Magura Brakes - Just serviced mine

[kindacreeky]

I had a rear brake that was dragging on one pad, and the lever felt a little soft. I knew from experience this means it is time to clean and bleed them. First I removed the pads to keep them clean (put then far away from any oil), then pumped the lever a few times. one piston moved (the one that was not dragging), and the other stayed put. I carefully pushed the movable one back in with a screwdriver, (be careful, should use a strong plastic or wood tool here as piston can crack). If you have trouble here, try wiggling the pushing tool to alternately press on one side then the other. the piston wants to be pushed exactly straight, and that is hard to do. then i found a little clamp that would just hold that one piston in. You may have to improvise here, my clamp is a little brass modelers bar clamp. It is thin enough to hold one piston in and still allow room to extend the other piston. then squeeze the lever some more and the sticky piston will come on out. Not too far now, maybe extended a little more than maximum with the pad in place. then I used some WD40 and the little red jet wand that comes with it to focus the spray. Spray the edges of the piston, what you can see and up around the back of the piston too. I noticed a bunch of dirt running out and dripping on the rag that I had placed on the floor. After a few shots of WD, I squirted in some Tri-Flow. Then I manually pushed the piston back in. I had to repeat this procedure a few more times before the piston was moving as good as the free one. I then went ahead and cleaned the previously free moving piston too. Then you have to clean everything up. I just wiped it all down several times with a clean rag, especially up inside the caliper where the pads are going. When replacing the pads, be sure to not touch the face of the pads with oily hands. And clean the discs with alcohol or other solvent if you touched them. Now the pistons move together when I pump the brake, and no more dragging.
Finished up by bleeding brakes in normal manner, and now have a good firm feeling rear lever like it is supposed to be. that helped so much, I did the same to the front. Maguras are the only brakes that I have done this to, but I bet the procedure will work for others too. My maguras have needed this done about once per year to keep them working good.

[Accumbens]

Thanks Bob - this is something I need to do, just haven't gotten to it.

[meanjoe]

Good info! Thanks Bob. Wish i was as handy as you.

[kindacreeky]

just basically exercising the pad function, lubricating, cleaning and protecting the pads while you are at it. The bleeding procedure is somewhat involved, and will be slightly different for each brake system. but I recommend that you read up on yours and learn how. It is sure nice to know that you can fix it when it needs bleeding.

I think that working on anything takes a little bit of courage that you can get it back together; not cause damage; and maybe fix it while you are at it. I was curious as a kid and took almost everything apart that was about to be tossed out. then my best friend thru childhood was a natural mechanical genius, and he taught me that you have a good chance of being able to fix it if you just try. So I enjoy working on bikes as they are pretty simple compared to cars, which have gotten way too complicated.