(Bleed failed) Juicy 3: bleed or fix rubbing first?

alomac

Hi all,

My rear brake needs a bleed (lever spongy and can be squeezed all the way to the handlebar) so I went out and bought the bleed kit. The problem is that the brake has since started to drag pretty badly aswell: a fairly sharp spin of the wheel only gets about 1.5 revolutions.

I tried prising the pads apart with a tyre lever which didn't work, though I maybe I didn't pry hard enough.

Anyway, as the title says, should I bleed the brakes before dealing with this dragging, or will bleeding the brakes in their current state mess things up?

Cheers,
Adam.

rowlers

need to reset (push back) pistons first, before you bleed.
if your going to bleed anyway, loosen the bleed port a little then reset the pistons, they should go back alot easier as the fluid/air will be pushed out of the bleed port.

HTH and that I havn't talked sh|te

nicklouse

Bleed brakes firest then set the caliper.

Pistons need to be pushed home before the bleed starts.

alomac

Well, I got the pads pushed apart, but the bleed has failed. I have now tried twice, and though I pulled a fair bit of air out the first time, the lever is still soft and still goes all the way to the bars, if anything it's worse.

I followed SRAM's instructions (included with the kit, and saw the youtube vid), but nothing. The lever was fine when I had the syringes attached and pressurised, but once I take them off, nada. The only option I can see is to try again with the reach adjustment wound further in (it's not "bottomed out" though), but I have a feeling that I'll be taking this whole mess to the LBS.

FWIW, the fluid that leaked out when the screws were removed looked dirty, I think it's just powedered crud from the bleed screws, but during the first bleed, the fluid that that was purged out of the system was noticeably darker than the fresh fluid I was putting in and floated to the top of the syringe. I should have removed and refilled that syringe, but I thought that would ruin the bleed and so used that liquid (to bleed the lever) as is. The fluid I'm putting in is SRAM's own DOT 5.1

nicklouse

So now you have "bleed" the brakes have you set the pistons?

alomac

Well no, because I haven't sucessfuly bled the brakes. I spread the pistons prior to the bleed, and then installed the pad spacer as per the instructions.

BTW my use of the word "bleed" is gramatically correct.

nicklouse

well untill you have reset the pistons you have notfinished and yes the lever will go back to the bars.

when you will know if you have bled the brakes correctly.

guilliano

I bled the whole system s one without having the lever held in place by a rubber band and it worked brilliantly afterwards.

alomac

I'm sorry, I'm now completely lost. According to the manual once you screw the last bleed port screw in, that's it - the bleed's over. You just rinse the bike off, test it and ride.

I assume by resetting the pistons, you mean pushing them back with a tool of some sort, or do you mean applying the brakes and then forcing in the pad spacer as in the youtube vid? I tried both to little avail. I'll redo the whole thing from scratch tomorrow, but right I feel like crap and don't want to so much as look at the damn thing.

rowlers

Give up and go buy some decent brakes

Seriously, I had major trouble getting a decent lever on my Juicy5s. Front was great, couldn't get the rear any where near decent. I tried a few methods (SRAM, Park tools etc..), gave up on the end and bought some Stroker Trails far more power and pad changes genuinely are TOOL FREE!!

sniper68

Fill the bottom syringe with fluid,push nearly all the fluid to the top syringe,pump the lever.No need for the bollox Sram/you-tube video or "de-gassing"etc.Sram/Avid feel the need to complicate something that's not complicated :roll:
My Ultimates were bled like this 4 months ago and are still excellent.