brake fluid dilemma

sailortot · Post by **sailortot** » Fri Feb 20, 2009 8:59 pm

hey guys...

we changed out my wheels at the end of the season and somehow drained my brake fluid.

anyone know the kind of brake fluid i need to fill her up again?

i skimmed through the search topics and couldnt find a post that included this information.

see you around!

djelliott · Post by **djelliott** » Fri Feb 20, 2009 9:23 pm

sailortot wrote:hey guys...

we changed out my wheels at the end of the season and somehow drained my brake fluid.

anyone know the kind of brake fluid i need to fill her up again?

i skimmed through the search topics and couldnt find a post that included this information.

see you around!

I'm sure dot 3 will be fine. Bigger question is how did your brake fluid leak out? Changing tires won't cause that to happen. Brakes are important so you may want to take it to a mechanic to have it inspected.

Dustin

Syd · Post by **Syd** » Fri Feb 20, 2009 9:31 pm

Welcome back! Long time no see. Wanna go hunting? Or play Tag?

KRUSTYburger · Post by **KRUSTYburger** » Fri Feb 20, 2009 11:48 pm

Syd wrote:Welcome back! Long time no see. Wanna go hunting? Or play Tag?

Thanks for reminding me, I gotta get my Rock-n-roll photo this week!

sailortot · Post by **sailortot** » Sat Feb 21, 2009 2:12 am

some kid came by and squeezed the brake while the wheels were off and it locked up the front brake to where we couldnt open it up to put the wheel back on, so somehow we leaked out the brake fluid.

i think it will be fine when we add the fluid.

thanks for the help.

as far as games are concerned....it might be a little while before im riding, still. a tad cold right now for me. tuesday and wednesday looks like 64 degrees. maybe we'll get the scoots shined up and ready to go next week.

sailortot · Post by **sailortot** » Thu Mar 05, 2009 12:51 am

all right......so we tried to fix this and it just isnt happening.

bought the brake fluid.
attempted to "bleed" the brakes to get the air out of the line.
failed somehow because my front brake is still out and it appears we drained the fluid and not much air at all.

eventually i will take it in to my dealer, but does anyone have any recommendations for the time being. id like to get my scoot going soon so i can begin riding early this season. we dont really have the funds to put it in the shop and im afraid it would sit in there for a month or two.

it works just fine.......without a front brake.

help!

Lagerhead · Post by **Lagerhead** » Thu Mar 05, 2009 1:06 am

sailortot wrote:some kid came by and squeezed the brake while the wheels were off and it locked up the front brake to where we couldnt open it up to put the wheel back on, so somehow we leaked out the brake fluid.

i think it will be fine when we add the fluid.

.

Just a few questions...

Is there evidence of a fluid leak anywhere? (It will make an obvious slimy mess.)

If so, did the fluid leak out of the caliper at the wheel? Or somewhere else?

Or, are the pads just stuck together too tight to get the caliper back over the disc?

ScooterNews · Post by **ScooterNews** » Thu Mar 05, 2009 1:12 am

Describe how you bled the brakes?

Its not an easy thing to do and most people don't accomplish it their first attempt without being shown what to do.

1. Open the brake reservoir cover

2. Pump the brake lever five or six times and hold the lever back

3. While holding the lever back have some one else un-tighten the bolt where the brake line meets the caliper.

4. Hopefully you should hear air rush out and a little bit of fluid come out

5. Tighten the bolt back while still holding the brake lever in

5. Repeat until no more air comes out of the line

6. Also try to repeat the same procedure only loosen the bolt attaching brake line to the reservoir

Remember to add fluid in the reservoir as it goes down while you're bleeding

www.scooter-news.com

cheers,

Ryan Carden

sailortot · Post by **sailortot** » Thu Mar 05, 2009 1:19 am

Lagerhead wrote:
Just a few questions...

Is there evidence of a fluid leak anywhere? (It will make an obvious slimy mess.)

If so, did the fluid leak out of the caliper at the wheel? Or somewhere else?

