break fluid leaked

ritchiehulse
ritchiehulse Posts: 38
edited December 2012 in MTB workshop & tech
was cleaning the bike the other day, turned it upside down and removed the wheel, put a spacer between the pads, just went to get the cleaning gear came back to find the front break had leaked fluid and now it wont work.

is there a reason for the fluid leaking, like worn seals? i know i will have to re bleed it which is abit of a ball ache but why did it happen in the first place?

Comments

  • supersonic
    supersonic Posts: 82,708
    Which part of the brake did it come from? And what brakes?
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  • ritchiehulse
    ritchiehulse Posts: 38
    good questions, Formula RX and came from the caliper
  • supersonic
    supersonic Posts: 82,708
    Which bit of the caliper? ;-) If you can narrow it down. Seals? Bleed port? Split in the caliper?
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  • ritchiehulse
    ritchiehulse Posts: 38
    that question i sadly can not answer, i sore the fluid on the ground whilst cleaning it, didnt think anything of it and when i came to use it the front break no longer worked, i then put 2 and 2 together
  • jimothy78
    jimothy78 Posts: 1,407
    ritchiehulse wrote:
    is there a reason for the fluid leaking, like worn seals? i know i will have to re bleed it which is abit of a ball ache but why did it happen in the first place?

    1. Maybe you knocked the hose-caliper junction whilst cleaning and loosened/damaged it?

    2. "re-bleed" suggests you recently bled the system - if you disassembled anything maybe you didn't put it together right or needed to replace seals/o-rings etc but neglected to do so?

    Assuming that the system isn't completely drained, you should be able to work out where the leak is coming from if you clean the caliper thoroughly, lay it on some paper towel or similar and pump the lever a few times.
  • The Rookie
    The Rookie Posts: 27,812
    Hard to see a caliper leaking with no pressure and being fine when applying hyraulic pressure.....

    Brakes usually leak from the lever when a bike is upside down.....in which case it's almost certainly the resevoir cap seal.
    Currently riding a Whyte T130C, X0 drivetrain, Magura Trail brakes converted to mixed wheel size (homebuilt wheels) with 140mm Fox 34 Rhythm and RP23 suspension. 12.2Kg.

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