Sticky brake pistons

[McRuss]

Thanks to Warchild for the really swell set of pictures. Unfortunately, the FJR calipers are nothing like those (Blackbird?) in the pictures. I had them off again yesterday, only thing there is to clean is the pin that holds the pads in place (and the pistons which I had already cleaned) and the spring thingy. So we are back to square one.

Has anyone removed the pistons/replaced the seals? And did anyone find a better price than $82.00 per caliper for the seals?

 

[Bounce]

results of recent pad swap/caliper service

Front has a slider pin, cotter pins, retainer spring, pistons, and the insides/outside of mated surfaces for that list. Each of those needs to be cleaned. The slider pint needs to be lubed as shown.

Back doesn't use a slider pin. Other than that, same same for clean/lube (keep the pads themselves free of any lube that might be on your fingers or it might contaminate the pads and ruin them).

You can clean surfaces with brake cleaner, but be careful about overspray onto paint or back splash into eyes (safety glasses). When done take a rag that's been moistened with brake cleaner and lightly wipe down both surfaces of the rotors to remove any lube that might have gotten on there while working.

 

[radman]

I am reluctant to disassemble my calipers without new seals to replace the old, but am equally reluctant to spend the obscene amount of money Yam gets for them. I haven't checked with U Motors yet to see what kind of price they gey, but I really think I'm gonna have to get them to do it right, regardless of the cost. I would expect U's price though to be about $35 per caliper, not altogether out of sight. To do them right, a complete disassembly and cleaning is the only way to insure perfect operation, especially if they have been somewhat neglected. It's a good idea to remove them, push the pistons out as far as you can without popping them, and with brake clean and a toothbrush clean the pistons of the crud that accumulates. I have done this over winter, and again in the middle of the riding season, and they've needed it IMHO. More often if riding in the wet a lot. Once again, some will chime in to claim they've never touched 'em and they work just fine, and thats just special. Decide which camp you wanna join up with, and act accordingly.

 

[McRuss]

I am reluctant to disassemble my calipers without new seals to replace the old, but am equally reluctant to spend the obscene amount of money Yam gets for them. I haven't checked with U Motors yet to see what kind of price they gey, but I really think I'm gonna have to get them to do it right, regardless of the cost. I would expect U's price though to be about $35 per caliper, not altogether out of sight. To do them right, a complete disassembly and cleaning is the only way to insure perfect operation, especially if they have been somewhat neglected. It's a good idea to remove them, push the pistons out as far as you can without popping them, and with brake clean and a toothbrush clean the pistons of the crud that accumulates. I have done this over winter, and again in the middle of the riding season, and they've needed it IMHO. More often if riding in the wet a lot. Once again, some will chime in to claim they've never touched 'em and they work just fine, and thats just special. Decide which camp you wanna join up with, and act accordingly.

I've pushed the pistons to their/my limits, cleaned them very well on three occasions (once on the road, not an optimal cleansing) in the last two months. Bike Bandit has the seals for slightly less than Yamaha with discount but still too much. Is it avisable to remove the pistons and replace them without replacing seals? I think not. But when thorough cleaning does not fix the stickyness, then the next step is pop the pistons and do the seals I guess.

And someone tell me why four front seals are $50.00 while two rear seals are $5.00.......

 

[McRuss]

FYI, found seals for $62.52 per caliper, best price I could find, at www.mrcycles.com. We'll see.

 

[Randy]

FYI, found seals for $62.52 per caliper, best price I could find, at www.mrcycles.com. We'll see.

Before you go to the additional expense, have you tried replacing the brake fluid and cleaning the surface of the rotors?

 

[radman]

FYI, found seals for $62.52 per caliper, best price I could find, at www.mrcycles.com. We'll see.

Ron Ayers, $38 per caliper. U motors will be less.

 

[Geezer]

Just spooned a new Avon on the rear of my bike last night. While in there I noticed the brake pads wearing unevenly. I have about 1/4 inch left on the inside pad and about 1/2 inch on the outside pad. I didn't have time to do anything about it but I'll be doing some work on that caliper some time soon.

 

[bfritsch]

I'm having trouble with the front brake pistons/pads not releasing as they should. The front wheel, while it is not locked up, will not spin freely. I've removed the calipers, pushed the pistons out as far as I dared and cleaned them with a heavy cord and some brake cleaner. But they still seem to be sticking.
Any thoughts? Anyone else had this problem?

Oh, 2004 with 33,000 miles, 2nd set of pads, no problem until about 30,000 miles.

Just a thought - I remeber reading somewhere, I think it was on the old fjrowners board, someone had the same problem and tracked it back to the fork brace. He finally got rid of it after a number of reiterations of loosening and retightening the front axel bolt and then reinstalling the fork brace. Just needed everything to seat properly I guess.

Can't hurt to try.

Bennie