ATE caliper dust seals

[Helibatics]

Hi chaps. I've recently jumped across to here from the hexhead side and have acquired a nice '77 R100s that needs a bit of love to get it happy again.

One thing that is challenging me is getting new dust seals into the ATE calipers. New main seal and piston went in fine but no end of pressing / prodding is working on the dust seal. Best I got them in so far was half way ...

Everything i can find online shows them pressing in with finger pressure.

Is there a knack to it? Or is it possible the parts I received are slighly oversize?

All help appreciated!

Geoff

 

[Gelandestrasse]

Assuming you got the old ones out completely, there was no debris left in the recess and the new seals were from the usual suppliers, you should not have an issue. The only knack is to get them in without ripping them (ask me how I know that). Maybe a photo might help diagnose?

 

[Helibatics]

Thanks. Everything is clean and looks ok. I'll take another look later. I might try warming the caliper gently on a radiator to expand it slightly if still struggling. It's still cold in the garage.

 

[Gelandestrasse]

You can warm the calliper ‘ungently’ as it is designed to get extremely hot. Maybe freezing the seals is better?

 

[scooter paul]

Getting the dust seal in is a pig. It’s not just you! Persevere it will go in. I wouldn’t freeze it, sorry, you need it to be flexible.

 

[mikeyboy]

I’ve fitted loads and never had any issue.
I suspect the steel stiffening ring from the old seal is still in the caliper?
Fit the main seal in the caliper with some rubber grease or the grease sometimes supplied.
Fit the dust seal to the piston,lube the outer part with the grease and push the piston in,finger pressure should seat the dust seal

 

[Helibatics]

Thanks for confirming my suspicions that it should go on without a great big hammer. I had another go today with some heat on the caliper and the freezer for the seal. Still no joy. It goes in on one side but then the other won't push in and i end up chasing it around in circles. Won't go in square with fingers. Maybe I've damaged the seals slightly now so I'll get some new ones and have another go when they arrive...

 

[Gelandestrasse]

It sounds more and more like the old seal hasn’t been removed entirely.

 

[scooter paul]

Thanks for confirming my suspicions that it should go on without a great big hammer. I had another go today with some heat on the caliper and the freezer for the seal. Still no joy. It goes in on one side but then the other won't push in and i end up chasing it around in circles. Won't go in square with fingers. Maybe I've damaged the seals slightly now so I'll get some new ones and have another go when they arrive...

The last one I fitted, a month or so ago, was sourced from Motor Works. The struggles I had fitting it were exactly as you described. The old seal was definitely out. Maybe a batch have been made slightly too big? It did go in by applying equal pressure around the circumference.

 

[Helibatics]

Well I'm happy to report that the new seals from the other main supplier have gone straight in as expected. Job done! The main difference I can see is these had a good chamfer on the edges to lead them in (once squared up) compared to the others. Must have been a slightly off batch like scooter_paul mentioned

Thanks for all the replies - they all helped me get there in the end.