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Fork issue

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Matt2matt2002:
Strange orange liquid running out of my Cane fork head.
The colour is a match for my new Salmon brake pads ( squealing gone now, thanks for asking! )

No issues with the fork turning or making a noise.
I didn't think there was anything in the fork ' ring'?

No noise or rubbing noticed.
Perhaps 4 years old after new forks fitted.

Any thoughts folks?

mickeg:
Could that be a rust and water slurry?

Steerer tubes are not painted and often rust.  But that is a lot of what looks like rust.  I doubt that is from a steerer tube.

If water got into any of the frame tubing, if there is an open hole into the headtube from a top tube or down tube that had water sitting in it, if the bike was tilted far forward, that water could have run into the headtube and out.

When I bought my Nomad Mk II frame, someone (factory?, SJS?) put a piece of tape inside the head tube to prevent water inside the head tube from running into the top tube or down tube.  I noticed the tape because I wanted to put some rust protector into the tubes, thus I had to remove the tape to do that.  And replaced the tape later.

If that is rust from a tube, that is something you want to address.

martinf:
As Mickeg says, probably rust.

On my Thorn frames, I specified the "Frame Workshop Prep" option proposed by SJS. This includes spraying the insides of the accessible frame tubes and blanking the hole(s) in the head tube with tape.

When I get other frames I do something similar myself, there are several products that are supposed to be good to prevent rust inside frame tubes. I don't know if it is necessary or not, but I renew this frame protection on accessible frame/fork tubes when I do the complete strip-down overhaul for each bike, generally about every five years.

Unlike forks with traditional headsets, the modern Aheadset forks are prone to rust on the outside of the unpainted steerer tube. I grease this area every time I dismantle the forks/headset. According to Thorn this should be done about once a year, along with removal/regreasing of the seat post to prevent seizure, but I generally do these two maintenance jobs less often.

For seat posts (and traditional quill stems) I use a special anti-seize grease, for Aheadset forks I generally use the same NLGI-2 outboard-motor grease that I use for headset, rear hub and bottom-bracket bearings.

Matt2matt2002:
I ride 15+ miles most days.
This appeared suddenly yesterday.
Wet weather but not extreme.
I think I had noticed some rust around the fork head ring a month or so ago.

Not sure what to do since a strip down is beyond my ability and work space.

Best

Matt

JohnR:

--- Quote from: Matt2matt2002 on February 16, 2022, 08:37:09 am ---Not sure what to do since a strip down is beyond my ability and work space.

--- End quote ---
It should be easier than you assume to get the steerer our for a closer look. It should be a process of (i) take a photo of the current arrange of spacers on the steerer; (ii) removing the cap on the steerer; (iii) remove any spacers above the stem; (iv) slacken the bolts on the stem and remove it (still fixed to handlebars); (v) remove the spacers below the stem. The front wheel and forks should then drop out. Reassembly is the reverse but don't tighten the stem bolts until you've adjusted the top cap bolt to take up the slack in the headset bearings.

There might be a need for specialist help when you've identified the underlying problem but the first task is to discover the source of the brown soup.

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