Oddball
Unobtanium Member
Brake reservoir on the 750 was really cracked and ugly looking, so I get a new one....Kind of a crappy day, so a little wrenching will pass the afternoon.
Pull the bleeder valve, drop the caliper over the oil collection pan, squeeze the brake handle to empty the fluid, and this heinous brown sludge comes spewing out of the line....Just the beginning.
Snap off the heads of three of the four screws that secure the cap...Gonna be one of those projects!
Pull the master cylinder off the handlebar, pry the old reservoir off the body (an ordeal on its own), and am greeted with this nightmare...
Sludge-o-rama!
That's right, that's what was passing for "fluid" for the front brake...And that flaky white crap on the paper is another stage in what Dot 3 brake fluid degenerates into...The chambers on either side of the central sump were caked to the top with it.
No parts cleaner handy...DAMN!...Off to the auto parts store - 30 miles away.
Stop at the general store halfway to Siren on the off chance they might have something suitable...Spray carb cleaner!...SCORE!
Haul ass back and spend the next hour+ spraying, swabbing and scraping.
About 90% clean...That white grainy crap is the final product of DOT 3 degeneration..It hardens into a substance not unlike tartar on teeth...Some more scraping, swabbing, and compressed air...Deep Creep and heat gets the stuck screws out...Some emery paper on the reservoir surface for a nice clean mount...FINALLY ready to reassemble.
Everything goes together nice and easy...Pour in some fresh fluid to fill and bleed the system...Squeeze the brake handle annnnnd...NOTHING!
Actuating cylinder seals shot...GAAAAAAAAAA!
...Probably was gone all along, but still functioned because it was pushing brake pudding instead of brake fluid.
Order the rebuild kit...More wrenching to come.
Pull the bleeder valve, drop the caliper over the oil collection pan, squeeze the brake handle to empty the fluid, and this heinous brown sludge comes spewing out of the line....Just the beginning.
Snap off the heads of three of the four screws that secure the cap...Gonna be one of those projects!
Pull the master cylinder off the handlebar, pry the old reservoir off the body (an ordeal on its own), and am greeted with this nightmare...
Sludge-o-rama!
That's right, that's what was passing for "fluid" for the front brake...And that flaky white crap on the paper is another stage in what Dot 3 brake fluid degenerates into...The chambers on either side of the central sump were caked to the top with it.
No parts cleaner handy...DAMN!...Off to the auto parts store - 30 miles away.
Stop at the general store halfway to Siren on the off chance they might have something suitable...Spray carb cleaner!...SCORE!
Haul ass back and spend the next hour+ spraying, swabbing and scraping.
About 90% clean...That white grainy crap is the final product of DOT 3 degeneration..It hardens into a substance not unlike tartar on teeth...Some more scraping, swabbing, and compressed air...Deep Creep and heat gets the stuck screws out...Some emery paper on the reservoir surface for a nice clean mount...FINALLY ready to reassemble.
Everything goes together nice and easy...Pour in some fresh fluid to fill and bleed the system...Squeeze the brake handle annnnnd...NOTHING!
Actuating cylinder seals shot...GAAAAAAAAAA!
...Probably was gone all along, but still functioned because it was pushing brake pudding instead of brake fluid.Order the rebuild kit...More wrenching to come.
