Going CRAZY with Brakes

3runners

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Have a trail master mid-xrx...replaced master cylinder, replaced rear caliper, bled brakes fully (via gravity and pumping)....still not working! No piston movement when master cylinder is pressed. No apparent leaks in brake line (would I be able to bleed brakes with no air if there were?) What's next??
 

Kent

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Does it shoot fluid out at the caliper when you bleed it? I know many brake cylinders need to be bled before use if they have no fluid. Like a brand new cyl or one that has been emptied for some reason.

If the cyl is sending fluid to the caliper (you will know it is if bleeding squirts fluid out) maybe your piston is jamed up some how. Is it a new cyl and caliper? Maybe you could loosen the bleeder and squeeze the piston back into the caliper then tighten bleeder and see if piston might free up.

Let us know how you do.......
 

3runners

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I hooked a hose up to the bleeder - no bubbles, just fluid. (Bleeding was a long tedious process. Had to gravity bleed to get this to work finally.) Brand new cylinder, Brand new Caliper....piston is in caliper and not pushing out.
 

Kent

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Bummer, I was hoping it would be something simple. It might sound pretty low tech but my next try would be tapping on the caliper while some one pumps the brake. I could still come lose. Be careful not to hit the caliper very hard as I think it's probably cast.

Maybe some one on the forum will know how to move a piston out. I don't. Will the vendor let you exchange the caliper???

This is an interesting problem, please let us know how it comes out>
 

3runners

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I'll definitely give it a try!

There is just one line from the master cylinder to the rear brake caliper.
 

anderkart

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If you've achieved a firm pedal feel with a strong squirt out of the calipers bleeder, your calipers piston might be seized.

Or it possibly has the wrong (or defective) brake pads that are impeding inward movement.

Or the calipers mount brackets are somehow binding any movement of the pads.
 

codeyell0

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I just bled my brakes. This was OMG tedious I was for sure something was wrong.
I'm pumping away with a one man brake bleeder.
I saw all the bubbles and still not grabbing. Finally I started using the parking brake
to finish the last bit. pump the brakes multiple times set the park open the bleeder, close and repeat.
it finally got hard and is grabbing. I also adjusted the plunger to press deeper sooner.
but it took a long while.
might want to keep trying i gave up and came back and tried some more and then finally it worked
 

Kent

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3runners..........I googled "freeing a brake piston in caliper" and found many people dealing with the same problem your having. Apparently it happens quite a bit, mostly on calipers that have been sitting unused for a while.

I know your dealing with a new caliper but maybe it's been on the shelf for a long time. Even a newly made caliper can rust up on the shelf. Take a look on YouTube if your still working on this......
 

rokusek

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I having the same issue with the brakes but I didn't change out the caliper...right when I think the brakes are good I take it out and nothing no brakes then I go to bleed them again I don't see any air bobbles, I will see if the calipers are all frozen but I would think that still give a firm brake peddle tho...I've done this on cars and trucks without issue but this is something else...
 

Kent

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rokusek, there is a post by Wyshadow on the "go kart discussions" section you should read. He was having the same problem you are. Sounds like he fixed it with a thicker rotor. Post title is something like "having trouble with hydraulic caliper".
 
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