Magura Claras - early type. Help!!!

Been flummoxed by these. I have a LOT of experience with disc brakes generally but these are just stupid.

It's this type


Which is not compatible with the normal threaded hose adapter on the bleed pipe - and pressing the hose in snugly seems to be the only way.

You have to remove a small grub screw to open the oils system. Check.
Brake lever pulled in. Check.
Syringe of oil ready to squirt in. Check.
But the oil won't squirt in without leaking out of the sides.

Am now assuming there is either something wrong with the lever but before I give up - can anyone tell me I'm doing something wrong?

"Brake lever pulled in - check" Why?
There's no need to pull the lever in.

suburbanreuben":152uxsu8 said:

"Brake lever pulled in - check" Why?
There's no need to pull the lever in.

Click to expand...

To open the system and get things flowing. But it didn't work when it wasn't pulled in either.

Basically what sucks about these brakes is that you can't open and close the oil line to get some kind of capillary action going. I know it's a low-pressure system but there just isn't ANY pressure to pull the oil through.

Perhaps you have to push it through from the caliper using a syringe? I used to have a Magura Louise (first early type) manual but cannot find it. I may have given it away when I sold the bike with the brakes on it. The service kit that came with them had a syringe in the box.

Is there a bleed screw at the lever, or do you need to open up the master cylinder cover? I assume you're syringing it in through the caliper port?
This is strange; every magura brake I've ever bled has been surprisingly easy.

They are really stupid. There is a small grub screw port in the piston housing that you have to remove for the oil to go through. And you have to remove the lever cover and squirt the oil up through the hole.

Problem is that the hole is too small for the syringe nozzle so you have to use the rubber tube to get it in there. But it just won't fit in snugly enough for the oild not to come out of the side.

These are a design like no others I've seen before. I've worked on plenty of other Maguras, Hopes, Hayes, Shimano, Formula, Clarks, Tektro, Avid. You name it. These are the stupidest design I have ever seen.

Is this of help

http://www.birota.ru/manuals/magura/dis ... uclaen.pdf

Many thanks. I'd found the German one but it didn't make as much sense.

But the barbed end for the feed tube doesn't fit. I'm doing everything right - just without the end to screw in.

Don't they just bleed in the same way as every other Magura disc brake? -

Remove reservoir cover, fill syringe with oil, remove bleed screw on caliper, attach syringe and force contents of syringe though system, removing excess from the reservoir with a second syringe. Occasionally draw a little fluid back into the filling syringe and tap the lines/flick the brake lever to get rid of any little air pockets. Remove filling hose, replace grub screw and reservoir cover.

If you can't fit the filling hose to the caliper then it's just because you haven't got the correct fitting - get a cap head screw of the same thread as the bleed screw, drill though it lengthways (say 1.5mm dia.) and either cut off or reduce the head to a size that's a tight fit inside the tube that's attached to the filling syringe.