Or, are the pads just stuck together too tight to get the caliper back over the disc?

i guess the answer is both. now we're trying to bleed the brakes.

sailortot · Post by **sailortot** » Thu Mar 05, 2009 1:25 am

to scooternews...

that is what we attempted tonight for 30 minutes, but no, weve never done this before so we arent quite sure if we are doing it right or not.

one page we read suggested that we insert a small hose into the drain.

Lagerhead · Post by **Lagerhead** » Thu Mar 05, 2009 1:25 am

sailortot wrote:
Lagerhead wrote:
Just a few questions...

Is there evidence of a fluid leak anywhere? (It will make an obvious slimy mess.)

If so, did the fluid leak out of the caliper at the wheel? Or somewhere else?

Or, are the pads just stuck together too tight to get the caliper back over the disc?
i guess the answer is both. now we're trying to bleed the brakes.

If the fluid leaked out of the caliper (before you tried to bleed it) what probably happened is that when the lever was pulled it pushed the pads so close together that the piston went past it's seal.

If that's the case you would have brake fluid on the brake pads meaning that they are ruined and need to be replaced and there is a very good chance that the piston seal is bad and needs to be replaced.

ScooterNews · Post by **ScooterNews** » Thu Mar 05, 2009 1:25 am

If the pads are stuck together you should be able to pry them apart with a flathead screwdriver. If you can't then you found your problem. Most likely you'll need the caliper to be rebuilt and the piston has seized in it.

sailortot · Post by **sailortot** » Thu Mar 05, 2009 1:38 am

we already have the pads apart.

sorry...im not too great at explaining this. im just the helper.

Lagerhead · Post by **Lagerhead** » Thu Mar 05, 2009 2:02 am

ScooterNews wrote:
1. Open the brake reservoir cover

2. Pump the brake lever five or six times and hold the lever back

3. While holding the lever back have some one else un-tighten the bolt where the brake line meets the caliper.

4. Hopefully you should hear air rush out and a little bit of fluid come out

5. Tighten the bolt back while still holding the brake lever in

5. Repeat until no more air comes out of the line

6. Also try to repeat the same procedure only loosen the bolt attaching brake line to the reservoir

Remember to add fluid in the reservoir as it goes down while you're bleeding

www.scooter-news.com

cheers,

Ryan Carden

If the caliper is mounted back on the fork, and there are no leaks, a bleed (as described above) should be all you need.

It does take a while to get the hang of it, you're trying to push the air out of the system using the pressure built up by squeezing the lever, without letting any more air back in.

Pull the lever repeatedly until it starts to firm up and hold it there,

Loosen the bleeder screw (do not remove it) on the caliper until brake fluid comes out of the screw, don't let go of the brake lever, keep pulling it, it will pull all the way back to the handlebar, keep pulling it.

Tighten the bleeder screw, now release the lever.

Recheck your brakes, do they feel good? If not you still have air in the system, refill your reservoir and bleed again until they do.

Also brake fluid is icky stuff, it will ruin your clothes.

good luck, be safe.

~Ben

sailortot · Post by **sailortot** » Sat Mar 07, 2009 12:53 am

we got it!!!!

the trick was connecting a small tube to the valve that releases the air/fluid and sticking it in a bottle with fluid in the bottom. that way the air doesnt get sucked back into the fluid line.

maybe this can help someone else later on.

Post by **Lostmycage** » Sat Mar 07, 2009 4:09 am

Hehe. You just stumbled upon the principle of those "one person brake bleeder" kits.

Glad to hear it worked out for you. I saw this link and though of the work I did on my bike this evening. New front Brakes for the Blur. I do love taking things apart.

Syd · Post by **Syd** » Sat Mar 07, 2009 4:11 am

Congratulations. For something that seems straightforward (get air out of a tube, duh), bleeding brakes is a major pain. On a car it can take two people hours. Now get out there! Hope the weather cooperates for you.

Modern Buddy

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