bionnaki

I have a pair of shimano tiagra brake levers. Both levers have a rattle that I've been able to pinpoint to the gray plastic piece just inside the lever / just above the return spring. They came loose and all I had to do to stop the rattling was simply push them down until they were snug. Lately, though, they seem to rattle all the time and pushing them down is just a temporary solution (until I hit a bump in the road).

I removed one to see what the deal with this little piece was. As far as I can tell, they serve no apparent purpose. They seem to not be connected to anything -- just sitting inside the lever taking up space. They easily pop in and out like a plug. I am very reluctant, however, to remove or modify my braking system.

Thoughts? Tips?

Andy_K 

Does it look like part number 10 in this diagram?

https://techdocs.shimano.com/media/te...9830637998.pdf

If so, that's just there to make it easier to reach the levers from the drops. If you don't have a problem with that, you can safely leave it out.

If that's not the part, then I don't know.

bionnaki

thanks for the response.

the brake levers are BL-R400.
doc: https://techdocs.shimano.com/media/te...9830612670.pdf

The piece is actually not numbered. it would be the "D" shaped piece just above the "S" in Shimano. It clips/plugs in and out easily and seems to serve no purpose but rattle loose. It sits just above the return spring in the lever, but as far as I can tell it is not connected to the spring mechanism.

v8powerage

Yes I confirm it's that piece of plastic that's the culprit, removing it stopped rattle in my case as well. I suggest removing it if it's broken for the sake of safety too as it can twist and clog lever movement and that might be a not very welcomed thing when going downhill 60 km/h.