Stuff you learn(t) the hard way by being your own mechanic

[MrJacques]

Substitute car for bicycle 😅

[dasilvarsa]

Opened a 2016 RS Monarch RL Aircan due to a Vacuum Lock Problem.

Found A Lot of Grease Inside the Aircan. (Was serviced recently by a LBS)

Cleaned it and Lightly Greased all the O rings.

Working 100%

 

[dasilvarsa]

The Fork Dampers also Need Oil Change Now and Again.

Seems to go Quite Dark after a While.

 

[MORNE]

On 7/24/2023 at 12:54 PM, dasilvarsa said:

Opened a 2016 RS Monarch RL Aircan due to a Vacuum Lock Problem.

Found A Lot of Grease Inside the Aircan. (Was serviced recently by a LBS)

Cleaned it and Lightly Greased all the O rings.

Working 100%

 

Well you could have paid 30k for a Fox fork with gooooooooooooold stantions to come over greased in the negative chamber and feel like sh!t straight from the factory lol.  The Fox coolaid is the best flavour !

[RobertWhitehead]

I have the weirdest scenario I have ever experienced.

Let me paint the picture: I receive a bike with a set of SLX M666 brake levers in perfect working condition, almost new.

1) I decide to remove them from said bike and add them to a more appropriate build, due to it being internally routed I have to cut the hose. 

2) Caliper is fitted with a Banjo and not a olive and ferral like some. No problem, I have some after market banjos that fit onto the hose by means of a locknut - I have used it in the past without any issues 

3) I make the change and proceed to bleed the brake. Nothing, nada, niks. The brake remains flat. 

 

I then open the lever and inspect for leaks, in good condition. 

I swop the lever with another one which also works and is in great condition - nothing, nada, niks. 

I swop the caliper, nothing, nada, niks

I then swop the hose with a factory hose and fit a olive and ferral at the lever side, nothing, nada, niks. 

I then swop the lever back, nothing, nada, niks . 

I am completely stumped 

[BaGearA]

4 minutes ago, RobertWhitehead said:

I have the weirdest scenario I have ever experienced.

Let me paint the picture: I receive a bike with a set of SLX M666 brake levers in perfect working condition, almost new.

1) I decide to remove them from said bike and add them to a more appropriate build, due to it being internally routed I have to cut the hose. 

2) Caliper is fitted with a Banjo and not a olive and ferral like some. No problem, I have some after market banjos that fit onto the hose by means of a locknut - I have used it in the past without any issues 

3) I make the change and proceed to bleed the brake. Nothing, nada, niks. The brake remains flat. 

 

I then open the lever and inspect for leaks, in good condition. 

I swop the lever with another one which also works and is in great condition - nothing, nada, niks. 

I swop the caliper, nothing, nada, niks

I then swop the hose with a factory hose and fit a olive and ferral at the lever side, nothing, nada, niks. 

I then swop the lever back, nothing, nada, niks . 

I am completely stumped 

Put bike vertical , take caliper off frame so it hangs loose.

 

(pads need to be out and blerd block in at this point ) 

 

now level the lever to the ground and fit the cup , fill cup almost all the way and remove plunger.

Loosen nipple on caliper half turn and watch it drip til cup is half then top up again en keep on letting it drip. Tap the caliper a few times with something plastic.

 

Then when cup is close to say 20% close the nipple , you should already feel some pressure.

 

take out bleed block then advance both pistons just a little like 2mm then fit old pads and push them back slowly so some pressure flows back up. Do this 3/4 times and then the lever should be perfect.

 

If the above does not work you might have damage to the hose , but this seems unlikely from what you said already.

 

 

[Meezo]

1 hour ago, RobertWhitehead said:

I have the weirdest scenario I have ever experienced.

Let me paint the picture: I receive a bike with a set of SLX M666 brake levers in perfect working condition, almost new.

1) I decide to remove them from said bike and add them to a more appropriate build, due to it being internally routed I have to cut the hose. 

2) Caliper is fitted with a Banjo and not a olive and ferral like some. No problem, I have some after market banjos that fit onto the hose by means of a locknut - I have used it in the past without any issues 

3) I make the change and proceed to bleed the brake. Nothing, nada, niks. The brake remains flat. 

 

I then open the lever and inspect for leaks, in good condition. 

I swop the lever with another one which also works and is in great condition - nothing, nada, niks. 

