Shimano Zee lever leaking

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Shimano Zee lever leaking
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flag metro24
Posted: Aug 22, 2021 at 11:52 Quote
Hey everyone, hoping that someone can help me on an issue I’m having. I recently picked up a bike secondhand with Shimano Zees, and a couple days ago I noticed that there was oil collected on the lever blade and inside the lever internals. I am positive this isn’t an issue with the bleed port as no oil is collected around there. I asked around and was told the issue could be the lever piston/ piston seals leaking and that I could replace it for pretty cheap. (If this seems wrong please let me know.) When I went to buy a new piston I found many that were said to work with shimano XT and SLX brakes, but none that would work with mine. Could I use the xt/slx ones on my brakes? If not where could I find a new piston for them?
Thanks a lot!
flag kilo11
O+ FL
Posted: Aug 22, 2021 at 15:43 Quote
metro24 wrote:
Hey everyone, hoping that someone can help me on an issue I’m having. I recently picked up a bike secondhand with Shimano Zees, and a couple days ago I noticed that there was oil collected on the lever blade and inside the lever internals. I am positive this isn’t an issue with the bleed port as no oil is collected around there. I asked around and was told the issue could be the lever piston/ piston seals leaking and that I could replace it for pretty cheap. (If this seems wrong please let me know.) When I went to buy a new piston I found many that were said to work with shimano XT and SLX brakes, but none that would work with mine. Could I use the xt/slx ones on my brakes? If not where could I find a new piston for them?
Thanks a lot!

I just had a leaky lever for my XT's and had to replace the entire lever assembly. The cost wasn't terrible either.
flag lyzyrdskydr
Posted: Aug 22, 2021 at 20:23 Quote
metro24 wrote:
Hey everyone, hoping that someone can help me on an issue I’m having. I recently picked up a bike secondhand with Shimano Zees, and a couple days ago I noticed that there was oil collected on the lever blade and inside the lever internals. I am positive this isn’t an issue with the bleed port as no oil is collected around there. I asked around and was told the issue could be the lever piston/ piston seals leaking and that I could replace it for pretty cheap. (If this seems wrong please let me know.) When I went to buy a new piston I found many that were said to work with shimano XT and SLX brakes, but none that would work with mine. Could I use the xt/slx ones on my brakes? If not where could I find a new piston for them?
Thanks a lot!

If it is collecting on the lever blade from the internals, it is likely the piston in which case you will need to replace lever assembly as they are not designed to be serviceable. The only part you can replace is the reservoir lid and gasket, on the newer Shimano brakes you can't even replace that.

Zee: https://si.shimano.com/pdfs/ev/EV-BL-M640-3431.pdf

XTR 21': https://si.shimano.com/api/publish/storage/pdf/en/ev/BL-M9120/EV-BL-M9120-4372.pdf

Whoever told you the piston/seals could be replaced was probably thinking they were like Sram (and most other) brakes which are fully serviceable
flag metro24
Posted: Aug 23, 2021 at 10:18 Quote
Alright thanks y’all. I guess I’ll start signing up for stock alerts lol
flag Aptlynamed
Posted: Aug 23, 2021 at 13:57 Quote
I wager that the previous owner didn't bleed his brakes very often and that dirt inside the piston caused scratching inside leading to leakage. Or maybe he used dot brake fluid which damaged the seals. If I were you I would do the next bleed by pushing out the old brake fluid towards the caliper instead of towards the lever, so you don't push the dirty fluid into the new lever.
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