Stuck Pre-Load Adjuster

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The pre-load adjuster on my '05 1300 appears to be frozen. Can't turn it either way. This is the first time I've tried playing with it. This bike had very low mileage on it when I picked it up last August and I'd be surprised if the adjuster has ever been turned.

Anybody else had this problem and if so, were you able to fix it without replacing it? I've done a search but all I seem able to find are articles about changing out the fluid in the adjuster.
 
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Sorry to ask the obvious , did you change the fluid in the adjuster? When I did my adjuster, there was a fair amount of grime under the knob.
Wait long enough...IGOFAR will have your answer
 

Byron

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Apparently Honda never meant for it to be changed out fixed or repaired as a stand alone unit and the only way from the factory is to replace the whole shock assembly. There have been some who have topped off the fluid in theirs to regain the ability to adjust it. Could be yours has frozen because of no fluid. Assuming you have already tried some sort of break free fluid on it from the outside, it would require removing the line and toping off if necessary with a shock oil.
 
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Mick
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Sorry to ask the obvious , did you change the fluid in the adjuster? When I did my adjuster, there was a fair amount of grime under the knob.
Wait long enough...IGOFAR will have your answer 
Haven't done a thing to it. Just tried to turn it for the first time the other day and it wouldn't budge either way.
 
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Mick
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Assuming you have already tried some sort of break free fluid on it from the outside, it would require removing the line and toping off if necessary with a shock oil.
Liquid Wrench was going to be my next step but I was hoping that there was something that I was doing wrong.

By the way, I've seen the posts about refilling the adjuster with fluid and the problem with the detent ball falling out. I took the cover off day before yesterday before reading said posts and away my ball went. Against all odds I actually managed to find that tiny little thing!
 

okmurdog

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It takes less than 5 minutes to pull the adjuster from the bike and the shock (just mark the location (angles) of the bracket and the hose on the adjuster). Once you pull the adjuster, you have access to the piston inside the adjuster cylinder. At this point, you can determine if the problem is due to a frozen adjuster piston, or the result of the shock being frozen (and subsequent hydraulic lock). You can refill with standard hydraulic oil, being mindful to have the piston fully retracted and burp the air as you reassemble.

Most people (as did I) find that the hydraulic fluid has mysteriously disappeared and needs to be refilled.
 

okmurdog

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BTW, you don't need to take the adjuster handle (and detent ball assembly) off to refill with fluid.
 
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Sorry for the late reply, I was on the white courtesy phone helping another member in Canada...
If you PM me your email address, I can email you a couple photos of the preload adjust completely stripped down to componets.
Its pretty easy to take apart, and all you need is a small finishing nail, there is a small hole that you can insert a nail into, that pushes the retaining ring out of its slot, then the assembly comes apart. I think I have a few pictures I can send you.
What I'd do is remove the assembly and soak the entire unit in MMO, then field strip it, and clean it.
Short of Rust being inside the bore (not likely) there is nothing in there that you can't clean and correct.
Igofar
 
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Your welcom Mick, I just sent you the pictures, feel free to post them on the forum as I'm sure other folks would like to see what it looks like.
Good luck, ride safe.
Igofar
 
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Thanks for posting the pictures Mick :bow1:
The finishing nail shows where the disasembly hole is, to take it apart, remove the JIS screw, and flat washer, and carefully lift the knob assembly off, I like to keep a red shop rag underneath and around the knob to keep from loosing the spring or detent ball etc., once the knob is off, you'll see the circlip on the inside of the housing, look around the rim of the body and you'll see the small disasembly hole, I filed the point flat on a finishing nail (if you don't have the proper size punch), then gently push the nail through the hole, which forces the clip out of its groove, so you nad catch it with a small pick or screwdriver, etc. (before you start pushing the nail through the hole, be sure to spin the cllip around so that the end of the clip is almost lined up with the hole). As you can see, the entire assembly is pretty simple, the bolt simply works the piston in and out.
This does not need to be taken apart this far to simply clean and replace the fluid, I just took this one down this far for training purposes.
However, if yours is frozen, you may find it usefull to do this to inspect and clean everything.
I'm guessing you probably just have dried dirt or mud jammed up inside the knob etc.
When you put it back together, be sure to use some grease to hold the spring and detent ball in place when putting the knob back on.
Igofar
 
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Mick
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I win the ST procrastination contest! :D Finally got round to dealing with the stuck pre-load adjuster. It's been over a year from the date of my original post!