I swop the caliper, nothing, nada, niks

I then swop the hose with a factory hose and fit a olive and ferral at the lever side, nothing, nada, niks. 

I then swop the lever back, nothing, nada, niks . 

I am completely stumped 

The piston inside the lever is dirty and or swollen... You've got time I'm sure...

Strip the lever to the bone, use a light sand paper to clear it up...

I did a thread on it a couple of years ago...

[RobertWhitehead]

6 minutes ago, Meezo said:

The piston inside the lever is dirty and or swollen... You've got time I'm sure...

Strip the lever to the bone, use a light sand paper to clear it up...

I did a thread on it a couple of years ago...

I saw that yes, I actually still have the link. Ok, let me try yours and Francois. I will give feedback. Thank you very much 

[MrJacques]

I have a SLX M666 lever that I also struggled to get a bleed / compression on. It's still lying here, wating for me to fix it.

[RobertWhitehead]

2 hours ago, MrJacques said:

I have a SLX M666 lever that I also struggled to get a bleed / compression on. It's still lying here, wating for me to fix it.

It is from the devil I tell you 

[RobertWhitehead]

Feedback from my exploits: 

This morning I decided to do what any self respecting mechanic would do. I chucked the problem lever and went out and bought a shiny new set . Just joking, here's what I did, I am sure that I did not have to go through everything I did but then again I like doing things properly 😁. 

1) I drained all the mineral oil 

2) I then stripped the whole lever to the bone (as per the instruction from @Meezo).

3) I left all the bits from the lever to soak in a bath of cleaner and then moved over to soak the caliper. 

4) Because the lever are almost new I did not sand it down as it was still very smooth after the bath

5) I assembled, pushed new fluid through the system and Bob is some scary uncle, sorted. 

Thank you very much for the assistance, it is sorted 

[Maniax]

when tightening bolts on a carbon part (a stem in my case) use a torque wrench, dont "feel it".  I completely ripped the metal thread bit loose....  had to chuck the carbon stem in the bin...

 

[mazambaan]

10 hours ago, Maniax said:

when tightening bolts on a carbon part (a stem in my case) use a torque wrench, dont "feel it".  I completely ripped the metal thread bit loose....  had to chuck the carbon stem in the bin...

 

Do you know why you didn't "feel it"?

That is irritating though. I have learnt this lesson twice. Once tightening the flywheel on the taper on an old Husky dirt bike and wrench just did not click - I think the L/R lever just wasn't completely in its spot and the flywheel cracked. Cost me a litre of Red Heart for a secondhand one from the local dealer - quite a character.

Recently was tightening caliper bolts on a Husky 501 using a low part of the range on a big torque wrench; mistake and stopped just before stripping on instinct; whew!

[openmind]

On 8/8/2023 at 8:07 AM, mazambaan said:

Do you know why you didn't "feel it"?

That is irritating though. I have learnt this lesson twice. Once tightening the flywheel on the taper on an old Husky dirt bike and wrench just did not click - I think the L/R lever just wasn't completely in its spot and the flywheel cracked. Cost me a litre of Red Heart for a secondhand one from the local dealer - quite a character.

Recently was tightening caliper bolts on a Husky 501 using a low part of the range on a big torque wrench; mistake and stopped just before stripping on instinct; whew!

Some torque wrenches e.g. Park Tool are finicky as you have to hold them on the black handle part to get the right torque. If you hold them close to the head to get that "feel" you have with an ordinary wrench then you will over-torque due to the way the wrench is mechanically levered internally. That could be why you stopped by feel before the torque wrench clicked. There's a YouTube video on this somewhere. 

[The Ouzo]

49 minutes ago, openmind said:

Some torque wrenches e.g. Park Tool are finicky as you have to hold them on the black handle part to get the right torque. If you hold them close to the head to get that "feel" you have with an ordinary wrench then you will over-torque due to the way the wrench is mechanically levered internally. That could be why you stopped by feel before the torque wrench clicked. There's a YouTube video on this somewhere. 

Torque wrenches are designed to be held by the grip on the handle, gripping closer to the front or adding extensions renders them in-accurate. 

[mazambaan]

21 hours ago, The Ouzo said:

Torque wrenches are designed to be held by the grip on the handle, gripping closer to the front or adding extensions renders them in-accurate. 

Not so sure about this - what is the physics behind it?