So, I am working in Fawley this week and staying in Lyndhurst. Great! I'll throw the bike in the back and get out in the evenings. So far, so good. Last night, get the bike out of the car, check the brakes and no power in the back one at all. Close inspection showed that the little plastic plug in the reservoir has popped out followed by the brake fluid. Still rode but with only one brake, stuck to the roads.
There are two questions here. The first is why? What made that little plastic plug pop out? The bike was in the back of the car all day and as far as I am aware the lever wasn't compressed. Even if it was, why would that make the plug pop out?
The second question is will it do it again? Is there anything I can do to mitigate against it?
Actually, there is a third as well. Are the Hayes brakes easy to bleed?
Thanks as always.
Q1 The plug is attached to a 7/8 mm bleed bolt, this has loosened (no idea how), you get bike out, pull leaver, dot fluid squirts out of bleed nipple and forces up plug in doing so. Answer is to bleed and tighten this bolt up - just nipped up.
Q2 Do you have three hands? Actual kit is embarrassingly basic - borrow one. Plenty of videos and guides can be Googled. GT85 tube can be bodged to fit bleed plug in lever. Rest is syringe with aquarium tubing.
[i] The plug is attached to a 7/8 mm bleed bolt, this has loosened (no idea how), you get bike out, pull leaver, dot fluid squirts out of bleed nipple and forces up plug in doing so. Answer is to bleed and tighten this bolt up - just nipped up.[/i]
No, the newer versions have just a plastic plug.
Yup, mine is just a plastic plug.
I am interested in this too. Have just sorted the front brake of a friend who has had the same problem on his Hayes So1e. It all seems to be ok, but there must be a reason why the plug went missing in the first place? As long as it's correctly inserted, it shouldn't go missing (have seen a half pushed in plug fired across the garage never to be seen again).
OP - Hayes brakes are easy to bleed. Just need some tubing and a big syringe, then flood the system from the caliper end.
What made that little plastic plug pop out? The bike was in the back of the car all day and as far as I am aware the lever wasn't compressed. Even if it was, why would that make the plug pop out?
At a guess I'd say heat.
Great. As the bike is in the car right now can I look forward to the front brake going pop as well?
Mine has just the plastic plug on it too (HFX model 2006). The guy at my old LBS gave me a little metal scew to put in there, as he reckons it's a common problem for the plug come out. The hole where the plug fits into is rubber lined, so shouldn't be hard to find a suitable screw to fit in there nice and snug. Only set of brakes I've ever bled, so don't have anything to compare too, but it wasn't bad after I bought the bleed kit from chain reaction cycles. There's plenty of instructions that are only a google search away! Good luck.
i've got hayes nines on both my bikes, and have lost one plug over the past couple of years. dunno how it happened, maybe it took a knock and dislodges it a touch. i bodged a mates at SITS last year when we discovered he had lost the same part - used a small screw and as far as i know it's still in place doing the job. good thing is that spares are readily available on CRC though.
easy to bleed, and no you don't need 3 hands!