How to remove the wheel bearings?

[Rianna]

OH, and it doesn't "squeal" or "squeak" ever! I can listen to brakes squealing all day long and think nothing of it. This sounds more like you threw some metal into a meat grinder or something.

[TechGuy]

Okay, my bearings said:

TPI 6201LU 332 <-- This is the maker and the bearing number --looks good to me! correct types of seals, different makers have different letters but they are not ZZ or anything like that.

And the seal was more difficult to read, even with a magnifying glass, but it looked like:

KCY 20 32 5 5.7 <<-- not sure what this is.. dimensions maybe 32 is the outside diameter
C2703 KOK3 <<--- sound like a date code , shift C , 27th week of 2003 at plant KOK3 or machine KOK3

That mean anything? 

Overall, I think you are OK on the bearings.  They cannot be off center... you have two bearings, pressed into a mag wheel, with a spacer, with a solid steel shaft going through the center... if they were not straight, the axle shaft would not go in or come out without a major fight.

I am going to say...use them as they are! I might be wrong but I don't think so. Put some weight on the scoot and roll it around when the sun is out and see if it's happy and quiet.

What do your brake pads look like?  Scan them and let's see them...

[Rianna]

TPI 6201LU 332 <-- This is the maker and the bearing number --looks good to me! correct types of seals, different makers have different letters but they are not ZZ or anything like that.

Yes, I saw some ZZ when I tried to use Google to figure out what the numbers meant, but did not think it was right. The ones with the ZZ in their code seemed to be popular, though, at least on Google.

KCY 20 32 5 5.7 <<-- not sure what this is.. dimensions maybe 32 is the outside diameter
And this one, I'm not sure what the "5.7"  part is, but I do now see 20*32*5 listed by the Dust Seal on the StadiumYamaha website, so it is most likely the correct one also.

I have found some rechargeable batteries for the camera. But it does sound like a good idea to scan the brake pads, maybe it's a good thing my batteries died after all. I will need to look up in the manual or somewhere to see about taking the pads out. I have not done this before. I know there can be some small clips and such and I don't want to lose any pieces. I will post up the scans in a little while. Thank you. 

[Rianna]

Okay, here is the scan of the brake pads. I hope it comes out large enough to get a good look. The scan was very dark so I lightened it up just a little for a better view.

[TechGuy]

Your pads look OK, you have plenty of material left.  When they wear to the point where the four raised sections wear even with the low areas in the "trench" or slot, they need to be replaced.

Do you know why they have a large defect or broken in the upper pad in the photo?  If a rock were lodged in that groove, it could cause a really nasty sounding metal grinding noise that depending on the angle of the rock and the shape of the rock face against the disk, might not even cause much damage to the disc if you didn't ride much. A rock would/could fall out during the process of removing the pads and caliper and could even take a chuck of the brake pad material with it (like what is appears I am looking at in the scan).

What I think I am saying, you may want to try doing is to fit all this back together and see if it still squeals. You could take a piece of sand paper and clean up that gash if it looks flaky or just go with what you got.

[Rianna]

Thank you, I see the trenches area you are talking about so now I know when they need replaced. You are right there is plenty of material left in these pads. I think I learned something here. 

About the defects on the upper pad. I believe I ran over a large nut or buckeye in the yard. Whatever did this is long gone so I can't be sure what it was. When I took the pads out nothing new fell out. And the grinding noise has continued on past the first time I removed the caliper and took a look and cleaned it a bit.

The gouges in the center area look deeper here to me than they look in the scan. One side feels rough and catches my finger when I slide it across it so some sandpaper may be in order. There is also a gouge near the left side edge that is not so visible in the scan. It's more of a hole though and not torn up.

If there were a rock stuck in it I could see it making that type of sound. Would the rough edges of the pads alone be catching on the rotor and making a metal grinding sound that loud? I'm thinking no, but I know nothing about the material they are made of. I'm gonna go check the area and floor again to be sure I didn't miss something falling out.

