Re using caliper piston seals???

[Drunkn Munky]

Pulled my calipers apart to give them a clean up and pulled the pistons out by mistake whilst cleaning them. They were'nt sticking at all but 1 or 2 felt a little rough when i first started to move them but come out easily enough.
Question is will the seals be ok to use again, i didnt remove the seals just pulled the pistons out, cleaned them, lubed them with a dab of brake fluid and popped them back in. They do move a lot more freely now and just wondered if theres a way of telling if the seals are any good or not.

[nath30]

ive re used seals before as they seemed fine not perished or anythin but i was in a rush id get new ones if there was time though

[wullvfr]

if they are not perished or damaged in anyway then it should be fine to re-use them.

ive done the same and re-used them,everything still ok :D



william

[fastdruid]

I've found that it's normally pretty clear if the seals are actually fscked or just dirty.
I typically gently scrape the crud and crystalised brake fluid off and reuse them, if damaged I'll replace them.

The important thing is actually the build up of crap in the seal grooves that makes the seal too tight.

Druid

[keithcar]

has anyone ever just removed the dust seals completely? I know its a popular practice to do this on road race cars, if you use street car calipers. and car racing calipers usually are made without dust seals.

[lizard821000]

got the same issue as tony, except none of pots fell out but iv extended them as far as i dare and cleaned them, whats safe to use on the pots to clean, as in there are black rubbery deposits and grim over them, can i take a scotchbite pad to them? they appear to have a yellow coating, maybe zink, what are the pots made from?? just normal steel? is it ok to polish them up and push them back down basically?? dont have funds for 2 front caliper piston kits, id imagin there quite dear, if need be i will spend out, just fking skint right now.

shaun

[porndoguk]

@Tony
if i were to reuse, i would

check with a magnifying glass for damage,
give them a really good clean in clean brake fluid, and nothing else as you dont want to damage the rubber,

@Shaun
Pots are Chromed High Tensile Steel
the yellowing isnt zinc its the years of brake fluid thats boiled and dried onto the metal surfaces
be carefull about using scotch pads, id would again use 1200-1500 W&D and then finish them off on my polishing wheels you really dont want to remove that chrome plating,

post them up woth the fork caps shaun and ill polish them the day they arrive and post back the following day its a 5min job for me :)

[lizard821000]

ahh! i see....

if i pop them out rick i wont have probs cleaning them up here tbh , a star for offering though....

im just thinking would prob be quicker n easier to pop them all out but try leave all the seals in, none are leaking or nothing..... then clean all the pots and put back in!? what you reckon to that!? if i marked which pot come from which hole too....... id love just to strip the lot down and put fresh seals n pistons in, but cash just aint there right now.


shaun

[porndoguk]

seals aint overly expensive on ebay,

but as i say i would give them a clean the dust one atleast,

[oldgreyandslow]

Had similar problem on my old fazer, used halfrods brake cleaner, a rag and elbow grease, got there eventually. Didn't go near them with anything abrasive though.