repairing the proportioning valve on my 83 Aspi.

Advertise with us
shop deals on amazon
Shop deals on ebay
Classic Goldwings

Help Support Classic Goldwings:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
F

fastmover83

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 3, 2010
Messages
150
Reaction score
0
Location
Port Townsend,Wa.
The proportioning valve on my bike's linked brakes system sprang a leak between the mounting bracket/cover and the valve body, and because it is no longer available from Honda it was either buy a used one of questionable condition or repair the old one. After removing,dis-assembling and cleaning the valve, I found all the parts were in good condition. So after finding a suitable brake fluid proof gasket compound, because Honda didn't use a gasket only some form of Honda Bond. I put all back together and reinstalled it, If this should happens to any of you I would suggest you do the same. They are not hard to work on, just make sure to use a dedicated 10mm tubing wrench and a security torx bit. Remove the rear fitting first, Then you will have to remove the 10mm bolt that holds the valve and the condensation filter to the bike, so you can get the wrench on the two front fittings, but make sure you bolt the valve bracket back on the bike before you try to remove the the front fittings, or you will twist the lines and end up replacing them. Next you remove the top front fitting, so you can get the wrench on the front bottom fitting, And I repeat, make sure you bolt the bracket back on the bike before you try to remove the front fittings or you will twist the lines and have to replace them. Then as they say in the repair manuals, install in reverse order :lol: If anyone else has done this repair please feel free to add your thoughts or tips.
 
I used some stuff called Seal-All, it's gas and oil resistant, but it didn't say anything about brake fluid, but it seams to be holding. The guy at Honda said they probably used a form of Honda Bond, but wasn't sure. According to the instructions on the tube, Honda Bond 4 doesn't harden and the old sealant was hard like shellac, I also bought some Permatex Indian Head Shellac, and Honda Bond 4. Before using the Seal-All, I spread some on a piece of Aluminum bar, let it harden and then put it in some brake fluid to soak and it seemed to hold up, so I tried it first, if it fails I'll try the other stuff or maybe make some kind of gasket.
I also should mention that you don't want to try to remove the valve body from the bracket/backing plate while they are still on the bike as the parts inside are under spring pressure and you could loose some non-replaceable parts. speaking of which there is a little slim washer under the big spring, that serves as some sort of valve, so be sure to remove it before you blow out the passages with anything under pressure or it could get lost. And in case someone forgets how it goes back together, the Plastic end of the small spring assembly, goes in towards passages of the valve body and the aluminum plunger goes against the backing plate. You also want to dip the plunger in some brake fluid so it will go in easily without damage, and it should go without saying, if you get any brake fluid on the mating surfaces clean it with some brake cleaner on a rag before applying the sealant or you won't get an good seal.
 
:clapping: :read: :good:
Don't suppose you had time to take any pics of this surgery, eh? :beg:
 
Well the Seal-All didn't last very long, about one day of riding before it started to leak again. I'm now trying the Honda Bond4, it's been on a couple of days with no leaking, but that's with no riding. I plan on riding this weekend, so we'll see how it does. If it doesn't hold I think I'll have a o ring groove machined into the body and use an o ring.
 
The Honda Bond4 didn't hold either, so now I'm going to try some rubberized gasket material, but first I'm going to soak it in brake fluid over night.
 
Yes! That least that appears what happened to the Seal-all, the brake fluid seems to have dissolved it. As to what happened to the Honda Bond4, I haven't disassembled it yet, so I don't know for sure how it failed. I think I will find it's a combination of dissolving, pressure and possibly the heat build up in the brake fluid during heavy braking. I'm not just going around the block in my trials, I'm pushing the bike as hard as I can, over the top of Eaglemont pass and back, with lots of highway speed panic stops, because if is going to fail I want it to do so right away instead of later on when I'm not expecting it.
 
Well I think I may have found the answer. After the Honda Bond4 gave out, I started to try the Permatex shellac, but changed my mind after testing it and found that the DOT3 brake fluid took it right off. At least I now know what to use if I want to remove Permatex. :) . What I finally used to seal the valve to the backing plate was a thin rubber gasket. I don't know if it was Neoprene, but it seems to be holding for now. Today I was told it needed to be Neoprene or the brake fluid would eat it, and that I should be able to buy some at any shoe repair shop. So I think I'll pick some up just in case this gasket fails.
 

Latest posts

Top