I have a 01 Kodiac, and the rear breaks aren't working when you squeez the hand lever it is very soft, I have removed the break from the hub, and depressed the lever and the round metal disc that apply the force to stop just bearly moves. I checked the fluid levels and they are fine, and as far as I can see no leaks, It can only be 1 of 2 things I would say, it seems to me the mechanism at the foot break appears to be the problem, has anyone had anything like this or any ideas on what to do? Sorry about my mechanical ignorance, I pretty good at putting gas in it, but thats about it, oh, I can take them apart no problem.

Thank you

 

Have you changed your brake pads recently? If so, did it start after you changed them? Whether you changed them or not,..a good bleeding of the system is not a bad idea. Sometimes it can take a very long time to bleed all the air out of the lines. If you changed your pads or ran low of brakefluid at one point, it will have air in the lines. Probally wouldn't be a bad idea to change your brake fluid either because if the brake fluid has ever met it's boiling point during use,..it doesn't have it's hydraulic properties any longer and will not work whether it's full or not.

You said when you "pull" the lever that it is very soft. Are you talking about your parking brake lever or the front brake lever?? The parking brake lever isn't hydraulic and it can be tightened by using the cable adjuster by the lever.

One last thing you should check is the brake pedal free play. If you have alot of free play, you might be able to get your brakes back by adjusting the rod from the rear master cylinder to brake pedal.

If nothing seems to be helping you might need to replace the oil seals in your caliper.

KNOWSALOT