2007 ABS front left caliper locked

riding today I did what I can only describe as a panic stop to avoid a bull elk in the road....Didn't hit it WHEW! but once I tried to go again the bike wouldn't move...The left front caliper was locked on to the rotor....Cracking the bleed valve got it to release... but if you close it and apply front lever it locks again...Not sure if I engaged the ABS or not, pretty sure I did but not 100 certain.. So I limped the bike home with only rear brake....what weird is if I take the bleeder all the way out and I still get pressure at the lever actually have to apply steady pressure to get it to goto the grip...

ideas????

2007 and never serviced the brakes? One of the seals could be gummed up and won't retract. Filled with road gunk, brake dust, and muck. Could be as simple as taking off the caliper and sitting over a big bowl with a toothbrush and brake cleaner. Look a the seals for cracks or wear. And it could be time to replace the seals ...which is a bigger project, but still doable DIY with parts.

replace the front brake hoses

Seals would be a good bet except that it releases with the bleed screw. That makes it hydraulic pressure not relieving, which probably makes it an ABS problem. Look here for Ionbeam's Most Excellent Post on checking and manually cycling the ABS system and see what happens.

Sounds (to me) more like an issue with the ABS block than a seal. I would not expect the brake to release by cracking the bleeder if it was just a gummed up seal. The fact that it takes significant lever pressure to pull it to the bar with the bleeder open means that something is restricting flow between the master cylinder and the bleeder.

In any case, some basic service MIGHT get you functioning again. First, I would do a thorough cleanup of caliper, pistons, sliders etc. as suggested, above. Bleed the brakes and "exercise" the ABS using a jumper - read the following thread for directions and ABS information:

https://www.fjrforum.com/forum//index.php?showtopic=136000&st=0&p=834610entry834610

With some luck, you may be able to shake loose and flush out whatever crap is causing the problem.

How many miles on the bike and how frequently do you refresh the hydraulic fluid? (Assume you are using DOT4 fluid)

Note: ABS needs to be invoked on a semi-regular basis and brake service shouldn't be ignored.

Good luck!

wfooshee types faster than me! (Or maybe I just said too much)

Haha. I win!!!

Purged the ABS per SM instructions (did it twice.) also ran diagnostic test passed just fine..flush the fluid and bleed .Brakes seem to be working now...I am gonna pull the calipers clean an inspect them....flush system again an go ride it and see if the problem reappears....Don't know what else to do at this point....

Dan

Wistrick said:

Purged the ABS per SM instructions (did it twice.) also ran diagnostic test passed just fine..flush the fluid and bleed .Brakes seem to be working now...I am gonna pull the calipers clean an inspect them....flush system again an go ride it and see if the problem reappears....Don't know what else to do at this point....

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I liked their advice better than mine. Glad it's working.

Ignacio said:

Wistrick said:

Purged the ABS per SM instructions (did it twice.) also ran diagnostic test passed just fine..flush the fluid and bleed .Brakes seem to be working now...I am gonna pull the calipers clean an inspect them....flush system again an go ride it and see if the problem reappears....Don't know what else to do at this point....

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I liked their advice better than mine.

Glad it's working.

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was wondering how many miles you put on that 07 without servicing the brakes???

El Guapo Loco said:

replace the front brake hoses

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why to you suggest this good sir???

Wistrick said:

El Guapo Loco said:

replace the front brake hoses

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why to you suggest this good sir???

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Not my suggestion, but...

Your bike is over 10 years old. The owners manual says to replace brake hoses every four years.

That said, I have never heard of a brake failure due to an issue with hoses! My 187,000 mile 2007 still has the original hoses (just like the vast majority of older FJRs out there).

How long has it been since you did significant brake maintenance? (I try to do mine annually)

Did any visible crud come out when the brakes were flushed?

How many miles on the bike?

Not on an FJR but I have had brake failure as described due to hoses. They swell, get mushy and sometimes a flap comes loose on the inside and acts as a check valve- pressure applied to caliper cannot release. A few hoses as there are for the front, if I were going to replace any parts I'd start with a hose. If you look above the front fender you'll see a block from which a single hose goes to each side. Replace the side that's problematic- anything upstream of that will affect both calipers. If possible flush a little fluid through the block when the hose is replaced, maybe there's a piece of grit on the side's connection port.

If you go through the trouble of replacing the lines, go with steel braided.

On the ST forum someone reported a similar problem after hitting a large pothole. It turned out that when the forks were compressed all the way, somehow the brake line got crammed between something, causing it to not release pressure...since your problem went away after flushing the lines, maybe something got stuck inside for a while?

If any of the front calipers were locked due to an ABS malfunction wouldn't all three of them be locked?

Mortenk said:

On the ST forum someone reported a similar problem after hitting a large pothole. It turned out that when the forks were compressed all the way, somehow the brake line got crammed between something, causing it to not release pressure...since your problem went away after flushing the lines, maybe something got stuck inside for a while?

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and we have a winner.....First both front calipers where locking I just didn't know it.... the pads I check on the right side where the ones control by the back brake.... The one controlled by the front where locked....

recently I added helibars plate to the bike....In the kit is a short piece of extension for the brake line....I didn't follow the instructions for tying the hoses and cable back in place correctly.....this allow the brake hose slide under the dash when the forks compressed....and it didn't come back out and got pinched....

lesson learned YOUR NOT SMART AS YOU THINK PLEASE READ THE INSTRUCTIONS!!!!! could have been a lot worse.....

Dan

^^^^^^Well, shit!! At least you got a solid solution.

Wistrick said:

and we have a winner.....First both front calipers where locking I just didn't know it.... the pads I check on the right side where the ones control by the back brake.... The one controlled by the front where locked....
recently I added helibars plate to the bike....In the kit is a short piece of extension for the brake line....I didn't follow the instructions for tying the hoses and cable back in place correctly.....this allow the brake hose slide under the dash when the forks compressed....and it didn't come back out and got pinched....

lesson learned YOUR NOT SMART AS YOU THINK PLEASE READ THE INSTRUCTIONS!!!!! could have been a lot worse.....

Dan

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Thanks for reporting back so the rest of us can hopefully avoid the same problem.