Ok guys, I have been having some brake issues lately and have come to the end of the line with my knowledge so I hope someone here can shine a little light on the subject and help me out big time.
About a week ago my E-brake started to lock up my passenger brake on and off, so I took a look at it and tinkered a bit and thought my problem was gone until one day I was driving home and my left tire completely locked up, throwing smoke everywhere and making a horrible sound. I pulled over ASAP and went to see what the problem was and my rotor was glowing red. So in 10 degree weather @ 11pm I jacked my car up and disconnected my ebrake assembly in the parking lot of a comfort in. I fixed the locking problem my ebrake was causing my passenger rear brake but it was making a horrible squeaking noise when I took a left hand turn or hit a bump so I decided to buy a new rotor and new pads today and thats when I ran into my biggest problem. when I went to put the new pads in I couldnt get the piston on my caliper to depress all the way to fit both the pads in the caliper. I tried a C-clamp at first on the piston and it depressed it a little bit but then stopped… Then I went to bleed my brakes and my valve was busted off??? so now my car is on jack stands in my driveway and I have no Idea why the piston wont completely depress so I can fit my pads over my new rotor… Can anyone tell me what Im doing wrong or help me find a solution to fix this thing. I need it fixed by tomorrow afternoon seeing that it is my only car and I have to be at work around 3. Any help would be so very much appreciated! Thanks.
If this is a rear brake caliper, don’t compress it with a clamp. The piston is designed to rotate like a screw. The piston has a cross shaped area that you can use to make it turn. You must rotate the piston counter-clockwise with a long screwdriver or something flat for it to compress.
…WOW, I feel like an idiot… I even said to myself that it looks way different than any piston I have seen before lol. They usually are hollow. Thats so much man! Do you think I damaged it trying to depress it? :bowdown:
I doubt the force you applied with a c-clamp was stronger than the force that the brake system regularly applies on that piston, so I’m not thinking any damages resulted from it…
But yes wise_old_dragon hit the nail on the head… rear calipers = screw-type pistons. Front = compression type.
Is it just me or is that a really weird design? I mean I noticed it was different but Im an idiot lol. On my 88 Rx7 I had compression types all around so I thought nothing of it but a huge thanks to both of you for the info. I was beating my head against a wall for a few hours over this.
It is a weird design… I don’t really know why they did it that way to be honest. Have never really looked into it. Just take it as a learning experience
Well its ‘weird’ in a sense that the front is using one design, and the rears are different…
In contrast, it wouldn’t be weird if all four calipers used the same type of setup.
Yea I bent a smaller C-clamp at first and figured it was just a cheap one so I went out and bought this huge heavy duty one. Like unified112 stated, I’ll take it as a learning experience and try to think outside the box when things are not working out next time.
[QUOTE=unified112;2189366]Well its ‘weird’ in a sense that the front is using one design, and the rears are different…
In contrast, it wouldn’t be weird if all four calipers used the same type of setup.[/QUOTE]
ahh, gotcha. there is a reason for it though. i think it was an easier design to incorporate the e brake with. something along those lines. that would make sense
This is true, the e-brake uses a lever and a cam system that turns the piston slightly when you pull up on the e-brake.
Some manufacturers have two separate brake caliper systems for the e-brake, and the actual brake. This is actually really common on high-end cars that have multiple pistons in the rear calipers. See Audi R8, Ferrari’s, etc.
^^or light duty trucks, which use a drum e brake inside the rotor (drum hat). as drum brakes are actually superior to disc in stopping power (newton’s law). unfortunately though, not in dissipating heat. but for that application, dissipating heat isn’t a priority
The rear is an integral piston caliper…any auto parts store sells an adaptor that fits right into the grooves and connect a ratchet n turn it…like 5$ looks like a small cubee… at least the da’s have calipers all around and not DRUMS -__-
