| Author | Message | ||
     Triman023 |
I hate to admit this but I need advice after a stupid move. I have never replaced my front pad on my S2T. I got the pads and read the book. Removed the old pads and worked on pushing the pistons back to put the new pads in. After some levering on the old pads I got the outboard pistons back enough to get the new pad in. Then I started on the inside pistons. I was pushing the bottom and mid pistons in and the top piston worked its way out and became stuck. I should have been paying more attention, stupid move. So, I have new pads in the outboard side and no pads in the inboard side. The piston is stuck and I cant take the caliper off, it will not clear the wheel. What should I do at this point? I can take it in to the local mechanic but have I ruined the piston and or the caliper? Should I order a rebuild kit, new piston? Thanks for any advise. | ||
| Greg_cifu |
You probably haven't damaged a thing. All that happened is you pushed the pistons in on one side and they pushed back out on the other. The biggest problem is that (like most people) I'll bet you didn't clean the outsides of the pistons before pushing them back through the seals. If you clean them first with rubbing alcohol, brake cleaner, brake fluid or damn-near any solvent, they will slide right back in with only finger pressure. If you forced them back while dirty, you just introduced a bunch of crud to the inside of the hydraulic system (don't feel bad--most people do it that way). My advice would be to remove the single pad, get in there with some Q-tips and alcohol and clean every bit of exposed piston that you can (all six). You might even pump the lever once or twice to get them to extend out until clean piston is exposed. If you do this properly (paying attention to not push a piston completely out of its bore) you should get the caliper to where the pistons will push back in with nothing more than firm finger-pressure. Using this method at each pad change, I haven't needed to take apart a motorcycle caliper in over 20 years. If you get desperate, you're just on the other side of the mountain from me. I could stop by next Sunday afternoonish. It would be cool to see a Parkway Blue in person and compare the 'T' parts with the standard S2. Mine:  | ||
| Triman023 |
Greg: I did clean the pistons with brake cleaner and q tips, got a lot of crud off. Unfortunately, I pushed the the pistons on the other side out too far. Its leaking fluid now. I attempted to remove the caliper as the book says but no go. I have disconnected the brake line and have it dripping into a plastic bag. At this point I am at a loss. If you have the time it would be great if you could look at it. I am going to talk to the mechanic at Cycle Depot tomorrow and see what he can do, also order the rebuild kit. Any suggestions appreciated. | ||
| Greg_cifu |
Ahh...well, you cleaned the pistons. Good on ya' for doing that. You sure the piston came loose? At that point, you may just end up having to disassemble the caliper to get it all back together correctly. To get it clear of the wheel, you may have to pull the rotor bolts out of the wheel. That will allow the caliper to slide off. If you already have the line disconnected, there is little point of messing with it on the bike. The piston may still just pop back in if you get everything clear, get the piston aligned and pushed back in. I wouldn't expect the piston to be able to extend far enough to pop loose with the caliper still in there (even without the pad). It sounds like you're going to have it on the bench one way or the other. Performance Machine should have the rebuild kits. | ||
| Triman023 |
According to the manual, the caliper has to be split to push the pistons back in. So the procedure is, remove wheel, remove rotor bolts, remove caliper, split caliper, rebuild. Then put it all back--- Any tips on rebuilding? Never worked on this before. | ||
| Oldog |
every thing must be clean. | ||
| Bandm |
So the procedure is, split caliper, remove caliper, rebuild. Then put it all back--- Fixed it for you  | ||
| Triman023 |
My next move is to try to split the caliper attached to the fork. I tried to break the bolts loose and had a lot of resistance, will try again today. | ||
| Brother_in_buells |
Maybe there is enough space to remove the caliper if you remove the outside brake pad!? | ||
| Triman023 |
No, it will not clear the rim without the pistons retracted all the way. And one of the pistons is stuck, not going to try to force it in. The great spirit in the sky wants me to rebuild this thing. I don't want to but thats the way it goes... | ||
| Akbuell |
This far in, were it me, I'd bolt the caliper back onto the fork, and then break the bolts loose that hold the caliper halves together. Remove the caliper from the forks, then split the caliper. Be sure to protect your paint from the brake fluid when splitting the caliper. The rebuild is easy, just remember surgical cleanliness. Hope this helps, Dave | ||
| Brother_in_buells |
it's not that hard to rebuild a caliper (don't know about a buell one yet) but don't rush things and use the right assembly lube. (Message edited by Brother in buells on August 29, 2011) | ||
| Triman023 |
Yup, thats the plan. The caliper is bolted to the fork now. When I get home I will split it and start figuring out how to get the pistons out. The procedure in the book calls for compressed air, heavy gloves, face shield and blocks of wood. I may wear my helmet... Kit comes with lube | ||
| Skntpig |
Rebuild isn't that bad. I did mine. They will rocket out of there with compressed air so I wrapped them with a rag. When you get one out you will have to place it back in just slightly and put something in there to stop it from coming out so it will plug the hole enough to pop another one out. Repeat. I cleaned mine with denatured alcohol then gave it a rinse with new brake fluid a few times and cleaned with air before re-assembly. | ||
| Triman023 |
OK I have the caliper out and apart. Two of the pistons were slightly crooked, I gently tapped them straight. So my big question is, the manual shows air pressure being applied to the hydraulic line with what looks like 1/2 of the caliper on wooden blocks. That makes sense but how do you get the pistons out of the other side? By the way, thanks for talking me through this. I am not a mechanic but this bike is making me one! | ||
| Buellistic |
If you change the brake fluid in the master cylinders once a year your will not have caliper problems ... Have 110,772.1 miles as of the last ride and have done anything except change fluid and brake pads ... | ||
| Two_seasons |
When you get the pucks (pistons) out, get some fine steel wool and clean the sides really good. Blow out with compressed air when done. | ||
| Triman023 |
Skntpig, did you bolt the two sides together to blow out the other pistons? Buelistic, agree, been changing my fluids, but I did a dumb thing by removing the old pads before I got all the pistons pushed back. Now I get to learn something new from my error. Will scrub things well with denatured alcohol Have to get an air nozzle for my compressor, more tomorrow, | ||
| Buellistic |
Triman: When "i" get to doing a BRAKE PAD CHANGE Class 101 your 2 cents will be put in it ... (Message edited by buellistic on August 29, 2011) | ||
| Triman023 |
OK I got GoGo at Cycle Depot to pop the pistons out for me AND I just got the rebuild kit in the mail. So tonight I will clean everything up and put it all back together... Later | ||
| Triman023 |
PM sent the wrong kit. Will do a thorough cleanup and wait for the mail... | ||
| Triman023 |
Success! Got it all back together and had a friend help bleed it. Took a 50 mile run today and it's better than it's ever been. Thanks for the advice, now I understand this caliper and how to fix it. It was very easy to rebuild. | ||
| Phelan |
Glad you got it fixed. I changed the pads on a PM caliper once on my S2. I still don't know how I got away with it without breaking anything or loosening the rotor. Fortunately I only did it once before I switch to the XB front end, which made removing te caliper a breeze. BUT I stripped the head on the retaining bolt that holds the pads in on the XB caliper, so I found me a good long bolt with a smooth shaft, cut it short, ground down the head, drilled a hole through the other end, and drilled out the old bolt and drilled the back of the caliper to match the bore of the front. That way I had a pin just like the old PM . | ||
| Triman023 |
When I need to change the fluid I will use Buelistic's method of removing fluid, cleaning the pistons then pushing them back (without removing the pads). I found that when the pads are removed the caliper slides right out as long as it is not angled, just pull it straight out. |
