Sticking Rear Caliper 05 Non-ABS

Over the past few days I have noticed the bike sometimes seems to slow down a little on its own, and is little harder to back out of the garage.

Upon inspection tonight I noticed that the rear caliper has started sticking. I expect calipers to stick in bikes the aren't ridden very much or have very old brake fluid in them. However, my bike is 8 months old has 12K miles and hasn't sat for longer than a week since I bought it. Hopefully I can just clean up the caliper/pistons and it will be ok. However it does piss me off that I am having problems with it already.

Anyone else had rear caliper problems that ride all the time? Would you fix it yourself or have a dealer fix it under warranty?

Thanks

Rich

I cleaned everything up last night. Nothing seemed to be sticking or look real dirty when I removed the pads to clean the pistons.

It seemed to work better on the way in to work this morning. Time will tell I guess.

Rich:

I have had several instances of brakes either self actuating or maybe just sticking. I bought an '04 w ABS that had only 1200 miles put on it in its first year. In my first 1700 miles I had problem 4 times. Two times I was able to let bike coast to stop with clutch in. I then felt the rotors. Each time rear rotor was very hot, left front warm, right front cold.

I took to local Honda shop. They called HONDA and for what ever reason decided to look for corrosion in the front cylinders (master or slave, I don't know which). The did not find any. They then rode the bike and the problem did not reoccur.

That's where we left it. They did not suggest changing brake fluid or lubing the callipers.

Since then, I have put another ~ 800 miles with no reoccurrence of problem.

For anyone ...
How much trouble and/or special tools required to change brake fluid and lube calipers? What lube should be used?

Thanks,
Ernie

Simmons1 said:

Over the past few days I have noticed the bike sometimes seems to slow down a little on its own, and is little harder to back out of the garage.

Upon inspection tonight I noticed that the rear caliper has started sticking. I expect calipers to stick in bikes the aren't ridden very much or have very old brake fluid in them. However, my bike is 8 months old has 12K miles and hasn't sat for longer than a week since I bought it. Hopefully I can just clean up the caliper/pistons and it will be ok. However it does piss me off that I am having problems with it already.

Anyone else had rear caliper problems that ride all the time? Would you fix it yourself or have a dealer fix it under warranty?

Thanks

Rich

Click to expand...

my 05 non abs seems to drag the front for a long way after a rear apply, i hear a slight noise for alot longer than it should,mine only has 1000 miles now but it has been ridden about 3 times a week since new, i have been hoping it would loosen up, im going to keep an eye on brake wear and ride it, unless i notice it gets worse.

I bought my 04 non ABS last Dec. Rode every day & had managed about 12,000 by the end or Mar - service time. and... yes the rear caliper was sticking I clean the bike regularly, but I think is was just an accumulation of road dirt (salt & grit from the winter roads). Removed the pads & pumped the brake to move piston out a bit, cleaned up & lubed, all working OK. Strangely I am now up to nearly 32k miles & the problem has not come back, although here comes the winter, time will tell !

I removed front and rear wheels last week to have new rubber installed. Now, the rear brakes are def. sticking. Overnight my milage dropped about 5 mpg. the rear disc is much hotter than the fronts, I can feel the bike slow faster than usual in a coast. I pulled into work this morning, put it on center stand, with engine running, placed into 1st gear, released clutch to spin the rear wheel, when pull the clutch back in the rear wheel stops right away. Looks like I will be taking the rear wheel off again this weekend to check things out.

Ok, so I got a chance to get back under the rear end, remove the wheel and find the pads are shot... completely wore out, I have 11500 on the bike and would not think I really use the brakes all that heavily. Everything seems to look ok, cleaned and lubed the caliper pistons and slide rods. After putting everything back on with new rear pads wheel rotates freely and only a slight sound of contact. I am keeping an eye on it. The front pads look about half used up. Unless I hosed something up when I replaced the rubber I cant see why the rear pads would wear out so much faster than the fronts. My primarily used brakes are the fronts.

My rear caliper stuck good this morning on the way to work. It was tough backing my bike in to the parking space at work. It stuck after I used the rear brake pedal.

A couple of smacks from a dead blow hammer and the wheel was spinning semi freely again.

Is there any chance someone can take a look at it at ValveSToc tomorrow morning?

Thanks

Rich

I dropped it off at the dealer on the way home. It could be interesting. The Service Manager asked me what year it was?

The only saving grace is that the brake systems on the Wing and VFR are similar.

Looks like I ride the ZX11 to ValveSToc.

Funny you asked. I talked to the dealer today. They found nothing wrong with the brakes. I am picking the bike up tomorrow morning.

They checked the caliper and whatever else Mother Honda's tech line told them to check. I reminded them that when I dropped the bike off I showed the service manager that one step on the rear brake pedal would cause the rear wheel to be very difficult to turn by hand and that the rear caliper was hot to the touch and the fronts were cool. I think they may have flushed the systems as well. I'll know for sure when I pick it up tomorrow morning.

I am sure it will stick again. I think the service manger is sure it will stick again as well as he isn't charging me anything and there wasn't anything found that he can charge Honda for.

I'll post more after I pick the bike up.