[Rianna]

I'd better go further and say if the disc is either stainless steel or coated it may not be able to be turned/trued -- only replaced.  Yeah, look into the caliper and it's mounts too.  Lot of times the lubricant that lets it slide freely drys up and causes problems galore.  

I just looked back a few pages to find this post. Where exactly is this lubricant or grease supposed to be? I ask because I see nothing. I pulled the brake pins completely out and they are dry as can be. The two cylinder well thingies are dry and look shiny like new. I see a spot of rust on the spring thing (not sure what it's called) down under where the pads sit, but I am not seeing any lubricant or grease or signs of any. 

Oh, and I found nothing in my work area nor on the floor in either room it was sitting in.

[TechGuy]

Follow the service guide, I don't think they recommend ANY lubricant except on the side of the pistons when you rebuild the calipers. Adding the wrong type of the lube/grease to the brakes will cause problems.

[TechGuy]

Unless you removed the pistons from the caliper body, I would not use any lube on anything.

The clip, likely rusted in spots, make sure it is in the correct direction (use the photos) or it can drag on the edge of the brake disk. It is is just there to hold the pads in the correct alignment.  The pins are hangers and they don't need any lube as they pads are hanging, not gliding/sliding, along them.

[Rianna]

Thank you, TechGuy! You are so patient and I appreciate it!!

The two shiny things (the pistons perhaps?) are they supposed to be even? Mine are not even. They look to me like they should set inside evenly at the same depth inside the holes, but one protrudes farther than the other one.

The manual isn't specific or maybe I don't understand it very well, but I give you permission to laugh at any and all of my questions and comments! 

[TechGuy]

It doesn't matter... push them in until they show the thickness of a nickel or so (not critical) and put the brake pads in. 

When you get them mounted on the bike and squeeze the brake handle, they will seat themselves correctly. I sometime use a piece of wood and some slip joint pliers or a c-clamp to slowly squeeze the pistons back into the caliper body. Whatever it takes to make the pistons go in far enough to get the pads in and the disk between them. Don't push them in too far, they will squish brake fluid out of the reservoir at the top.

I slip a thin piece of cardboard (hunk of cereal box?) folded in half and slipped between the brake pads in the assembled caliper/brake assembly and then use the bendy flaps of the cardboard to slip it over the disc (one flap on each side) and then slide it to the final mounting place. If I need to lose the cardboard to get to the final spot, that's OK, it is just there to make it easy to split the two pads.  They can be hard to pull apart while holding the caliper assembly and the wheel and the....

Slip joint pliers

[Rianna]

Okay, I've been studying this for awhile now and my brain isn't cooperating with it's current 3 hours sleep level so I better ask to be sure I get it right. The spacer...which way does it go? Does the small end sit down inside of the seal with the large portion closer to the fork? Or does the large portion rest on top of the seal with the smaller side closer to the fork?

[TechGuy]

I will look and get back to you...

[Rianna]

Okay, thank you.

[Rianna]

Hi, TechGuy. I had many distractions yesterday and became very tired. When I went to put everything back together to test it out some things didn't add up. Something didn't look right and it just didn't make sense to me so I stopped.

In looking at the diagrams this morning it seems the spacer may have been in backwards and instead of resting inside of the seal the larger part was sitting on the seal. It could be that it slipped into one side of the seal while the wheel was in motion and that is what had caused some damage to the seal. Between that and the right fork bolts that were loose it does not surprise me that the front end felt off and somewhat loose after riding it a ways. I also noticed today that my speedometer gear box isn't the one shown in the diagrams and it has the letters KCX on the outside of it. Those letters seem to match up with the speedo for the ZX. Who knows what else has been swapped. I don't know if someone took this scoot to the dealer this way as a trade in or if the dealer's mechanic put things together this way. But it's my mess now and I thank you for helping me to sort it all out.

I've put things back together in the proper direction. I will ask the machine shop to check the rotor's condition and then deal with replacing the remaining parts a little at a time until all is as it should have been in that front end area. Again I want to say Thank You so much!!!