No brake pressure at lever

[elmicko]

One side of the caliper for my front right side brake was seized, so I took it off and cleaned it really good. I managed to get the pistons moving again. When I reinstalled it on the bike and bled the brakes, I can't get any pressure to the lever. Fluid is moving into the caliper and will shoot out the bleed valve, but I still can't get pressure. So far I've tried holding my finger over the bleed valve to use as a check valve while pumping the brake and I also pulled the line off the caliper to make sure it was getting fluid. The caliper is full, fluid is coming out of the check valve, but I still can't get pressure. What gives??? I'm totally lost. I had good pressure before and I can't see a leak anywhere.

 

Any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks.

[dingy]

I just went through this with my front brakes.

 

Yammer told me to zip tie lever back to throttle over night.

 

Loosen master cylinder cap to allow air flow.

 

Also it helped me to burp the banjo bolt at the top by master cylinder.

 

Had to do this about three nights, but now I got a handful of brakes.

 

Gary

[barend]

ditto on the the zip tie and the banjo bolt (Thanks Earl!!, it worked)

[elmicko]

Can someone post a pic of the banjo bolt? I have no idea where it is or what it looks like.

[dingy]

It is the bolt that attaches the brake line to the master cylinder in this case.

 

Banjo bolts are used at the ends of brake & clutch lines.

 

They have a hole center drilled and then a mating hole cross drilled in shaft of threads to permit fluid to flow through them.

 

Gary

[Venturous Randy]

Can someone post a pic of the banjo bolt? I have no idea where it is or what it looks like.

 

Like dingy said, its at the end of the brakeline on the master cylinder. You are from east Tennessee, you know what a banjo looks like.

RandyA

[camos]

Fluid is moving into the caliper and will shoot out the bleed valve, but I still can't get pressure. So far I've tried holding my finger over the bleed valve to use as a check valve while pumping the brake and I also pulled the line off the caliper to make sure it was getting fluid. The caliper is full, fluid is coming out of the check valve, but I still can't get pressure.

The bend in the hose from the bleeder valve to the waste container must be above the bleeder valve before going down to the container. This will leave brake fluid sitting right at the valve and will prevent air from getting sucked back into the system. If the hose does not have this fluid lock, bleeding the brakes will take close to forever.

[elmicko]

Thanks for all the responses. Looks like I've got some stuff to try tonight. If you need me, I'm off to buy about a gallon of brake fluid.

[elmicko]

I now have brakes!!! Stupid #^$%@ banjo bolt. Really appreciate all the advice you guys came up with. I even had a phone call today with some helpful information. This place is the best.

[Yammer Dan]

I now have brakes!!! Stupid #^$%@ banjo bolt. Really appreciate all the advice you guys came up with. I even had a phone call today with some helpful information. This place is the best.

 

 

Yep!!!

 

 

Glad you got them fixed.

[bongobobny]

You may have just learned a very valuabloe lesson, NEVER reuse a crush washer without sanding them first...

[elmicko]

You may have just learned a very valuabloe lesson, NEVER reuse a crush washer without sanding them first...

 

You lost me on this one. Where's the crush washer????

[Venturous Randy]

You lost me on this one. Where's the crush washer????

 

There should be a thin copper washer on both sides of the banjo fitting. Glad you got it working good. I was planning on stopping by there sometime tomorrow if you were home, but it looks like you don't need me now. What was wrong with the banjo bolt?

RandyA

[elmicko]

What was wrong with the banjo bolt?

RandyA

 

It just needed to be burped. It looked like an air bubble had decided to collect there. All is good now. I just got a little confused about the "crush washer" comment. I do appreciate you're help buddy.