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Avid Code lever stuck

?????

Turbo Monkey
Jun 20, 2005
1,678
2
San Francisco
The lever piston assembly in my rear Code brake is stuck. I took it apart, everything looked alright, put it back together, and still stuck. The piston stays closed and then I can't force any fluid through the system.

The last time I rode this bike the brakes worked fine. I've been out of the country for 6 months and now just tried to go for a ride, but the first time that I squeezed the rear brake lever it didn't return.

Again... the lever piston assembly looks fine... but is somehow stuck and the pressure of the spring won't even begin to push it back. Any ideas?
 

demo 9

Turbo Monkey
Jan 31, 2007
5,910
46
north jersey
Master cylinder, its a known problem with codes, the real solution is buying a lever that isnt a code lever, the normal solution is just another master cylinder
 

freshwire

Monkey
May 24, 2007
105
0
Roanoke Virginia
At first I thought your post said "Avid Code lever sucks" guess it was subliminal but very true all the same...My front brake lever did the same thing...sent it to Cambria...guy said he could fix it...he had to send it to SRAM and they just said..."It's toast" and "no, we won't just sell you a lever, ya gotta drop ANOTHER $250 and get the whole mess!!!! "

THe caliper is fine, the rotor is fine...but they won't sell just the lever...WTF????

2008 brakes gently used, well maintained, bled constantly...(another bad feature of these brakes) got 2 seasons out of the left lever and it takes a dump???

EXTREMELY disappointed with them...paid nearly $500 for the set...will never buy them again....right now using a Juicy 3 that I borrowed and it works just as well and it's the bottom line brake...no reach adjust...but who cares...put a set of used Juicy 3's on my kids bike $90 on ebay....they work perfectly....Code brakes are just way over-priced, high maintenance, and as you now know...prone to efing up for no reason...other than you actually used them to stop your bike...I feel ya dude...but you are prolly SOL...guess ya gotta buy hopes, or formula for 4 or 500 a pop to get good brakes with good modulation that will not crap out after 2 years....??? INSANE!!! like all the other crap ya need for this ludicrously expensive sport....
 

Inclag

Turbo Monkey
Sep 9, 2001
2,750
439
MA
Get Straitline levers for Code..simple solution
Levers don't solve cylinder problems :rolleyes:

Had the same problem and completely disassembled and greased the cylinders and that fixed the problem. A bitch to do, but far cheaper than buying new ones.
 

BikeFan84

Monkey
Oct 27, 2004
302
0
D-Ville
Get Straitline levers for Code..simple solution
:facepalm:

Had the same problem and completely disassembled and greased the cylinders and that fixed the problem. A bitch to do, but far cheaper than buying new ones.
I did the same thing several times, still doesn't work. sometimes the spring doesn't spring back, or it get corroded and "hangs" up on the innards of the lever. "Greasing" doesn't solve this problem, but steel wool sometimes does.


I have the same problem with one of my codes, and I think instead of rebuilding them again, I am going to buy a set of Elixir CRs now and run them with the code calipers.
 

MDJ

Monkey
Dec 15, 2005
669
0
San Jose, CA
Ha. So it's not just me. I have one rebuilt last month and took the bike in the shop today to have the other rebuilt. Yes, Codes suck.
 

captainspauldin

intrigued by a pole
May 14, 2007
1,263
177
Jersey Shore
Ha. So it's not just me. I have one rebuilt last month and took the bike in the shop today to have the other rebuilt. Yes, Codes suck.
yeah, happened to me in whistler 2 years ago.. Brought it to Fanatik, they rebuilt my master cylinder and all was good again. I've since bought new Saints and I'm loving them so far (although the Elixir5's on my FR bike are nice for cheap brakes)
 

zdubyadubya

Turbo Monkey
Apr 13, 2008
1,273
96
Ellicott City, MD
Master cylinder, its a known problem with codes, the real solution is buying a lever that isnt a code lever
buy a set of Elixir CRs now and run them with the code calipers.
Best thing to do is find a set of used juicy lever or code 5 lever assemblies, attach them to your code calipers, and throw away the code levers.
all these people speak the truth. i chose the route of juicy 7 ultimates paired with code calipers and my friend chose Saints to solve our Code issues. Both of us are happy and the problem is solved.

