fasterplease

Sorry for the lack of info, "huge force" means I put the tool on the piston, in the caliper and bolted back on the brake bracket on the car and used a small crescent wrench on the tool to turn it (I started with the tool that fit into the notches and turning by hand but could not turn it so moved to the non-notched tool). That did work on one side (unless I broke it). Is it possible for the piston to compress without turning? This is the side I am worried I have damaged and would like to check somehow.

On the second side, the piston will not budge - same method as above. How can I reduce the force required?

Thanks.

jwharton

Not arguing, just curious...if the pin on the pad locks into the notch on the piston head, how does it then turn and adjust for pad wear? The only thing I can come up with is that the piston and head are two peice and the lower part of the piston turns to adjust out for wear. Is the center of the piston head raised enough that the pin will clear at any position?
Thanks,

Argonaut

I do not know if you damaged the caliper by pushing the piston back in rather than screwing it in....I only know that they are suppose to be screwed in. You are going to have to test it to find out if they still work or perhaps someone has better knowledge on the issue.

Checking the simple stuff:
- you do have the E brake off - right?
- the cap open on your brake master cylinder?
- you could try cracking open the bleed screw on your caliper before attempting to screw the piston in

6-Speed

The piston actually remains stationary during operation and the purpose of the pin on the back of the pad is to keep the piston from turning. There is another mechanism within the caliper that self-adjusts the piston for brake pad wear and that's what gets turned in when resetting the piston. The integral parking brake also adds complexity.

Refer to the explanation in this link for details on how the caliper parking brake works:

http://www.autoshop101.com/forms/brake06.pdf

6-Speed

Yes make sure the parking brake is off.

You might be binding up the caliper tool when turning it; you might have to loosen the nut on the tool periodically to maintain the ability to turn it.

fasterplease

So, I at least had the easy stuff correct - the park brake was off. I did not have the cap off the master. Interestingly, tonight I wound back the second one (that would not budge by pushing) by turning and it went in easy as anything.

All set now except I found out the rotors are too badly scored for re-surfacing so I am ordering some new ones tonight. For anyone who is thinking "I will give the stock brakes a day at the track to see how they go", DO NOT DO IT! Get proper pads at least.

fasterplease

You have helped me so much - the doc with pics and description is very good. I have one more question to understand the piston I am worried about. In case it was not turning as I moved it backward (which could have happened merely by compressing the spring for the hand brake) I want to reset it. What i am thinking is put the old worn pads back in with some spacer between to resemble last spacing of brake when brake was applied then either use foot brake or hand brake to close the brake, remove the old worn gear and properly turn the piston back. Question for the group is: hand or foot brake to do this? and am I way off base?

Thanks.