skids,

Thanks for the compliment about the info! It's not a tip, YET, but I'm sure it could be placed amongst them! I just made another little tip a few days ago with the SPEEDO, and noticed that there hadn't been a NEW TECH TIP posted in over a year.

WE(moderators) have a place to put the Tips Under Construction prior to their final posting, so that "we" can discuss them, provide critiques, adjustments, corrections, and to ensure that "we" aren't providing incorrect or improper advice!?

Mike Hart, Gary Granger were two of the major Mods, but haven't seen any posting by Mike for quite some time, and Gary's got his Aprilia, and also hasn't been on much, and I don't blame him!

Ken Talbot is another great one, and is still considerably more active on the FORUM, thankyou!!

Jerry is another one that pops in with very useful info especially on XJ's, as well as the XS's and general mechanical knowledge!!

And then there are several knowledgeable posters like Pat Kelly, John(Texas), Prometheus, Geezer, and others, who are not MOD's but contribute considerable time and effort in helping others!

So...what I'm getting around to saying is wondering whether the MOD's still want "us" to post NEW tech tips in the TUC section, or just go ahead and post them in the corresponding location, and then IF changes need to be added or made, it's no trouble to EDIT them?! Okay, I'll shut up now!
T.C.

[skids]

I would take it that "off site tech tips" are not the responsibility by the xs/xj association vice presidents, except for the guy that sticks his neck out to help others! Heck, you already DID THAT!
:-) There could be a simple link to it from within the web site though.