Upgrading leaking Magura 1s worthwhile?

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate
links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
R

richness

Member
Messages
6
Reaction score
0
Location
Lakes, UK
Hi chaps :)
I'm running old Magura hydros on my basher FG Beetle and they won't bleed due to a leak.
I thought about upgrading to the modern angle connectors, going up to 4mm pipe like the Mk2 uses etc etc but it looks killer expensive.
So, if i were to overhaul my existing 1mm system, what are the main common points of failure? I THINK the air leak is coming from the old brass T-connector over the front bulkhead and the fittings in there seem to be brass to brass with no o ring sealing ? But the caliper pistons bubbled a little when i unsiezed them today?
Parts seem to be expensive and rare and it may not be worth my doing this. I could just whack a second hand cable brake on...but i am interested in getting this done if it's not gonna cost me £100 just trying to find the faulty bit...
FYI here's the spec:
FG Beetle (2000 model!)
Totally alloy now except one front hub. Widened track. DDM torque pipe on Oneill tuned 26cc. Viscous diff. Platinum plug and the upgraded leads. Magura 1 front and tuning cable brake rear. Ball drive. K&N on velocity stack. All metal gears.
Just a basher but i did like the reliability of the hydros, which i have had for years.

Any insights on my options here would be gratefully received :) Richard
 
have a look on thepitstop-shop.nl mate they stock parts for magura brakes its worth fixxing them if youve got em,,,,be a real shame to just disgard them for the sake of a rebuild
 
Excellent thanks; that site was very clear
I've ordered olives, calliper o-rings, etc. I also got the metal "lever" bars instead of the plastic ones on my rear cable brake. Mine were also the short ones but I've got room for the longer ones which should give more leverage and therefore power.
When I get the delivery through, I'll retube all the way from the master cyclinder to the callipers and will post the results here :)
I noted that there is no oring at the T piece, so maybe my leak isn't there afterall.
Many thanks, Richard
 
Do you happen to know of an alloy cable brake balancer , rather than the flimsy plastic one (8462/5) ? Upgrading the rears with the taller alloy bowdens and I want to sort thebancing out while I'm at it....
 
Report on how the hydro rebuild went:

I bought new:
piston orings
hose
olives
brass anti-crush/bend hose inserts
orings for the right-angles onto the calipers and master cyclinder
disks (old ones rounded off)

Essentially i didn't know where air was getting in, so i overhauled everything.
I started by trimming the hose to the correct length and replacing the connection out of the master cyclinder. So:
olive over hose, anti-bend collar in, screw into the end bit. New orings top and bottom, make sure they don't get mashed as you do them up, line up the output angle nicely and done.
Then I repeated this at the calliper ends. This is all easy
I had taken the calliper off before this and replaced the big oring seals on the pistons, as I suspected that was my leakage problem. I eased the pistons out with needlenose pliers, damaging the edges which I then sanded back smooth with my leatherman, eased on the new oring seals and popped them back in.
All was going fine until I needed to get the T-piece back together that divides the line from the MS to the left and right wheels. The input, right out and left out are all a different fit to a normal hydro joint. They end in a flat brass bit that pushes without any rings against the T-piece, flat brass face to flat brass face. So they need to be tight. The problem is there is no olive that crushes nicely down onto the hose in the normal manner as you do the collar up. So I’m fortunate in that I’m reusing 2 of the 3 joins from before, but one I have to remake. There is just no way that the tube will go in the brass end piece. I had to file the tube down so much even to get the thing started, and then tap it on, that it would just snap and split or both. I tried it about 20 times, got it going and it leaked when done up and pressurised. Desperate, I ended up MELTING it on, with a brass anti-bend collar in it to keep the hole open, and this is working ok. I honestly have not a clue how you’re supposed to get a tube so very much bigger than the brass end piece into it and secured down without a collar/olive tightening it in the normal way. I suspect this is a factory-build thing and for me, it means that you cannot reliably service these brakes at home  Unless, you reuse your factory hose in that section (which is my strongest advice!)
However, I did get through it and start to bleed the system.
What worked best was a combination of first blowing oil through the MS with the callipers open, and then sucking from the callipers with the MS supplied with oil from a tube in the oil pot.
Yet I found that the pads were way too far from the disks and when sealed and the brakes applied, I was braking on fresh air. Blowing air/pressurising through from the MS via syringe, while holding the brake on (ie servos powered and finger on the brakes) with the calliper open, pushed the pistons out. Close everything up and then apply the brakes and you’re now braking properly on the disks. For the first time ever, I was able to fully balance the L and R braking by this method.

I hope this helps anyone looking to sort out a set of Mk1 2005 Magura hydros
 
Back
Top