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C14 caliper cleaning

R

rcannon409

Guest
Guest
I decided to clean mine last night since it was too icy to ride.

I removed the caliper form the leg and went to town with a tooth brush.  My 08 is not even broken in compared to what you guys do (6800 miles), but the calipers were filthy. More specifically, the pistons.  There was a ridge of what looked like carbon on each piston. I suspect baked on brake dust.

I polished them off at my friendly dentist office using , uh, lets say a "very high powered dremel-like tool" with polishing points meant for teeth. I suspect a regular dremel and soft disc would work as well.

I cannot help but wonder if this build up contributes to warped rotors due to the pistons not fully retracting"

 
Very interesting.  I have heard that suggested before.  I have had my rotors replaced.  Seems like it would be much cheaper to fix these if the dealer just took them off and cleaned them rather than replacing the rotors.
 
I'm glad I live in another area. I would hate to happen upon that dentist office for dental work!  >:D
 
good job...maybe a little too in depth on the dental tools, but still good.
I have on many occasions stressed cleaning the piston when doing a pad replacement, and seeing as the C14 was configured to allow pads to be replaced without caliper beeing removed, this could be a potential problem for those not as mindful as you were. There was a question asked a while back, about pulling the pads with the calipers still mounted, and I responded in telling them to remove and clean the calipers completely using BrakeKleen and a toothbrush, so they knew in thier own mind, that when they pressed the pistons inwards the dirt would not be carried into the seal area. Good job, glad you took the time to prevent seal failure!!!
 
The dentist office is a good one.  I'm able to do my thing without any real patients seeing my work.  Actually, it works well since the real patients feel sorry for what the poor guy is going through in the other stall!  Although its nto nearly as cool as when we were shooting our competition airguns in the same place.

I dont think this caliper cleaning will fix the warped rotor issue, but I hope it might prevent it.
 
When cleaning the calipers do you remove the pistons? Can you do it without letting air into the lines or oil leaking out of the calipers. One reason for brake disk warpage might be the piston fails to retract all the way. Could this be due to a carbon ring forming around the piston? Can anyone be more specific on doing this procedure?
 
I pushed my pistons out past the normal edge they ride on. Then that edge gets polished off with a smooth brush on my cordless dremel.  Hope that makes sense.  Basically, when I'm done the piston looks new.

I push the piston out with the master cylinder and some cardboard.  Remove stock brake pads and substitute a thin block of wood with cardboard on each side.  After they get cleaned, its simple to push them back in.

 
elektra said:
When cleaning the calipers do you remove the pistons? Can you do it without letting air into the lines or oil leaking out of the calipers. One reason for brake disk warpage might be the piston fails to retract all the way. Could this be due to a carbon ring forming around the piston? Can anyone be more specific on doing this procedure?
Click to expand...

NO !! Do not remove the pistons !! The area being cleaned is the exposed portion of the piston that contacts the brake pads. Really a tooth brush with some simple green or other cleaner will clean the area without damaging any parts of the piston or the dust seals.
 
I've removed the pistons and dust seals often on my yz 250.  The manual recommends replacing the seals if you remove the pistons, btu I've seen Ty Davis of Zip Ty Racing remove his without replacing anything.  Sometimes though, the pistons can chip.   

 
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