Disassembled/cleaned calipers. Now I have a slight leak between the halves.

MoldTheClay

MoldTheClay

Well-known member
2012 Ninja 1000, stock front calipers. I just took apart, cleaned, and reassembled my front brake calipers taking care not to lose any of the o-rings or washers on the banjo bolt. Inspected the seals as well and satisfied put them back together. After reassembling, bleeding, and testing I seem to get a minute (would take forever to drain the reservoir) amount of leakage along the seam that separates the two halves. This only seems to happen when I pull the lever in as far as it will go and hold it and even then it doesn't seem like a lot. Just enough to show some moisture.

Is this at all normal after taking a caliper apart? I'm hoping it goes away after some riding and that a little bit was just able to leak into the gaps before I could bolt it back together.

This is happening on both calipers :/
 
Shigeta

Shigeta

Moving Chicane
Did you replace the o-rings? It's very reasonable for them to be at an age where they need to be replaced.
 
MoldTheClay

MoldTheClay

Well-known member
Shigeta said:
Did you replace the o-rings? It's very reasonable for them to be at an age where they need to be replaced.
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Probably the most likely thing, honestly. Hopefully they just need to seat themselves to form a better seal over time. I'll keep monitoring them. Bikebandit has them for about 5 bucks which isn't horrible I guess.

My piston seals are troopers though, they seem to be working just fine.
 
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dravnx

dravnx

Well-known member
MoldTheClay said:
Probably the most likely thing, honestly. Hopefully they just need to seat themselves to form a better seal over time. I'll keep monitoring them. Bikebandit has them for about 5 bucks which isn't horrible I guess.

My piston seals are troopers though, they seem to be working just fine.
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You gonna take a chance on brakes?
 
MoldTheClay

MoldTheClay

Well-known member
Wasn't going for a full rebuild as none of the parts were previously leaking fluid and the seals were still in good shape. The piston seals aren't leaking one bit. Was more just cleaning the gunk out and wanted to do a thorough job while I was at it. A full rebuild is in the pipeline but wasn't trying to do that at this current moment or I would have purchased seals as well ahead of time.

At this point I may as well, having done most of the maintenance anyway so its in the pipeline. 170 dollars for new seals and o-rings feels really fucking rough.
 
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MoldTheClay

MoldTheClay

Well-known member
295566 said:
$170? Christ.

$21 and two day Prone shipping.


Edit: description says parts to rebuild one caliper, but parts list have enough for both. Personal experience shows only one is required, as well.
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This is what I get for doing everything with OEM parts I guess haha. Thanks for that, I'll order these and keep them on hand for when I have time to do the full job.

I zip-tied my brake lever down for a few hours to detect leaks and while it leaked a tiny bit of fluid from between the halves at first after wiping it away no more came out. I guess the o-rings worked themselves into place with time, heat, and pressure?

edit: Shit ordered 1 but the second one is twice the price and will take 1-3 months before shipping. What the fuck. Hopefully the parts list is accurate and I only need one.
 
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295566

295566

Numbers McGee
MoldTheClay said:
This is what I get for doing everything with OEM parts I guess haha. Thanks for that, I'll order these and keep them on hand for when I have time to do the full job.

I zip-tied my brake lever down for a few hours to detect leaks and while it leaked a tiny bit of fluid from between the halves at first after wiping it away no more came out. I guess the o-rings worked themselves into place with time, heat, and pressure?

edit: Shit ordered 1 but the second one is twice the price and will take 1-3 months before shipping. What the fuck. Hopefully the parts list is accurate and I only need one.
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I've used those kits for 3 different bikes and each and every one only required one kit. I ordered two the first time and returned one, and only one the next two times. All Balls makes good shit. :thumbup
 
MoldTheClay

MoldTheClay

Well-known member
295566 said:
I've used those kits for 3 different bikes and each and every one only required one kit. I ordered two the first time and returned one, and only one the next two times. All Balls makes good shit. :thumbup
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Thanks a lot! I used an all balls steering bearings kit and it's been doing awesome thus far. I appreciate the link, didn't realize I could buy such a cheap kit and I happened to have an amazon gift card so this was basically free. Time to get more DOT-4 I guess haha.
 
I

infecto

Active member
Praise that kit. I was actually looking for retaining pins and this kit is insanely cheap. Thank you all.
 
MoldTheClay

MoldTheClay

Well-known member
Fringe benefits of asking for help, glad it helped you as well.

Seems all of the leakage has now stopped and the brakes are responding extremely well. I think I may save the full rebuild for my next set of brake pads unless something starts to look funky between now and then though.
 
planegray

planegray

Redwood Original
Staff member
I never split calipers, for the very reason you are dealing with now.... sometimes they are difficult to seal.

No doubt there must be some models you have to split to repair, but I've never seen one.
 
MoldTheClay

MoldTheClay

Well-known member
planegray said:
I never split calipers, for the very reason you are dealing with now.... sometimes they are difficult to seal.

No doubt there must be some models you have to split to repair, but I've never seen one.
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Ultimately they sealed again without any further issues thankfully. My guess is they just needed to work themselves back into place again. Lesson learned though.
 
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