removing rear calipers, to replace brake pads

[[PK]Zac]

hey, i took my rear wheels off yesterday, and have my car currently sitting up on a jack. i took off 4 bolts from the back of the caliper, but they dont seem to want to come off. i have never messed with brakes before, so i have no clue how this is done. i dont have a chiltons or FSM (i know, i know... i need one). also once i remove the calipers, what else is required to remove the rotors, if anything, as i am getting them resurfaced. do i need to bleed the brakes to do any of this?

[Ranger_Man]

more than likely your ebrake is still on. release it and your rear calipers should pop right off.

our rear brakes have the ebrake built into it so you will also have to twist down the piston. you can twist it down with needle nose plyers or get the key from just about any auto store.

[zombieman]

don't forget to remove the cap off the slave cylinder or else you will never twist the piston back......the rotor should just pop right off once you're able to remove the caliper assembly...if it stuck, give it a little tap with a rubber hammer and it should come off.

[the head]

slave cylenders(sp) have no cap remove from master cyl under hood

[Tubed4evr]

do yourself a favor and get the specialty tool from any autoparts store to do the rear brakes. It is a ratchet attachment that looks like a cube with little knubs sticking out. Use it to twist the piston clockwise. It takes a while so just be patient . . . you need to screw the piston almost all the way down to make room for the new pads. Leave the bleeder screw open and the master cylinder cap off while you do this to make it easier (don't forget to bleed the brakes afterwards)


Ryan

[[PK]Zac]

thanks guys, im on my way out to the garage again to go play with it. i'll let ya know how it goes. hopefully the PBR metal masters will make a difference in braking power.

[[PK]Zac]

ok, calipers are off. ended up replacing the rotors all together as they were below minimum thickness. now as im trying to put on the new pads... the piston will not go down. ive got the bleeder valve open, ive bled about half the brake fluid out, and nothing. a c-clamp wont push the piston down. i bought that square thing with the knobs all over it, and the piston is out too far for me to have enough room to use that. anybody else have an idea as to what im doing wrong here?

[zombieman]

you're suppose to twist the piston left (might be right, I forgot which way), don't push it (doing this will do nothing).

[kanekz]

Originally posted by zombieman
you're suppose to twist the piston left (might be right, I forgot which way), don't push it (doing this will do nothing).

turn the piston right. If your too lazy to get the tool, use pliers and turn. pushing actually does work (ive seen it done on s14), but I dont think its good for the piston seal itself..who knows....but its more work.

[Tubed4evr]

I also had problems using the tool at first. I actually had to cut off the extra knubs on the sides and then grind down the corners a bit to get it to work. Since you already have the tool give this a shot. I know how you must feel by now. I ran into all the same problems when i did the rear brakes the first time and the car was up on stands for a day and a half. The next time I did it I was finished inside of an hour. I would definitely modify the tool so you have it for future jobs. Once you are able to use the tool the job is a cake walk. Just keep turning clockwise to twist in the piston.


Ryan

[[PK]Zac]

Originally posted by Tubed4evr
I also had problems using the tool at first. I actually had to cut off the extra knubs on the sides and then grind down the corners a bit to get it to work. Since you already have the tool give this a shot. I know how you must feel by now. I ran into all the same problems when i did the rear brakes the first time and the car was up on stands for a day and a half. The next time I did it I was finished inside of an hour. I would definitely modify the tool so you have it for future jobs. Once you are able to use the tool the job is a cake walk. Just keep turning clockwise to twist in the piston.


Ryan

sounds good. what did you use? i dont think i have anything better than a file to work with. also... which knub pattern is the one that i want to use with the 240?

on a completely unrelated topic, your car looks very clean ryan. i like it alot.


zac

[Tubed4evr]

I just used a hack saw to cut off the knubs and then a handheld circular grinder to trim the corners. The 240 uses the pattern with the 4 knubs (one in each corner of the tool). Might have to find someone with some type of grinder or maybe splurge and get the cheapest electric grinder you can find. Good luck man.
Thanks for the comment.

Ryan

[Hubie]

I've used the cube thing with no problems. You do have to have a extension for the ratchet though. I didn't cut any of the nubs off just incase I have to do another car.

[[PK]Zac]

ended up using the c-clamp to twist the piston, rather than push it. after the piston was twisted just a few turns, i used the cube thingy. rear brakes are on, but the sun was going down, and im going to get the fronts on tomorrow. after the first one, it all went pretty quickly. i just have a bad habit of starting things like this late in the afternoon.

[Hubie]

Be sure to clean and grease the sliders with high temp lubricant(Moly HTL is good). You'll get uneven pad wear if you don't. Also, make sure you put the pad with the wear indicator on the inside. If you don't, you'll also get uneven pad wear.