ATV brakes don’t work. Help plz

[JPeters218]

So my grandpa handed me down his old 1995 Yamaha Kodiak 400. It runs good but the brakes don’t work. The front left handle is pretty much seized. Can only pull it like 1/8”. Right handle (front brake) moves but the brakes not work. Same with the the foot brake for the rear.

I don’t know much about his stuff but am fairly handy. Some guy on YouTube seemed to have a similar problem, (his brake fluid reservoir was empty tho, mine was full but the fluid looked old (according to google lol). So I got the old fluid out of the reservoir, added new, and bled the front brakes. That did nothing. So now I’m not sure what to try next

 

[LoggerDan]

Check out the piston and caliper, or shoes, depending upon what it has. Check operating linkage. Check lines for damage or kinks.. my bet is the piston itself is probably froze up

 

[Customweld]

So my grandpa handed me down his old 1995 Yamaha Kodiak 400. It runs good but the brakes don’t work. The front left handle is pretty much seized. Can only pull it like 1/8”. Right handle (front brake) moves but the brakes not work. Same with the the foot brake for the rear.

I don’t know much about his stuff but am fairly handy. Some guy on YouTube seemed to have a similar problem, (his brake fluid reservoir was empty tho, mine was full but the fluid looked old (according to google lol). So I got the old fluid out of the reservoir, added new, and bled the front brakes. That did nothing. So now I’m not sure what to try next

IIRC, there are 2 cables that go to the back. One for the hand lever, one for the foot lever. There should be an adjustment nut on both of these linkage cables. If both levers are working, you should see movement in the cable that these adjustment nuts are on. It sounds like the piston on the front may be seized.

 

[sbaker0029]

I have a 2007 big bear 400 that happened to but just the front brakes (right hand lever wouldn't budge)

Ended up being a collapsed brake line and caliper/piston was stuck. Might check those two things.

You can also open up the bleeder valve and have someone pump the brakes to get an air bubble out, which could also be causing the problem of stiff handle.

 

[JPeters218]

So it turns out i only bled the front lines. Bleeding the drums currently.

As for the rears, the cable Moves when I use the foot brake. And I can operate the cable by hand for the front control. The lever just won’t move.

FWIW it did sit for quite a while. Like possibly a couple years. He had a new grizzly on tracks that he used so I have no idea when this was used last

 

[SaltySailor]

Hand lever cables for the rear brakes are cheap, yours is probably seized. The lever itself being seized doesn't make sense to me, all it probably is is a pin with a cotter pin holding it onto the handle bars. I imagine that's a rear drum, do the brakes stop the wheeler when you depress the foot brake? My sons left hand brake cable was all stretched out so we replaced it only to find out that his drum lining is so worn out that no amount of adjusting will engage the brakes, we have to get a new drum. The person who invented drum brakes for wheelers should be caned.

 

[JPeters218]

No using the foot pedal doesn't slow it down whatsoever. It seems like the bracket for the rear brakes was stuck in the engaged position (had to hammer it back wards) so I’m guessing they got stuck engaged and was driven until they wore out.

 

[JPeters218]

A friend came over and we bled the front brakes better, now they ever So slightly work. Trying to get the castle nut off the rear right now

 

[JPeters218]

Little update. We messed with the rear brake for a long time. It was just all gummed up with dirt and stuff that it was kind of seized. Got it all cleaned up good, and it does function, but not effectively. It needs pads. Ran out of time to investigate the seized handle.

It did develop a new quirk tonight tho. Won’t shift into reverse. Worked fine the first couple times I tried it, then it didn‘t. The first two times it didn’t, i could cycle through the gears and then back to neutral and it would let me shift to reverse. After those two times, no reverse.

 

[Customweld]

Little update. We messed with the rear brake for a long time. It was just all gummed up with dirt and stuff that it was kind of seized. Got it all cleaned up good, and it does function, but not effectively. It needs pads. Ran out of time to investigate the seized handle.

It did develop a new quirk tonight tho. Won’t shift into reverse. Worked fine the first couple times I tried it, then it didn‘t. The first two times it didn’t, i could cycle through the gears and then back to neutral and it would let me shift to reverse. After those two times, no reverse.

I’ve got a 96 Kodiak, they are kinda picky on reverse. Make sure you are in neutral. They will bind some times and you need to rock them back and forth with your body weight while maintaining a little pressure on the fear shift lever.

 

[PNWGATOR]

Gotta love machinery…especially when it sits.

 

[sbaker0029]

Gotta love machinery…especially when it sits.

I'm convinced that sitting can be worse that putting a 1000 hours on equipment in some occasions

 

[Customweld]

I'm convinced that sitting can be worse that putting a 1000 hours on equipment in some occasions

Definitely agree with that.