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brake fade

sno*jet

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Dec 13, 2007
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just throwing this out in case anyone in the know still looks here.

My old wedge triple mod, 96 Ultra, likes to lose its brakes after being ridden a bit, like warmer the motor is the worse it gets. when it happens, the lever goes to the bars on first squeeze, then it will come back on second squeeze, and if you pump it, it gets all of its braking pressure back. This can be scary when you rip it up to 135 miles an hour and there is a corner is coming up, LOL.
So i did a teardown last year, replaced the pads with some better looking used ones, added lightweight brake rotor and hub, replaced master cylinder with a Wildwood and the line with a braided stainless fancy one. And guess what, problem is still there! No change.
I bled the brake many times and cant get rid of it.
Any ideas? I guess maybe the wildwood could have some bad parts in it from being old but just seems weird that it works fine until your on your second or third hot lap around the house.
what should I replace next?
BTW its the caliper that has the coolant going through it, so liquid cooled, or liquid warmed, im not sure which at this point...
 

sno*jet

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i might try that if i come up short but wanting to fix the part thats causing this if I can. I mean, i think the coolant goes through it for better braking at some point, Ive had a few sleds like this before with no issues.
So after typing this I realized I replaced all the parts except the caliper itself so maybe I will try that next.
 

retiredpop

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The coolant was supposed to prevent excess heat during periods of long and intense braking and thus prevent brake fade which is what you are getting.
 

sno*jet

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once warmed up, maybe the aluminum expands a bit and allows leakage somewhere inside? not real sure if its possible without it in front of me. but it doesnt leak a drop of fluid anywhere outside.
I will dig this out soon, just brainstorming, and getting ideas just from tryping this also.. thank you for your interest in helping me retiredpop!
 

Merlin

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Considering the key players that were replaced it seems unlikely but I'd still confirm:

- External leakage?
- Brake rotor or hub not true / jackshaft not true or floating(possibly causing pads to push slave piston back into bore more than normal requiring a full pump of the M/C to bring the slave piston out again)?
- Another faulty master cylinder?

Food for thought.......



once warmed up, maybe the aluminum expands a bit and allows leakage somewhere inside? not real sure if its possible without it in front of me. but it doesnt leak a drop of fluid anywhere outside.
I will dig this out soon, just brainstorming, and getting ideas just from tryping this also.. thank you for your interest in helping me retiredpop!
 
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