KYB shock bleeding and removing Comp. adjuster

[tri-mx'er]

I have rebuilt my shock and installed a Gold Valve in it. I assembled it the way the RT video says, but it seemed like you have no idea if the air is out or not. I found Jeremy's article on rebuilding, and see he flips the shock over and removes the compression adjuster to bleed it all the way. My YZ450 has hi and low comp adjusters, and his article says I need a special tool from Scott's Performance for removing the adjuster. I cant find this, and dont really ikinow what Im looking for anyhow. Any ideas here? I'm open to other bleeding methods too of course.

tri-mx'er

 

[marcusgunby]

I would use the RT method-if you remove the adjuster you will have a small amount of air trapped behind it anyway.Once its gassed it should be smooth all the way through the stroke-if it has air in it, it will feel like sandpaper.I made a tool to remove the adjuster from a old spark plug spanner that comes with a KX.Cut the tool to fit in the 4 cutouts on the adjuster, also dont forget to drill the peens(just to remove the dents) on the adjuster-one on each side.

 

[tri-mx'er]

Thanks. After looking at my comp adjuster again, it looks like a regular wrench will remove it. It has 2 flats, probably 19 or 21mm. This should remove the entire adjusting assembly I think, as the hi speed and low speed adjusters are in this housing. Am I on the right track?

I know the article says you can drill out the peens on some models, but you don't have to on moedels with hi and low comps. So I assume this is what Jeremy was talking about, only mine doesn't need the special tool.

I removed the shaft and piston again, and looked at drilling a hole in the seal cap, just below the o-ring, to bleed the pocket of air that will want to be trapped. I don't think this is possible on my shock though.

tri-mx'er

 

[marcusgunby]

Cant remember which type of adjuster yours has so i cant really help more, i tried to drill a seal head assembly once-it was a total pain, trust me you wont trap much air doing it the RT way-1000s of shocks have been serviced this way and work perfectly.

 

Im sure its how the factories do it if that helps.

 

[tri-mx'er]

Good to know. WHen I re-assembled the shock, I filled the shock body nearly to the top, and actually tipped it, released the bladder valve, and pressed the seal head into the shock at one time, I really think I got nearly all of it this time. I'm going to use it like this.

tri-mx'er

 

[russ17]

Tri-mixer
you can use a regular wrench to take the comp. adjuster out on the 03 yz's

Russ

 

[tri-mx'er]

thanks.

I looked at it, and it looked like thats all I needed, I just wanted to be sure I was removing the right part. I see there are 2 small peens that need to be removed first.

Do you think it will be worth it to try to bleed it from there? I am guessing I will place it on top, leave it overnight, then crack it open to bleed.

but the more reading I do, the more I think I'm trying to re-invent the wheel. Maybe its fine with a tad of air in it. After all, when I opened up my shock form the factory, plenty air came out . It seemed to be trapped around the bladder.

I also read somewhere that a tiny amount of air can enter the shock from the shaft seal, so unless you do it all the time, you're going to have some air in the shock.

tri-mx'er

tri-

 

[marcusgunby]

Air mixed in the oil will always show up when you open a shock up.
The best bleed technique IMO is to attach a tube and reseviour to the comp adjuster opening-then bleed all air into the reseviour-once no more air is seen refit adjuster-however like i said you still get some air behind the adjuster.

 

[tri-mx'er]

Alright, here's what I did. I did everything the RT video said, then pumped it some more, then flipped it over and pumped it a few more times. Then I let it sit for a few hours, with the adjuster at the very highest point. This should get all or most of the air up in the cap of the compression adjuster. Now I stood the shock back up in a way that the compression adjuster is nearly horizontal, otherwise there is room for a lot of air in the adjuster cap itself. I slowly unscrewed the adjuster assembly until it released some air and oil started coming out. I did this with 15PSI in the bladder instead of empty, seemed to work better. 30PSI is a little too much, as it blew a good bit of oil out. Anyone doing this needs to have on some glasses at the very least. I did it couple more times after letting the shock sit in a few different positions so air could reach the top. I'm not getting any more air out at all, I think I've got as much as possible without doing it submerged in oil, or drilling and tapping a bleeder screw on the shock body, which I think I'll do next time I rebuild it!

Tri-mx'er