Spongy rear brake

[rmeckel]

Rear brake is spongy on my '08. Anti lock brakes . I'll bet there is a dischssion kn here somewhere and probably a how-to bleed it. I have heard you have to bleed both at the same time. Sorry if this is an old topic . I tfied to do a search, but dud not have any luck. Not much of a computer guy. Guess I spend too much time riding. Just put a set of PR3's on based on info from this forum. Initial results are positive. Anyway, any help on the brake issue would be appreciated. Thanks.

 

[bluesdog]

Best to bleed all the brakes, and do the clutch while you're at it.

Pick up a mity-vac to make the job simple

Sequence:

1. Bleed both fronts (right & left),
2. Bleed linked rear (center nipple on right front caliper),
3. Bleed rear.

Use a turkey baster to remove most of the old fluid from the reservoirs, then fill with fresh fluid before you start the bleeding

Keep the level up in the reservoirs as you work.

 

[kevin98208]

I have the same issue. What Mity-Vac should I buy? I went to their site and there are about 50 different models.

 

[RossKean]

Mity-Vac is good, many will recommend Speed Bleeders. Personally, I haven't bothered with either. Traditional method takes me less than an hour to do front and rear brakes and the clutch. An hour every two years isn't a big deal.

 

[garyahouse]

Also, good idea to suck all the cruddy fluid out of the reservoir before beginning the process. Typically there's shmuck in the bottom of the bowl as well. I use the mighty vac to empty the bowl and the shmuck before beginning the bleeding process, then fill it with clean fluid to begin.

Gary

 

[Kromm]

My rear break was "spongy" also. I bought a Motion Pro Bleeder That worked AWESOME.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B008R0KN8Y/ref=asc_df_B008R0KN8Y2616918/?tag=becomcom00031-20&creative=394997&creativeASIN=B008R0KN8Y&linkCode=asn

Very easy to use

 

[rmeckel]

Thanks everyone. I do have a shop manual, but wanted to get the valuable advice of those that have been there, dine that. Looks like I got work to do. Great forum. Thanks again!

 

[kamal]

Thanks everyone. I do have a shop manual, but wanted to get the valuable advice of those that have been there, dine that. Looks like I got work to do. Great forum. Thanks again!

More info here: https://www.fjrforum.com/forum//index.php?showtopic=113971

BTW.

Now that you are the proud owner of an '08, you can update your profile to show it.

Cheers!

 

[bluesdog]

I have the same issue. What Mity-Vac should I buy? I went to their site and there are about 50 different models.

The MV8020 (least expensive one, iirc), should do fine. I bought the combo pressure tester/bleeder unit on a half-price deal a while back. I like the mity-vac because I can use it as a one-person deal on a variety of vehicles

 

[escapefjrtist]

Mity-Vac is good, many will recommend Speed Bleeders. Personally, I haven't bothered with either. Traditional method takes me less than an hour to do front and rear brakes and the clutch. An hour every two years isn't a big deal.

This ^^^^ speed bleeders do help, but the old fashioned way works very well too. Been doing it this way for years and always have firm brakes and clutch.

--G

 

[AVGeek]

I also used the traditional method on my rear brakes recently. Took all of about 10 minutes. I have noticed that the most afflicted bikes seem to be the 08's, as there have been several posts on this same subject recently.

 

[J Paul]

Cleaning and greasing the pedal shaft made the biggest difference in the feel of my rear brake Jeff

 

[Farmer]

I'm having the same problem on my 08, spongy rear brake. Using the service manuals' instructions, I bled the linked front brake and then the rear. After completing the bleed job, I'm still having the spongy rear brake. Anyone else having this problem?

Thanks.

 

[escapefjrtist]

Only suggestion is to try again. A buddy had a spongy rear brake on his '08 a couple years ago and all it took was a good bleed job (the old fashioned way) to get a firm pedal.

Good luck!

--G

 

[08FJR4ME]

O.K, since I have an 08 and have had spongy brakes heres what I found.

1) Worn pads and Piston is sticking out way to far. solution replace pads. If the piston is all cruddy I suggest you take it out and with WD-40 and a fine scotch brite pad clean it up and put it back in. Wipe everything down real good to keep clean.

2) Flush and replace as much fluid as possible

3) Bleeding brakes, old school method works fine and I have never used a mighty vac. WOFM in my opinion. Now you also have to bleed the front right caliper since it is tide into the rear also. Might as well do them all at this point and replace all the fluid. Your choice. As far as the sequense it didn't make any difference to me. I didn't follow the order as specified in the above post. I am not dead yet and the bike didn't explode to smitherines.

Good luck

Dave

 

[HotRodZilla]

O.K, since I have an 08 and have had spongy brakes heres what I found.
1) Worn pads and Piston is sticking out way to far. solution replace pads. If the piston is all cruddy I suggest you take it out and with WD-40 and a fine scotch brite pad clean it up and put it back in. Wipe everything down real good to keep clean.

2) Flush and replace as much fluid as possible

3) Bleeding brakes, old school method works fine and I have never used a mighty vac. WOFM in my opinion. Now you also have to bleed the front right caliper since it is tide into the rear also. Might as well do them all at this point and replace all the fluid. Your choice. As far as the sequense it didn't make any difference to me. I didn't follow the order as specified in the above post. I am not dead yet and the bike didn't explode to smitherines.

Good luck

Dave

With all that going on, you should probably clean and lube the pedal too. But that has already been suggested...

 

[Dutch]

The one thing I heard in the original post is that you have recently installed new tires.

If you had that done for you or if you did this yourself, make sure all is well with the calipers.

Whenever something on my bike (or car/truck) suddenly changes, I think of the last thing done to it.

 

[RossKean]

Just in case... Are you sure the washer on the right side of the rear axle is correctly installed? You will have problems if it isn't and its something that can get messed up when tires are changed. Check it.

 

[Farmer]

Thanks for the suggestions. I'll check everything again and rebleed the lines as I hate not having a firm pedal.