FWIW: The oldest Codes (the galvanized ones) appeared not to have this problem, it popped up with the black/PC white ones. The new Codes have gone to a taper-bore MC (ala elixir) so this problem should also be addressed there as well.
 

zdubyadubya

Turbo Monkey
Apr 13, 2008
1,273
96
Ellicott City, MD
"It's toast" and "no, we won't just sell you a lever, ya gotta drop ANOTHER $250 and get the whole mess!!!! "

THe caliper is fine, the rotor is fine...but they won't sell just the lever...WTF????
your experience is def out of the norm. i would try another LBS. I could easily get on the phone with SRAM right now and get them to send you another COMPLETE brakeset right now for FREE. And the best part is that its not cuz I'm special :p, its cuz thats just how SRAM is... "oh, you have a part that doesn't work perfectly? here, we are sending you a whole new one today"
 

supertucanos

Chimp
Sep 28, 2010
1
0
same problem here, i hadn't ridden for a few months, was hanging for a ride and during my night before bike prep i pulled the front brake on and the lever stuck! wtf! not having the time nor patience to send it back i decided to take matters into my own hands,

i downloaded the the manual off the sram website and poceeded to pull the lever apart, after about 3 hours of f**king with it i discovered that for some reason the white teflon washer that sits behind the rubber piston had become to big for the bore sleeve, how that happened i have absolutely no idea. so, i hit it with some wet and dry sand paper (1600) and took just enough off all the way around the edge so it would slide freely. rebuilt the lever, re-bled the lines, 5 hours later was finally finished wishing i had just sent it back to sram, but at least i could ride in the morning. as a side note, the rebuilt lever now feels smoother than the other one but there's no way i'm touching it unless it f**ks out too, so far so good.

score one for the home mechanic, but i don't recommend it unless you have limitless patience and know that you'll still love sram in the morning.
 

Mladek

Chimp
Apr 23, 2011
1
0
A bit of a hassle, but I fixed the sticking problem by disassembling the lever (instructions are on the SRAM web site) and sanding then honing the small end shaft (taking off about a 1/20 of a millimeter of material) at the end of the piston assembly (way easier than trying to get at the washer and making sure no left over crud contaminates the piston internals).

After reassembly and bleeding, the sticking problem was fixed (still not as silky smooth as the other lever that worked out of the box, but good enough for the back brake).

All in all, it took me about 2 hours (including the brake bleed).

BTW the biggest pain was getting at the retention ring. Since its way down in the assembly, my ring pliers wouldn't reach. Had to manipulate it with a pair of needle nose pliers (including a whole lot of swearing) for about 1/2 hour to get it back in.

Putting the ring in open end up allowed me to get the shaft through the opening, after which I simply rotated the ring to its original open end down position.
 

slowitdown

Monkey
Mar 30, 2009
553
0
Levers don't solve cylinder problems :rolleyes:

Had the same problem and completely disassembled and greased the cylinders and that fixed the problem. A bitch to do, but far cheaper than buying new ones.
Yep. Lever's master cylinder has a piston w/ o-rings and the o-rings will get sticky if they lack silicone grease.
 

?????

Turbo Monkey
Jun 20, 2005
1,678
2
San Francisco
Would this help?
Nah, for the price of a replacement lever you could almost buy a completely new brake.

I've had this happen twice now to my Codes, once the front and once the rear after the bike sat for several months without riding. It took a while for me to figure out what to do, but the second time it was a simple process. Just take the lever apart, stick the white bushing on your dremel and hold a piece of sand paper to it while the dremel spins it around. I haven't had any problems since.
 

freakrock

Monkey
Aug 19, 2005
431
0
Santiago de Chile
BTW the biggest pain was getting at the retention ring. Since its way down in the assembly, my ring pliers wouldn't reach. Had to manipulate it with a pair of needle nose pliers (including a whole lot of swearing) for about 1/2 hour to get it back in.
Two relatively small phillips screwdrivers do the trick pretty damn well
 

JustMtnB44

Monkey
Sep 13, 2006
840
113
Pittsburgh, PA
I had this same problem with the 2008 codes on my Highline. They worked great the first two years I had them, then the third year they started to require frequent bleeding and occasional lever pumping to get them to work well. It was back in July 2012 I went to ride my Highline after it had been sitting for some time, so I grabbed the brakes to check functionality and the front lever piston stuck in the master cylinder, rendering that brake useless. So I just rode my Legend instead all season. I ordered the master cylinder rebuild kit to do both levers, and didn't get around to working on it until this week.

The piston was really stuck in the lever body. It took a bunch of swearing and pushing it out with a tiny drill bit since there is no way to grab it. And then the plastic washer, cup seal, and spring were still in the body so I had to force those out as well with the drill bit and a pick. I then cleaned everything and replaced all the parts. Even though the rebuild kit includes all new plastic and rubber parts, the lever piston would still stick in the cylinder upon reassembly. So after some searching (which lead me to this thread), I used some rolled up fine sandpaper to clean up the cylinder bore, and put the piston in my drill and used sandpaper to clean up the edge of the white washer. This did work and keeps the piston from sticking now. I also put a light coating of grease on the cup seal, white washer, and x-ring. The lever didn't feel super smooth without fluid, but I put it all together and bled the brake and now it feels perfect. I don't think the lever has felt so solid in a while, so hopefully it stays this way. Thanks to those who gave advice in this thread, it was very helpful.