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    I took off the bolts holding my caliper together. Can I just put it back together or do I have to do something with the fluid?

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    13 Comments

    1. onebladeyboi on

      I’m new to actually maintaining my bike and I tried to get my brakes out without looking up how. I wasn’t really working on it just fucking around and taking off bolts.

    2. Foreign_Curve_494 on

      You need to put it back together, bleed the system, and put new pads in. A lot of bolts on a bike aren’t meant to be touched at all once they’re set

    5. AbbottRacing on

      I am guilty of “just messing around and taking bolts off” however, doing that will almost always result in a trip to the bike shop. That’s exactly what you need as well. good that you got your hands dirty but let someone else put it back together.

    6. _DuranDuran_ on

      The pads are toast as others have said.

      You’ll also need a SHIMANO compatible bleed kit and shimano mineral oil (if it’s shamano – can’t quite tell from the pic)

      Lookup how to bleed hydraulic brakes, and also check out a video on YouTube about how to take apart and service hydraulic callipers – tldr do some research.

    7. InspectionNew4220 on

      I just did the same thing this week. Live and learn!
      Unfortunately the comments telling you you did some damage to the pads are right. They will soak up alot of that fluid and be contaminated with oil. 
      The only way I got mine to be halfway usable was:
      Take the pads out, cook them in the oven at 450° for 30 minutes, burns off the oil, they still aren’t 100% but it’s better. 

      Then you’ll have to bleed the brake system of air. This is more than likely require tools you dont have, but are reasonably cheap. If you dont need the bike tomorrow Amazon. But still worth watching a YouTube tutorial to get it right.

      Youll also probably have gotten your disks covered in oil like I did. 
      Again not back to 100% but I got them 90% as good with a rag and some isopropyl alcohol.

      To get everything back to 100 you’ll need pads that don’t have oil on them, and new disks unfortunately. 

      No permanent harm!

    8. Sad_Necessary8612 on

      Don’t know why this hasn’t been said, you need to buy an entirely new caliper. Once you crack those bolts you brake a seal and the caliper will forever leak fluid. Luckily, those calipers are cheap. But they aren’t serviceable and you absolutely need a new one

    9. jdemeranville on

      Def don’t drink the brake fluid. Also don’t do whatever you did and you should be good!

    10. hawaiianivan on

      I feel like I say this every week..

      You do not need new pads.

      Rub the braking surface back with wet n dry. Heat surface quickly and precisely with a blow torch to burn off oil. Repeat until no dark stains on the pad, clean with brake cleaner and fresh paper towels.

      Good as new. No squeals.

    13. Pristine_Victory_495 on

      Some people are just not able to look at a thing, without touching, and correctly deduce how it’s put together.

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