Seized Front Brake Cylinder.

[kitesurf_phil]

I have unseized the front nearside brake cylinders and both of the rears, but one is being really stubborn.
The rear ones are no problem, as they are a split cylinder, so once one piston is out you can drift the other out with a suitable sized bolt from the inside.
The method I have been using is to remove the brake shoes and pump the brake up. Eventually one of the pistons will pop out. Once that has been cleaned up and the new seal fitted, I pop it back in and hold it in place with a G-Clamp. Pump the brake again and the other one pops out. I have tried warming the cylinder with the blow torch and sprayed loads of WD40. I read somewhere that when all else fails - soak it in Coca-Cola. Anyone tried this?

The Coke didn't work, even after a four day soak, so it's soaking in Sarsons Pickling Vinegar. If that doesn't work I guess I'll have to buy one!!

[Vagrant No2]

Coke is genraly just a good cleaner . As for unseizing items , I have never tried it . I normally use coke with Vodka or cheap whisky , or just neat . Diet Coke normaly .The calipers are allways seizing on zooks and Jotto fitted a good seconhand pair to ours with loads of Copperslip to prevent further seizing , but they are starting to seize already .


Rick

[Morr]

.......when all else fails - soak it in Coca-Cola. Anyone tried this?

Haven't tried it on a caliper, but who knows?, one of the ingredients in coke is phosphoric acid (in what quantity who knows) which is usually a primary ingredient in rust removal products, so I can see how it might help.

I have previously left an aluminium jack handle in coke as it was quite pitted with corrosion, it did remove most of the corroded metal without damaging the remainder, mind you I was just doing it as an experiment and it took about 2 weeks to achieve this!

Give it a go, you've nothing to loose, just be sure to clean it thoroughly afterwards as if any gets into the internals, the water content would cause further internal corrosion problems.

[kitesurf_phil]

Thanks both. I will give it a try. I did consider replacing the seized cylinder but the brake pipe connections to the back are seized as well, so I am in danger of rounding the nuts off. I'll let you know how I get on.

Update. Managed to get the offending cylinder off and it has been degreased (boiled up in an old saucepan of water with a capful of kitchen degreaser). It is now soaking in Diet Coke. We'll see what happens.

[Linda]

kinda makes you think twice about drinking coke.. eh??

[kitesurf_phil]

kinda makes you think twice about drinking coke.. eh??

My brother is a typical mechanic. The toilet at his workshop is not as well maintained as it might be. He was about to tip a flat 2L bottle of coke down the sink. I tipped it down the toilet, making sure it clung to the sides. He thought I had lost the plot until the next day. The shiniest garage bog in Luton. It's the phosphoric acid. Its a glass etchant!!