Front Caliper Piston Service + Fluid Refill

Originally Posted by yorkie_chris

Same number per caliper. But they are parallel rather than opposed.

sorry brain in vfr400/nissin 4pot mode from the other weekend!!!

overall its more, but you know what i mean

[yorkie_chris]

Branny, the caliper does not split. However you do need to remove the pistons to do a propa' job.

MY comment about pumping them out equally is to make life easy. If the pistons are at all siezed then there is not really any way to get the buggers out, so use the hydraulic system which suzuki have helpfully provided.
Obviously if you pump one out all the way, then there is no way to get the other out, so pump each one out a little at a time untill one of them starts to leak fluid around the seal, then you will probably be at a stage where the other piston is somewhere near, and will pull out by hand.

Then remove the seals, clean the grooves, grease and reassemble.

ahh yes, of course! now i see what you mean.

thanks, i am going to tackle it on saturday morning... i think i just need some plastic tubing for the bleed. on the subject of the bleed, any preference on when to perform it? i think i will try to leave the fluid in the pipes until reassembly.

[yorkie_chris]

Might be a slight problem since you are about to open up 2 1 1/2 inch holes in the bottom of the system...

To keep the system partially wet, when you've popped the pistons out, use something to hold the lever back slightly, this should keep some fluid in most of the system due to its viscosity.

true, i was considering undoing the brakeline to the caliper. sounds like tieing the lever back will do it then.

[yorkie_chris]

Undoing the brake line will just let the fluid pi$$ out anyway.

By cable tying the lever, you close the transfer port, stopping the contents of the reservoir from going all over floor/tyre/mudguard

As per usual i seem to have made a right pigs ear out of this job.

i have ended up with both sets of pads removed, 3 pistons 3/4 way out and piston out with no fluid left in half the system.

I have totally removed one caliper but cannot for the life of me remove the 2nd piston. Are there any techniques people have used here???

As for the 2nd caliper... the pistons are unlikely to move from that one either... i am thinking it may be best to sort out the caliper i have off the bike and totally reassemble and put some fluid in, then deal with caliper 2.

In order to do that.... i need to remove my 2nd piston. Any ideas? If not, it may be a case of cleaning up one piston, refit it and put some fluid in... then pop the other. Will this work?

this is exactly what i done and ordered a tool from sealey (google piston removal tool) turned out all i needed to do was re-bleed the system and use a clamp on the pistons moving out faster to allow the other to move if that makes sence??

[yorkie_chris]

Finish the caliper which is totally dissassembled. Get it back on the bike all done and dusted.

Then remove the dust seal from other caliper which you have got 1/2 apart. Pop the piston back in a little way, G clamp it. The you can build some pressure to get the stuck on out.

problem is, i don't have a calper totally disassembled. I have 1 caliper with 1 piston stuck and 1 caliper with 2 pistons stuck.... i could do with tips on getting the final 5mm out! If i don't figure anything, i will just put the caliper back together and restart!