One of the calipers on my disc brakes (hayes stoker ryde) was not retracting.

I tried cleaning it by pumping it out (not all the way out) which helped a little but now when i pull the brake lever the lever goes alway back to the bar. Any thoughts on what i may have done and how this can be sorted?

If your lever comes all the way back to the bar then, one way or another, you’ve not got enough fluid in the system. A top up might improve things but ultimately they’ll want bleeding properly.

Strokers have a very shallow depth of fluid above the port in the reservoir, and if you had any air trapped in there, you’ve probably sucked it into the system when you’ve pumped the piston out. A bleed should sort it, but i’ve found it to be a horrible brake to bleed as the lever diaphragm doesn’t always seal as well as it could.

as they say the only solution is to bleed as you have got air in the system/not enough fluid.

As above re-bleed the system but first I’d set about the piston, work it in and out until it retracts properly, a few drops of DOT fluid around the piston should help lube it. Just clean up any excess, as it will contaminate the pads.

Thanks for the replies. Tempted to just buy a new deore brake.