Hayes Lever + Loctite= Death.

[scottmeister]

Hey all, I have a braking problem.
I was told by some people to use loctite (yes, the thread locking one, not the glue one!) on the lever reach adjuster on my HFX-9s. The lever always used to come loose, and after a few hours riding I would effectively have minimal retard.ation.

Well, I used loctite on them, and yes, they ain't goin nowhere now, but now when I pull the brake lever in it doesn't spring back to where it was... :evil:
What I'm thinking is that a tiny bit of loctite made its way along the screw and into the part where the lever pushes the hydraulic fluid, and is clagging up whatever mechanism which pushes the lever back.

Any ideas on what I should do to fix this? Should I take apart the whole lever and try and clean it all up or what?

On the plus side, today I got my new pedals, blue DMR V8's

Thanks, ya'll.

 

[ajay]

yep, take apart the lever, clean, and rebleed....

nice pedals

 

[Jebus]

i had that same problem, i just put a fair amount of wd-40 onto that area before most rides and it wasnt perfect but it helped a bit, and after a while it must have gotten rid of the loctite cause they are fine now.

 

[stylinruss]

Dude,
I don't think it is that drastic.
I did the same thing (loctite) to my HFX-9s and had the same problem on one lever.
It is just that a bit of loctite is in between the circular bushing that goes into the lever blade. Either you can remove the reach adjuster screw and clean it up or remove the lever pivot bolt and work the bushing 'till it moves freely (a little lube might help this). I did the second option and now the reach adjuster stays put and the brakes work fine.

 

[Oliver.]

i was told you have to be very careful putting loctite on the levers :shock: , because of the problem you've encountered.... the reason they arent springing back is because you got abit of loctite on the lever bolt (which needs to rotate to pull the cable), lube the area and see how it goes or pullit apart, and b very careful not putting loctite on anything but the pin itself
good luck! :wink:

 

[spinner]

I've done it too.

Get something real skinny ( I use a needle ) and put a drop of loctite on the end. Then use it to apply the loctite , making sure it only goes on the thread. You need only the tiniest drop. Then re adjust the lever.

 

[chafe.]

Hey Scott.

would this have anything to do with your stack last night???

Liam.

 

[spuddy]

(excuse my spelling, the captain has been at me, or the other way around)
had EXACTLY the same problem. the bike store ( in VIC,mtb store) didn't fit the loctite right, and it worked it's way into the mech after about 3 hour riding.
the wash up: taken appart, fixed, but still a little loose. i now take a 2mm allen key in my wallet wherever i go, just incase it screws up

theres GOT to be a better system. I just hope Hayes figure it out. i mean, ffs, don't they product test their equiptment??

bah, shit components shit me off.

 

[scottmeister]

lol....no it has nothing to do with that stack liam... I just put the loctite on badly

thanks for your support guys, tomorrow morning I'm gunna try taking apart as much as i can and cleaning up, cause I really cant be fcuked bleeding brakes :evil:

its a pretty shitty system to adjust the lever throw, like spuddy said, but at least now I know to be more careful with loctite.

but hey, at least I wasn't completely stupid and used the super glue loctite..... :shock:

 

[danv]

Dude, it won't affect the hydraulic system unless you get it all over the bare piston, or REALLY fill up the whole area surrounding the piston and where the reach adjuster (actuator) pushes it. This is very unlikely seeing as it will have probably have seal covering it, and it is also the master cylinder. Sounds more like you just got some crap in the pivot (where the lever pivots on the frame) that's causing the lever to stick. Take the pivot bolt out, clean all the sutff inside, lube it, re assemble.