Bloody Brakes..

[roverfj1200]

After a rebuild of the front calpers on the FJ I have had trouble getting the lever to harden up. Feels like there is air in the system. I have run litres of brake fluid through each caliper with no improvement. The calipers where removed for this very reason and a spare pair (which never felt good ether) used for the recent trip. After replacement of all seals and rings I am at a loss to what to do.. But thanks to evilbay I have a pair of blue dots on the way complete with lines and reservoir off a faser.... $90 delivered.

I suppose it was time I upgraded.

[oz.fj]

Glad to see you are giving the old girl a bit of TLC.
You are going to love the blue spots...
Not sure about the piss cup

[oz.fj]

Not sure about the piss cup

Just spied a photo.
Glad you are not going the cup .

[roverfj1200]

Not sure about the piss cup

Just spied a photo.
Glad you are not going the cup .

Not to sure the master will be any good. The original bike must have been dropped as the lever is broken .

[ribbert]

After a rebuild of the front calpers on the FJ I have had trouble getting the lever to harden up. Feels like there is air in the system. I have run litres of brake fluid through each caliper with no improvement. The calipers where removed for this very reason and a spare pair (which never felt good ether) used for the recent trip. After replacement of all seals and rings I am at a loss to what to do.. But thanks to evilbay I have a pair of blue dots on the way complete with lines and reservoir off a faser.... $90 delivered.

I suppose it was time I upgraded.

Richard, have you tried these, I swear by them (not at them)

They are a one way valve you replace (permanently) your existing bleeders with.







Open them both up at the same time and just keep pumping, no need to open and close and only do one side at a time.

Noel

[Bones]

I had the same problem with my standard calipers Richard, no amount of bleeding would get rid of the spongy feel. With the blue dots, I now have a nice firm feel at the lever.

[Timbo-1]

I had the same problem with my standard calipers Richard, no amount of bleeding would get rid of the spongy feel. With the blue dots, I now have a nice firm feel at the lever.

Please excuse my ignorance but what are blue dots/spots? I'm guessing an after market calaper, so who makes them etc?
Cheers Timbo.

[FJools]

I found with this type of calliper, which is similar to the ones fitted to TZR250's, bled better off the bike. I made a wooden jig that took both callipers (without pads) and could mount in a vice with the master cylinder on a spare bar alongside.
By varying the position of the calliper's while bleeding I managed to get rid of all the air. It pays to have them above the master cylinder too.

[Bones]

I had the same problem with my standard calipers Richard, no amount of bleeding would get rid of the spongy feel. With the blue dots, I now have a nice firm feel at the lever.

Please excuse my ignorance but what are blue dots/spots? I'm guessing an after market calaper, so who makes them etc?
Cheers Timbo.

These are blue dots Timbo, early model R1, R6, XJR, FJR etc... have them. They are a direct bolt on for 89+ model FJ's. Gold dot, silver dot, also fit, as long as their not the later model radial mount calipers.

[fjfool]

I found with this type of calliper, which is similar to the ones fitted to TZR250's, bled better off the bike. I made a wooden jig that took both callipers (without pads) and could mount in a vice with the master cylinder on a spare bar alongside.
By varying the position of the calliper's while bleeding I managed to get rid of all the air. It pays to have them above the master cylinder too.

great info here, had that issue with some after market calipers i used on the RZ
another think i have noticed with the modern masters is thatthey have a bleed nipple at the master cyl itself- for good reason
have you bled your master at the banjo bolt?
this can be an issue because you must contain the fluid in a rag wrapped over your wrench and banjo as it is usually close to something painted
when i finally tried this it was very satisfying because you could hear the air snapping and popping as it released when i loosened the banjo
-just remember if you remove your calipers to bleed them "block" them with a piece of wood or something so the pads do not compress together- please dont ask me how i know
when done bleeding, i finish with the "zip tie method"
zip tie your brake handle to your handlebar so that the tie holds the brake tight against the rotor, then leave it over night, when you cut the zip tie the next morning restrain the lever so that it springs back into place slowly
- i dont know why, but this is the finishing touch

hope something here was helpful

[ribbert]

This is a subject I generally stay well away from but can someone please explain what clamping the lever to the bar (clutch or brake) does?

Noel

[fjfool]

pretty much the answer i accept (as i could never wrap my head around it actually doing something "real" either) when i asked
i always swore it worked but had no proof, kinda like the "seat of my pants" dyno machine
we tend to want things to work better because we paid attention to them, sometimes i have to accept that i succumb to this mindset also
but this explanation seems logical to my simple brain



"When the bike has been resting for several hours any tiny air bubbles in the brake lines will have risen to the highest point that they can. When you then apply the brakes you push those tiny bubbles back down along with the brake fluid, and when you release the brakes they rise back up with the brake fluid but never move higher in the system. To get the air out you need to move those tiny air bubbles higher.

When you clamp the brake lever down overnight the tiny air bubbles move down with the brake fluid as usual, but then get many hours to rise back up to the highest spot. If the highest spot is directly below the master cylinder then the air bubbles will get sucked up and out of the system when the brake lever is released. Air bubbles further down in the system will also move up past where they could before, allowing them to rise to a new high point and to eventually be bled out by repeated application of this technique."

[ZOA NOM]

Always wondered myself. Makes sense, fjfool, thanks.

I've had good results with the speed bleeders.

Seems you could use the clamp method and tap the calipers, and flick the cable to speed the process.

[X-Ray]

Not sure about the piss cup

You have a problem with my piss cup Mr Taylor? 

[X-Ray]

Richard, have you tried these, I swear by them (not at them)

They are a one way valve you replace (permanently) your existing bleeders with.
Noel

I forgot about these, and they do work Richard. I installed some when I changed the calipers over, make things very easy as Noel mentioned,