Topic: 92 FJ1200ABS Clutch bleed leak.

[MCRider]

Hello: My buddie's FJ1200 has set for 5 years, ran fine when he parked it.    For some reason the clutch (hydraulic) went flaccid on it. No visible drips on floor, and fluid level was above the MC holes by a tad, but they were covered. So we set about to do a simple fill and bleed. Took about 20 minutes on my FJR (RIP). But on his all we got after an hour of pumping and filling was a mysterious leak down low, not near the bleeder. Kinda behind the cover where the bleeder is mounted only lower.

Any ideas?

[Steve_K]

My Ducati did that and it was the slave cylinder that was etched from moisture in the fluid.  I could see where the problem was when I took it apart.  I had to replace the slave cylinder and the seal.(maybe the piston, too)  Mine leaked, I think, out past the seal and dripped in the sprocket area.

It is place to start anyway.

Steve

[seanbarney41]

yep, the slave cylinder works almost identical to a cb750 brake caliper...so you will need to pull the piston, clean the cylinder, and probably replace the seal/s

I just had problems with the one on my VF500f Interceptor, and after cleaning everything up, I had no leaks but I could not get it to bleed.  Finally discovered I had to take the slave cylinder off the bike, pump the piston out far enough that the clutch push rod applied pressure to the piston, and then bolt it back onto the engine case using the clutch push rod to push the piston back in.

[RAFster122s]

Slave cylinders have to be bench bled or primed on the bench on the cars I have had with them.
With cars the MC could get into parts of thebore normally not seen in normal operations and if any corrosion was there it could tear up the MC seal creating another issue. Power bleeders in car apps helped but, normally not seen in motorcycle application.
David

[Steve_K]

I bled the Ducati's slave on the bike with a vacuum type bleeder.  Your results may vary or my slave  cylinder  was different.
Steve

[MCRider]

Thanks for all the replies. I got on the FJ120 Owners websaite and found out pretty much the same thing. the same thing. The slave cyl is considered a weak point on that model. When it leaks it looks like its coming from a place behind the slave cyl, which I guess, it is. And driips and runs into the CS sprocket cavity making a mess.

Sources for rebuild kits and actual new cyls were given, reasonable price. I assume with some help from a manual we can get it done.

[Bankerdanny]

When the slave on my FJ1200 failed I tried to rebuild it, but it didn't take and I ended up just replacing it with a new one.

[MoMo]

Had the same problem with a V4 Sabre, had to disassemble and clean slave cylinder, but the worst part was the old fluid ate the rubber of the clutch push rod seal located behind the slave, that was supposed to require motor removal to repair but I found a way around that and replaced the push rod seal on the bike...Larry

[MCRider]

Great help everyone. I bot a new slave cylinder.