I took the plastic knob off (and amazingly did not lose the detent ball or spring), then took a boxed end wrench to the bolt that the knob fits over. I turned the bolt counterclockwise and it broke free just fine. Looks like the original owner cranked it down as tight as he could get it.

Now that the adjuster is working, it appears that the it needs some additional jack oil. The adjuster knob is 2 1/2 divisions from the highest setting before I feel any resistance. I decided not to tackle that job today because I don't have any of those copper sealing washers for the banjo fitting. I'll have to either try annealing the existing copper washer or order them from Grainger's as mentioned in Igofar's post HERE.

Has anyone tried the annealing trick and had success with it (heat the washer up cherry red then let cool down hopefully restoring some of their original thickness)?
 
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SupraSabre

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I win the ST procrastination contest! :D Finally got round to dealing with the stuck pre-load adjuster. It's been over 1 year from the date of my original post!

I took the plastic knob off (and amazingly did not lose the detent ball or spring), then took a boxed end wrench to the bolt that the knob fits over. I turned the bolt counterclockwise and it broke free just fine. Looks like the original owner cranked it down as tight as he could get it.

Now that the adjuster is working, it appears that the it needs some additional jack oil. The adjuster knob is 2 1/2 divisions from the highest setting before I feel any resistance. I decided not to tackle that job today because I don't have any of those copper sealing washers for the banjo fitting. I'll have to either try annealing the existing copper washer or order them from Grainger's as mentioned in Igofar's post HERE.

Has anyone tried the annealing trick and had success with it (heat the washer up cherry red then let cool down hopefully restoring some of their original thickness)?
I doubt if you need to replace the banjo washers, unless they are in bad shape.
 
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Mick
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OK, just finished the job. As mentioned in the previous post, the stuck adjuster turned out to be the result of some dang gorilla tightening the pre-load all the way down as tight as they could get it. After taking the plastic knob off, a box end wrench worked to "unstick" it.

I took the adjuster off and there was very little oil in it so I filled it up and slapped it all back together. Before reattaching the hydraulic line, I took the copper washers and heated them up to red hot using a propane torch then let them cool off on their own in the hopes that that would make them seal better when tightened down.

The only troublesome part was trying to figure how tight to cinch down the banjo bolt. I looked at the torque specs in the manual for the banjo bolts on the front brake reservoir and they were 34 nm (25 ftlb). That seemed awfully high so I just tightened it as much as I dared. Hopefully that will be enough. Time will tell.

I now get resistance beginning at the "low" mark on the adjuster. I set it to about 8 or 9 clicks which was right at the "standard" marker.
 
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ESB

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Mine ISN'T frozen yet, but it's getting TIGHT, so guess its headed for Ur dissasembly & cleaning work. Hardly ever change the adjustment, but check it now & then, and lately its really been hard to turn. Just thought DIRT and HEAT got too it. Figured I'd try to find a way to spray some Silicone Lube inside, but it looks like it's going to need more than that. Time to go to work. Nice Pics. ... S.B. ...
 
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Has anyone tried the annealing trick and had success with it (heat the washer up cherry red then let cool down hopefully restoring some of their original thickness)?
It won't restore any deformation (thickness or gouges in it etc.) you'd have to dress those down to smooth, it will soften it so it can conform to the banjo and seal it when you torque it down.
Some drop em in water to cool them down, for copper crush washers it doesn't hurt anything but why bother.
 
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I just got my ST last week and it is soft on the rear suspension and the knob is unmoveable. Will be doing the repair. Enjoying the info.
 

mlheck

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I knew there was a secret to getting that snap ring out. I finally gave up when I did my refill. Next time I have to refill it though, I'll take it apart and clean it. Thanks for the info.
 
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