I’ve been meaning to swap out my rear Sram Code RSC brake hose for a while as the one I had was a bit too short so I did it this weekend. When I took the hose out of the lever I realised that I’d over-tightened it previously and the olive was stuck.

I took the lever apart, knocked the olive out from the other side and rebuilt the lever all according to the instructions in this manual. The only thing I did differently was to reuse all the parts as I didn’t have a rebuild kit with a new piston etc. Bonus: my bite point adjustment had a load of grit in it which was preventing it from spinning so I was able to fix that.

I pulled what fluid I could out of the system from the calliper end then removed the old hose, fitted the new one with the banjo bolt from the old hose and then installed the hose to the lever with a new barb and olive.

Now I’m trying to push new fluid into the system and this is where I have a problem. It seems like there’s some blockage somewhere because I can push fluid into the lever up to a point but it doesn’t cause the syringe at the calliper to move at all. If I try to push fluid in from the calliper it’s as if I have the bleeding edge port fully closed (I don’t , it is open) and no fluid moves at all.

Does anyone have any idea what I’ve done wrong?

Things I’ve wondered it might be:

1. I have zip tied the new hose to the bike before filling it, is it possible I’ve done it too tight and squeezed the hose? I think this is unlikely but maybe?
2. Maybe I rebuilt the lever wrong in some way. I think this is unlikely because it was actuating smoothly and I was able to push fluid into it and feel it firm right up. I didn’t use all of the new internals that the manual says I should though so perhaps this is the issue?
3. Did I fit the banjo wrong somehow? Is it even possible to fit it wrong?

None of these feel like they’re likely to be the problem so I’m hoping someone else can see what I’ve done wrong!

is the bite point adjustment backed right off?  It needs to be to open the return post in the lever I think

is the bite point adjustment backed right off? It needs to be to open the return post in the lever I think

Hmm, good point. When re-assembling the lever they have you screw it all the way in and I haven’t moved it since so possibly. Thanks, I’ll add that to my list of things to try.

try it next – I am fairly sure thats the issue.  the bite point adjuster simply moves the piston slightly and will cover the return port

Yeah, worth opening up everything you can – bite point lever and the reach adjustment on the lever as well – fully open on both.

Great, thank you again. I’m glad I asked because I don’t know how long it would’ve taken me to think of that independently. It literally kept me awake last night thinking through every step and not really believing that any of my ideas were actually likely to be correct!

I’ll report back once I find some spare time to have another try.

When I stripped my lever to free it up I didnt notice which way the bite point dial came out and it seemed fine when reassembled but once fluid was in the system it was clearly wrong and ended up taking it apart again so could definitely be something not quite right there. Did you get the weird tool jobby to take that out or did you bodge something?

This is where a check with youtube wins. The lever span and bite point need to be set in a specific position before a bleed…

Doddy does a good job here

When I stripped my lever to free it up I didnt notice which way the bite point dial came out and it seemed fine when reassembled but once fluid was in the system it was clearly wrong and ended up taking it apart again so could definitely be something not quite right there. Did you get the weird tool jobby to take that out or did you bodge something?

If by bodge you mean gaffer tape a load of chopped up bits of rawl plug to a flat head screwdriver then yes, yes I did bodge it. It took ages and was really frustrating 🤣

This is where a check with youtube wins. The lever span and bite point need to be set in a specific position before a bleed…

Doddy does a good job here

I did watch this but I was skipping about quickly with dot fluid on my hands so probably not the best way to notice the nuance. I’ll give it a proper watch before going for it again.

If the lever is assembled correctly, it doesn’t matter where the dead spot adjuster and lever blade sit in terms of whether fluid flows through the system or not.

I fixed this at the weekend and thought I’d post back in case it helps someone else. In the end the issue was that the piston inside the lever body was “too far in” for lack of a better way of putting it.

I took the hose off, poked the red end of the piston back into the lever body a bit with a small screwdriver and it kind of snapped into place. After that the hose went back on and I was able to bleed fluid through it just fine.

Then I went for a ride and my pads immediately glazed over and I had to scrub them together with some sandy mud but that’s another story.

Presumably that would also have been solved with a bit of a push on the syringe from the caliper end? Maybe with the lever bleed port still closed.

Presumably that would also have been solved with a bit of a push on the syringe from the caliper end? Maybe with the lever bleed port still closed.

I did try that but it didn’t help. The end of the piston did need to move back by a good few mm and then kind of push over a bit to snap into place.

You’ve prompted me to google a bit more and it looks like I had the issue described here. My brakes were OEM and have the little red end piece on the spring just like in this photo.

If I have the levers apart again I suppose I’ll just remove the red thing altogether.

The non oem piston has a longer end and a different spring, I had a similar problem earlier this year and rebuilt the lever with the Sram rebuild kit.
I didnt consider using the old piston as I had the rebuild kit at hand so cant say it wouldnt work.Manual