[crashing_sux]

I just picked up a new ride with Hayes Mag's on it. I have turned the little lever adjuster all the way out which moves the lever all the way in. The problem is the lever still sits too far away from the bars. I tried resetting the pistons but after a few pumps on the lever it reset it self to being too far away from the bars again.

How do I get the lever closer to the bar? I was thinking of carefully opening the bleed screw next to the lever while squeezing the lever to dump a little fluid out and try not to get any air inside. Is this the proper fix or will the Hayes self adjusting mechanism just make the lever reset back out where it was, too far from the bar for my liking?

 

[mrbigisbudgood]

Actually, turning the adjuster clockwise moves the lever out. Turn it the other way to bring the lever inward. The more thread that shows, the closer it is to the bars.

 

[crashing_sux]

Originally posted by mrbigisbudgood
Actually, turning the adjuster clockwise moves the lever out. Turn it the other way to bring the lever inward. The more thread that shows, the closer it is to the bars.

Correct, that's why I originally said that I have the adjuster turned all the way OUT, which moves the levers all the way IN. It's just not enough, they are still way too far out for my liking.

 

[SKYWAYBUZZ]

Ya I put new pads in my Hayes Purple rear brake( first time replacing pads on my 3 pair of hayes since the pads last forever) and I'm having the same problem now, never happened before when bleeding with used pads. I feel its just the new pads need worn in and hopefully I'll get more lever pull, I had to really push the pistons in with the top bleed open to get the pads to not rub on the rotor, seems like there's still too much fluid in the system because the lever doesn't pull back enough, I'm going to run em tonite and if they don't improve I'll try your pull the lever with the bleed screw open. I normally bleed em with fluid to the top on the lever and then insert bleed screw.

 

[SKYWAYBUZZ]

To get the lever further in you open the caliper bleeder while pulling the lever and you can feel the lever going in towards the bar as fluid comes out, then close the bleed before you release your lever so no air goes in. Just did it myself.

 

[crashing_sux]

Originally posted by SKYWAYBUZZ
To get the lever further in you open the caliper bleeder while pulling the lever and you can feel the lever going in towards the bar as fluid comes out, then close the bleed before you release your lever so no air goes in. Just did it myself.

Just did this three times, each time after I closed the bleed screw the lever pumped back up to it's previous position. Should I keep doing it? I don't want to empty so much fluid out that I cause problems with the brake and it seems to keep wanting to self-adjust back out.

 

[ohio]

Originally posted by crashing_sux
Just did this three times, each time after I closed the bleed screw the lever pumped back up to it's previous position. Should I keep doing it? I don't want to empty so much fluid out that I cause problems with the brake and it seems to keep wanting to self-adjust back out.

Correct. It's self adjusting. It will always pump back up to it's original amount of pull-before-engagement.

You should be able to adjust that screw more than you have... you just need a ball end hex wrench to do it, otherwise the wrench gets in the way of adjustment. it will adjust to the point where it almost touches the bar... the hard part is getting the wrench in there to do it.

 

[JRogers]

Originally posted by ohio
Correct. It's self adjusting. It will always pump back up to it's original amount of pull-before-engagement.

You should be able to adjust that screw more than you have... you just need a ball end hex wrench to do it, otherwise the wrench gets in the way of adjustment. it will adjust to the point where it almost touches the bar... the hard part is getting the wrench in there to do it.

I don't think this is true. I use the correct wrench and on both sets of Hayes that I've had (hfx9s and mags) the lever is still a good amount away from the bar when adjusted fully in. As far as I know, there is no way to change this starting point. However, in my experience, this should be close enough that, if the engagement point is set correctly, it's not a problem.

The engagement on Hayes, even though it's a self adjusting system, can be messed with. Don't ask me how it works but it does. Simply take an index card, piece of paper of business card and stick it in between the rotor and pads. Squeeze a few times and it'll reset so there's a bit more throw in the lever. This method can only do so much but it's worked for me. I believe it's in the Hayes manual as well.