Front Brake Lever Problem Fixed - Brake pads touching !!!

[GZ250]

so last saturday i started with the master cylinder. took it apart. tried to push the piston (picture attached) inside with my finger but it was stuck. would not come out either, had to pull it out. the master cylinder from inside is ok, no scratch or rust. the piston itself looks good and nothing wrong but the guy on the shop might be correct that the rubber in the piston gets worn out. luckily suzuki makes the repair kit (just the piston and cup (the rubber part that you see where the brake lever pushes the piston - this is called dust cover). the cylinder itself is expensive ($100 online) but the repair kit (mainly the piston) is just $20 from Suzuki. so they ordered and it arrived on wednesday. what arrived was similar but shorter in size and i was not able to put snap ring back. so went back today (thursday) to return, they searched their stuff and found something similar to what i needed sitting there for quite sometime as the box looked old but the piston was better (slightly heavier and not plastic) and new. it was $36 but they gave me as replacement for same price $20 (benefit of working with your local shop).

Now lever is working fine, i did bleed the brake fluid for air in the hose. But now I feel and hear that the brake shoes are touching the brake rim as when i try to rotate the wheel it does not move freely and i can hear the brakes pads hisss. What is the problem now? Should I try to remove and put the pads again. the pads are perfectly ok. i checked last saturday.

http://www.postimage.org/Pq1m7e80.jpg (http://www.postimage.org/image.php?v=Pq1m7e80)

[Moedad]

*Edit: I see you've done this before so maybe it's not what I'm thinking you're saying.

[GZ250]

Initially the lever was stuck. It was suggested to change brake fluid taht required bleeding. The bleeding did not work because the lever won't pump or build pressure. Some suggested to check the pads and assembly. I did recheck the pads and caliper assembly but was all ok. Last saturday I took apart the master cylinder and replaced the piston so the lever was stuck because of piston not working properly. The brake fluid was also old and bad (orangish color).

So the lever is ok, brake fluid changed but the front brake pads are touching. The story got repeated in two threads earlier. first i asked about the problem and in the second after i tried of bleed brake fluid i screwed up. Now its the third post in that connection.

[Easy Rider]

The story got repeated in two threads earlier. first i asked about the problem and in the second after i tried of bleed brake fluid i screwed up. Now its the third post in that connection.

FIRST we need to talk about creating multiple threads covering the SAME problem........NOT a nice thing to do. It confuses the crap out of people. :cry:

There is NO good reason to string it out over multiple threads and a LOT of reasons not to. In the future, please keep it all together. :)

Second: Disk brake pads DO rub and that's normal. That should put only a tiny little drag on the wheel. Since "we" can't see if what you have is normal or not, maybe you should visit your friendly dealer once again. :tup:

[Water Warrior 2]

Good idea from Easy. Also if you are confident that the brakes are working correctly(aside from hissing) go for a ride for a few miles. Stop somewhere and cautiously touch the front brake disc and feel for heat. If the disc is just slightly warm you are probably okay. All 3 discs on my Vstrom will some times get warmish but never enough to burn skin. Actually after a long highway ride the tires are warmer than the brake discs.

[GZ250]

SORRY for multiple posts but I just wanted those who really have answers to read.

Now as I said the brake pads are rubbing and I did feel the disk for temperature. It was really hot. So what should I do now. The brake lever is functioning ok and brake is also ok, good stopping and firm.

How to fix the pads against rubbing?

Thanks

[Easy Rider]

How to fix the pads against rubbing?


Time for a caliper/piston cleaning and/or rebuild.

The mechanics of the caliper is not that much different than the piston in the master cylinder that you already fixed. It LOOKS a lot different but the functioning is similar.

Do you have a shop manual? There is one here you can download, I think.
Disk brakes are fairly simple but can be intimidating the first time you tackle them.
My guess is that having a shop fix it would be fairly inexpensive.

[Sarris]

Your front disc pads always rub. There is no return mechanism. Unless there is an obvious braking action, all should be ok. New pads seem to have more "friction" than old pads. As the pad surface collects brake dust they "wear in" and become a little quieter. But again, they'll always touch (rub) the rotor. And the rotor will always feel hot. As long as there is no obvous smell or smoke coming from the front caliper or pads, they are probably not overheating.

If they seem to be working well and not overheating, I'd consider it mission accomplished.

:)

[Water Warrior 2]

Just thought of this. Purely an opinion but still might apply. New pads will have to "bed" in before they are really smooth and don't create excessive drag induced heat. If you are happy with brake performance then just ride it and enjoy the road.

[GZ250]

Thank you all. You saved my weekend and time. I will go to the dealership and show them the brakes and ask them to feel the temp.

I dont see any smoke or smell, so I am on the road..........

[adrianinflorida]

Yep, just make sure you aren't cooking your pads and fluid. if there is no excessive heat after a test ride (Don't use the fronts at all, just stop withe the rear, on the test ride), you should be good to go. If there is any real dragging, i.e. braking action which will create noticbly high temps on the pads and rotor, don't ride it any more 'till fixed.

[Easy Rider]

It was really hot.

How hot is HOT ???
I can't necessarily disagree with everybody else but I guess I already know the difference between very warm and very hot when it comes to brake rotors.
If I felt one and it really was "very hot" then there would be a problem.
Really hard to tell by remote control. :roll:

[adrianinflorida]

Very hot will melt through your mechanics gloves in a second, don't ask how I know. In fact, the heat will tranfer all the way into the caliper, caliper mounts, etc, boiling the brake fluid to it's flashpoint eventually, hence the brake fires that are casued by dragging brakes. Find a medium hill, with the bike off, roll down it, do you feel any resistance or dragging?

If you burn yourself with a quick touch, after not using the front brakes, they're dragging.

[Easy Rider]

Find a medium hill, with the bike off, roll down it, do you feel any resistance or dragging?

If you burn yourself with a quick touch, after not using the front brakes, they're dragging.

No disrespect intended but the first part would probably only find one that is severly dragging, and there should be other symptoms......like SMOKE !! :)

The second part is, of course true.

I think a better test is to get the front wheel off the ground and spin it. Disk brakes in proper operating condition usually make a slight rubbing SOUND but don't impeed the spinning at all......or just a tiny bit. If the wheel stops short as soon as you take your hand off of it, then you have a problem.

[Water Warrior 2]

So why didn't I think of that easy solution ? Musta forgot the KISS principle again.

[GZ250]

Thanks again to all but as i said it did not come to my pin head. As adrianinflorida said i went for a ride without using the front brakes and they were at normal temperature - not even warm and than i used just a little and they were warm and i was surprised that just a little touch of pads at 35mph made them real warm. After a long ride and use i checked again and they were real warm not scorching hot. this time i was riding about sun down. In the previous post when i reported that they were hot it was day time around 2pm and the day was hot.

As Easy suggested I have done that also, spinning the front wheel. The wheel does spin for a short while and stops and i can feel that brakes are touching.

The dear dealer is the last resort anyway but when i find time.

But for now i have peace of mind. :)