Just as I suspected. When I got home (10 miles) the rear caliper and disk were hot the front calipers and disks were barely warm. The rear wheel was not turning like it should. After an hour or so of not being used the wheel would turn freely again.

The guy that worked on my bike said my bike did the same thing and that Mother Honda said this was normal and not to worry about it.

I am real sure it is related to the rear brake pedal circuit. I had Linda step on the rear brake pedal while I watched the pistons. When she let off of the pedal the center piston seemed to retract slightly while the outer 2 did not appear to move at all. The wheel was harder to turn.

I then had her squeeze the front brake lever and nothing happened at all. This is what I expected because with front wheel not turning the secondary master cyilnder does not move to send fuild to the rear caliper.

Then I took a look at the rear brake reservoir. The fluid is real dark like it has been in there for long long time and lot of miles. Not the 7 months and 12K the bike has on it. Maybe it has been overheated?

Lastly for shits and giggles I put my might-vac on the rear most bleeder on the rear caliper and cracked the bleeder. I figured this was the bleeder for the outer most pistons. Not much fluid came out at all. But surprise surprise all of a sudden the rear wheel turned freely like it should. I pressed on the rear brake pedal a couple times again and low behold the brake was sticking again. I cracked the bleeder again and everything was back to normal.

My little pee brain is telling me that there is an orrifice somewhere not working correctly. It lets fuild push on the pistons but not flow backwards to release them.

I have read that a lot of people have been using up rear brake pads in low realatively low mileage. I wonder if this actually more wide spread than we know?

Anyone have any suggetions for something else I can try at home, or can anyone suggest a Honda dealer in DFW that might be able to successfully fix my brakes?

This is starting to piss me off as I expected more of a Honda, especially a new one!

I am going for a ride on one my bikes that works like it is supposed to.

Thanks

Rich

Just a quick update.

I "interviewed" a few more DFW Honda dealers. I am dropping the bike off at DFW Honda in Grapevine on Saturday. Wish me luck!

Rich

Another update. DFW Honda called me today and said they had to order a "valve assy". I am assuming it is the proportional control valve.

Rich

Simmons1 said:

Another update. DFW Honda called me today and said they had to order a "valve assy". I am assuming it is the proportional control valve.

Rich

Click to expand...

That's good news... hopefully, you'll be back on it and trouble-free.

If the PCV fixes the problem, I'll ask how they found it. When I dropped the bike off the Service Manager told me they were going to check the rear master cylinder first then go to the PCV.

I hope they fix it soon, I sure do miss the the bigger fairing and adjustable windshield. It has been a little cool riding the ZX11 the past couple weeks

DFW Honda called me this morning. The service manager was very nice. They have installed the new PCV and I quote "the problem is better but still not fixed". They are now ordering the "delay valve". It looks like another week or more in the shop.

Oh joy!

UPDATE:

I just picked up my bike from DFW Honda. The Service Person said the delay valve fixed the problem. They covered it under warranty and out the door I went.

That said I am not convinced it is fixed. When I got home from the dealer (apprx 20 miles) I did not really notice that the rear brake is sticking like it was before but it still seemed not right at times. When I got home the rear caliper was very warm to the touch compared to the front calipers which were almost cool to the touch. (it was 55F riding home) I guess this could be normal, but for some reason I doubt it. If I step on the rear brake pedal and then try to spin the wheel by hand the wheel spins hard then after a few seconds releases again. That is what it was doing before, but it seems like it used to take longer for the wheel to release than it does now.

In addition I noticed the sweet smell of antifreeze riding home. This really stinks as well considering that I have already tightened all of the hose clamps I could get to.

I really like the bike a lot but I am very displeased with its Quality/reliability/dealer support at the moment. It has now been six weeks and 2 dealers since the my problem started and I am not convinced that it has been corrected.

Update:

Dropped the bike off at the dealer again this morning. The service manager touched the rear caliper and felt how hot is was compared to the front calipers and also tried turning the rear wheel and said he agreed it still wasn't fixed. I also showed him the antifreeze leak.

The Service Manager also told they they have already had the local tech rep look at the bike. He also told me they hadn't turned in the warranty claim to Honda for the first parts that were changed. I get the feeling they weren't exactly convinced that it was fixed when I picked it up last time.

While at the dealer I stepped on the rear brake of both a new 05 they had on the floor and an 04 that was used. Those 2 bikes the rear brake/rear wheel felt the same (normal), and neither felt nothing like my bike.

This starts the third visit to the dealer, 5 week at the dealer, ninth week out of service.

I am not exactly sure how to describe the feel of the other bikes. They feel more like my other bikes rear brakes. My ST just feels different.

That and the fact that when I let off the brakes on the other bikes the rear wheels turned easily almost immediately. On my bike the wheel turns hard after letting off the brake.

UPDATE:

I talked to the dealer today.

The mother ship had the dealer rebuild the rear caliper. Of course, it didn't fix the problem. They called the mothership again to today to find out what they want them to try next. The Service Manager told me he knew that there was nothing wrong with the rear caliper but that they have to fix things in the order mother Honda says to in order to get paid for the warranty claim.

They also claimed the anti-freeze leak was a hose clamp. They claim it was tightened without removing the radiator or throttle bodies. Time will tell if the leak is really fixed.