I have a 98 sportsman 500. The hand brake does nothing unless you hold the foot brake down. New pads and bled all three calipers. Funny thing is the handle bar resevior did not drop level only rear resevior. I thought the foot brake was for rear only and hand brake did both front and rear. Is the fluid in the rear caliper connected at any point to the front circuit? A schematic of the rear caliper would be great if someone had a picture they could scan or something. I am thinking there must be some type of check valve or something that has failed in the rear caliper? Thanks for any help!

 

Someone on here must have had there rear caliper ripped apart. Any help would be appreciated.

 

Randy, I have worked on the rear caliper of my 2004 sportsman. I have no idea if they are the same system but I'll explain what I found and what worked for me. You'll need to decide if my info applies to you.
you have two separate reservoirs, the rear ciliper has one piston fed from both the hand brake and the rear foot pedal. if you have a bad seal on the rear caliper piston it could drain one reservoir and not the other. My rear master cylinder is shot and leaks but i'm not spending the money on a new one to fix it. The hand leaver operates the front and rear brakes. I only need the rear brake pedal to get it into reverse and high gear.
I replaced the rear brake piston and seals last year because the piston froze and locked the rear brake on.
I'm not sure if that answered the question but if I can answer it better let me or us know.
Changing the piston and seals was not that tough of a job, only a few parts.
Deerkiller.

 

One of the pistons in the caliper is frozen/locked up. You need to rebuild the caliper or purchase another.

 

Thanks guys for the replies. Deerkiller is there some type of check valve in the caliper so that when you push the foot pedal it does not also actuate the front calipers? Another question is there two pistons, one on each pad or is it like a car where there is just one. Thanks again.

 

The rear foot pedal does not send any fluid (pressure) to the front calipers. Normally the footbrake piston inside the rear caliper will lock/freeze up before the one that is activated by the brake lever because the brake lever is used FAR more than the pedal.

 

Weedy, thanks for the reply. This is what has me puzzeled. When you pump the foot brake on this rig it actually does pressurize the hand brake master cylinder. The other thing is when bleeding the rear caliper the only resivior that dropped level was the rear no matter which bleed screw I was on. Do you need anything special to tear the rear caliper apart?

 

There is no check valve that I have seen. One piston in the rear caliper with a step in it with two seals. The two inputs,lever and foot pedal. let fluid in in different chambers. you probably have a bad seal between the two chambers of the piston.
No special tools that I remember. take it apart and it will all be clear. Block the rear up on jack stands and with the right rear wheel off you can get at it easily. I think I took the rear stick stopper off that side of the CV axle. The piston,seals and boot are a kit and stupid expensive. I bought both front calipers for my Tahoe for less then the kit.
The rear master cylinder at the foot pedal is a week link in the system. Mine leaks and I'm sure I could be loosing fluid from the rear cylinder from it. The master cylinder is not rebuildable and way more then I'm spending on a new one.
deerkiller

 

Deerkiller, thanks a million thats what I needed to clear up. So I can buy a seal kit and rebuild it. I did not want to buy a complete caliper but I did not understand how it worked for sure and did not want to screw it up taking it apart. Thanks again for the help.