Giant MPH3 Lever Adjuster Seized

Bobster007

Hi,

My Giant XTC seems to have developed a problem over the last few months. due to other commitments it's been collecting dust for 6 months in my garage. I've got the bike out over the weekend and the lever adjuster seems to have seized on the rear brake, this has also locked the rear wheel(i'm guessing a possible leak somewhere) I've noticed that the lever adjuster is available as a spare part from some internet shops. Has anyone else experienced these issues and how do you disassemble the lever to replace this part or the seals within the reservoir?
As i understand these are a copy of hope brakes, can i use another set of new hope levers with the existing calipers?

Thanks

strodey

I thought these were shimano brakes re badged!

nicklouse

not shimano, but a basic Hope C2 copy.



give it a bit more force.

Bobster007

Thats the one's, I've seen the adjuster on the internet, Which seems to have a threaded collar behind the wheel and a round piston behind it with the seal on, i'm guessing the seal gone, and stuck in the reservoir on mine?



All i can see if the two small holes in the end of the adjuster? do i need some special tool to remove this and replace the adjuster assembly? as the threaded collar seems smooth. Any other ideas how i get this out?

nicklouse

First things first, the seals may not have gone. the two parts may have just corroded a bit.

put a few drops of release agent between the adjuster and the reservoir and leave over night. the try working the adjuster lose.

Plus gas should do it.

then see how things are.

Bobster007

I did give it a fair amount of force tonight but it did'nt want to budge and feared for breaking something, i'll get the wd40 out tomorrow and give it a go and see if i can get it going again before i attempt to take it apart.

thanks again for the advice.

nicklouse

WD40 is a Water Displacer.

Plus gas is release agent.

Bobster007

I'm having trouble tracking down plus gas from any local retailers, I can get some 'freeze spray' from my local car shop which says 'For quick release of seized nuts & rusted joints etc' , will this do the same thing?

i don't really want to get it from the internet as most places seem to charge twice as much in p&p than the actual product.

Any yorkshire folk know anybody who sells this stuff locally, i've tried the local bike shops they don't seem to have it either

scazzer

hi bobster,i had same problem when i had my terrago :x ,
i use to store my bike in the shed and noticed when the weather warmed up brakes use to lock on,i assume the fluid expands when warm so i use to crack open the small allen key screw on top of the cylinder on the break lever to release the pressure....

A couple of times the adjuster screw did seize up and had to get new seals,had to order from LBS and could only buy the full set of seals for 1 brake which cost about £8...

Sambo1996

Hi. My rear brake has recently stopped working when i pull the lever right in so tht it is touching the handlebars. What do you recommend i could do to get it working again?

S_J_P

Check pads for wear
Check system for leaks
Rotate adjuster clockwise to compress the reservoir (as above, Plusgas between adjuster and cylinder body may aid movement. Also, if you rotate adjuster to correct position, you can align the holes in adjuster with a hole in the cylinder body allowing you to get release-agent into the internal mechanism too)
Adjust lever-reach (Allen screw on side of golden nipple in above photograph)

If the above does not solve the problem, then follow the system bleed-procedure in the Manual