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Looking for ideas on how to get a piston out of a slave cyl.. It's stuck in there pretty good. Using the hyd. hose hooked to the master isn't budging it and I assume air won't be much better. (plus I dont have air anymore)

Sorry about the crappy cell phone pic.

Not kidding...soak it in Coca Cola overnight

blackstack wrote:Not kidding...soak it in Coca Cola overnight

or charcoal lighter fluid.

Thanks for the tips. I soaked in parts cleaner, then PB for a while (that's what I had on hand). The coolest advice came from someone who suggested using a grease gun. I found a metric grease nipple at Pepboys that thread into it and applied grease and it came right out. I feel stupid for not thinking of that one. Anyway, I used steel-wool to smooth out the brass where it bound up (darker colored area) and some light pitting in the cyl. then used some Eastwood black paint to finish off the body. The rubber was still good. It now works like new! I can get fully locked up for Utah in the spring.

Don't forget to exercise those lockers once a month! I bet this thing hadn't been engaged since 1990.


Sorry again for the crappy cell phone pic (it wont focus anymore).

Before:

I never would have thought you'd have found a grease nipple to fit so easily. Good Work!!

Old thread revival going here- My 4x4 locker was stuck on/engaged for a few weeks. I bled the system and knew the levers were working, so it meant the piston was not disengaging. Pulling the slave cylinder is really easy. Getting the piston out was NOT. The piston was stuck because of the corrosion on the dry portion of the slave cylinder. Part of the cylinder bore is exposed to the air (water?) inside the center tube and had built up surface rust that was seizing the piston. 120 psi of air pressure didn't budget it. Soaking overnight didn't either. Fortunately real4x4, this thread, and the idea of the metric grease nipple did the trick. A couple of pumps and the piston starting popping out. I'll use brake cleaner to remove any grease and some light sanding to remove the surface rust and re-install. Now I need to read up on the use of silicon lube on that exposed bore- any ideas if that's OK or a no no?

How satisfying was that!? It makes me want to have another stuck piston!

VinceAtReal4x4s wrote:How satisfying was that!? It makes me want to have another stuck piston!

VERY SATISFYING! Especially after pricing a new complete unit.

Interestingly, grease pressure via a grease gun is also often used to build pressure in a cylinder to properly tension a snowcat's tracks. To detension the tracks, you just remove the zerk.

Grease gun can also be used if you get one of your balls stuck in a black powder firearm.

edzz wrote:Grease gun can also be used if you get one of your balls stuck in a black powder firearm

I know better than to touch that straight line....AND I know better than to ask what one of yours balls was doing in a black powder firearm.... I'm stopping there.

Sometimes this site has much more entertainment value than would be expected...

What's so entertaining about greasy balls? Jim and I suffer endlessly.

...and, I tuned into this again to possibly glean more useful mechanical information only to discover it was a primer for late night comedy.

I guess i should have mentioned you would need to unscrew your nipple and replace it with a zerk fitting before attempting to dislodge your stuck ball with grease.

http://www.beartoothbullets.com/tips/ar ... ips.htm/49