After replacing rear pads, one of my rear rotor is red hot. I think the piston is frozen or something.

Any suggestions on what I need to watch out for when putting the piston back on?

Here is what happened:

I mistakenly pushed the brake pedal to bleed the brake line and forced the rear piston out of the caliper. After wrestling the boot to fit the piston, the brake job seem to be done. During my short test drive, the piston must be frozen or something bc my rotor is really hot even after 2 mile of driving. Only this rear wheel is overheating. The other one is normal.

 

Here is an update:

I switched to the old worn pads and the brake is normal. The new HPS pads seem to cause dragging on one of the wheels only.

Any idea on why this is happening? The piston retracted but it didn't go flat with the caliper. I keep turning the caliper and it doesn't seem to go down any further even if it turns.

Pls help!!

 

Check with the manual. To retract the piston back into the caliper, you'll need to turn the piston to allow it to retract. If you haven't done this, chances are that the new, thicker pads are riding on the disk and creating the condition you have.

I haven't replaced my rear pads as yet. I bought a new set when I replaced the front, and thought I'd replace the back while I was at it. (at that time, I did not have a manual, as yet). Frustrated that I could not compress the piston back into the caliper as I had done on countless other cars, I put the old pads back in. Fortunately, they really didn't need to be replaced, but being that I was at it....

Of course, I later checked the manual when I finally got one, and now I know why the piston wouldn't retract. Hope this is your problem.

Here's something from the Scuderia Ciriani site:

"Retract caliper piston by using a large pair of needle none plyers or cutter to screw it in clockwise. Screw in in complete turn only so that notch will always be lines up (see manual). If you do not do this to retract the piston you will pay hell getting the parking brake back on, even if the new pad slide right in without doing it (I spent 30 min cursing trying this once).

Retorque caliper bolt to 65 ft lbs."

 

dj,

What's the wear pattern look like on the stock pad for that possibly stuck caliper? Also, what's it looked like compared to the other side?

 

The rear piston must be retracted to a certain position in order for the little nudge to fit into the piston groove. Otherwise, the pad will be too thick and drag the rotor.

Everything is working fine now. I am so relieved...

The only thing is that I wasn't able to fully tighten my top caliper bolt. I keep turning it and it doesn't tighten fully. Is this a problem??

Thanks guys for helping!

 

Yes it means the caliper bracket is stripped, you need to repair the bracket w/ a Heli-Coil. The bolt will losen and eventually fall out possibly causing further damage to the caliper and / or rear suspension, locked brake, loss of control, a crash etc - don't drive the car in that condition

 

Most people forget to get the v-notch aligned with the pin on the back of the pad at least once. You probably will remember next time. Max is right about that stripped bolt/caliper. Get it fixed soon, otherwise your caliper is going to move around, instead of remaining fixed in place. If it shifts or breaks at a bad time, you will have trouble stopping the car in a straight line.
Ron A.

 

How do I remove the bolt if it's stripped? I turn the bolt it's loose and not coming out. Thanks!

 

Apply a pulling or prying outward force to the head of the bolt as you loosen it.

Seriously get that bolt fixed.

The result of a single stuck caliper on an MR2:

http://www.gofti.com/album/dir_index...talled_MR2_Pix

and the text on the accident:

http://www.gofti.com/articles/archiv....cgi/00005.txt

http://www.gofti.com/articles/archiv....cgi/00006.txt