spongy brake woes..

[deebee]

So I have a 2003 gsa, its had the abs deleted which was done prior to my ownership. Im having terrible problems with spongy front brakes. Ive bled them througg using the conventional method of pumping lever and releasing nipple until no air etc, but no dice. Still very spongy. Done this a million times on other cars and bikes and ive never had this problem. There's no leaks, braded hoses and connections are like new and it doesnt lose any fluid.

Is there a trick to it??

 

[monkeyboy]

So I have a 2003 gsa, its had the abs deleted which was done prior to my ownership. Im having terrible problems with spongy front brakes. Ive bled them througg using the conventional method of pumping lever and releasing nipple until no air etc, but no dice. Still very spongy. Done this a million times on other cars and bikes and ive never had this problem. There's no leaks, braded hoses and connections are like new and it doesnt lose any fluid.

Is there a trick to it??

You can obviously take the caliper off and twist it around and tap it to release any airlocked bubbles.

This might be frowed upon but what I usually do is get some brake line clamps, pull the lever, keep it in and clamp the brake line from the reservoir, then let the lever out, pull the lever in and release the clamp and repeat until the lever is absolutely solid then clamp the lever with a bungee overnight. It usually forces the bubbles back up in my experience. Worth a try anyway.

 

[Steptoe]

So I have a 2003 gsa, its had the abs deleted which was done prior to my ownership.

What connection have they used on the brake lines to bypass the servo/abs unit set up.. .

 

[Paul Rochdale]

G-clamp the brake lever to the handlebars and leave over night. This will expel the very last vestiges of any air bubbles and give you a decent front brake.

 

[deebee]

Woohoo! Pumped up the lever and cabled tied it back for about four hours, I know appear to have a solid lever hopefully it'll stay that way

Cheers guys, brilliant help, thank you

 

[deebee]

Ok, so the brakes have gone spongy again! any ideas what the cause might be?

 

[Phil Thomas]

bleeding Brakes

I think BMW recommend that the brakes be bled with all four pistons pushed back into the calipers as far as they will go (means you probably have to remove the brake pads and clamp the pistons in)

They are indeed a PITA

Regards to all,

 

[monkeyboy]

Ok, so the brakes have gone spongy again! any ideas what the cause might be?

Sounds stupid, but check the fluid level and see if it has gone down first.

 

[DrFarkoff]

Calliper seals swollen and pistons being trapped

i.e. going out to press the pad then the piston dragged back by the sticking rubbers

Cure Remove and overhaul callipers

One Rule if you cannot push the pistons back with your thumbs? the seals are goosed !

get a calliper kit each side and do both callipers then you have a good benchmark to start from

 

[Gecko]

contaminated brake fluid?

 

[deebee]

The fluid hasn't gone down at all, and its new fluid as I flushed sooo much through when I was trying to bleed them. I havent removed the calipers to see if they're free but I will this weekend.

Thank you so much for the usefull advice again though