I took the brake calipers off my car to change the pads today and I had a friend there that was helping me. He pushed the brake in while there was nothing against the caliper and I think the one of the piston's came out to far and now i cannot get it to retract back into the caliper. I could really use some help if any one knows how the stock braking system works.






thanks, James

 

Kick your buddy in the nuts. Also you can get your stock caliper rebuilt. It may be needed now. I dont think you can just push it back inside now "the Piston" I mean.

 

You should be able to get it back in using a c-clamp unless it's in there sideways. If so you will need to remove it completly, clean it and then put it back in. However to get it back in you will need to disconnect the caliper completly because the fluid pressure would be too much to overcome once it's completly out. Once disconnected you should be able to push it back in using just your fingers. What ever you do make sure you bleed the system after doing so.

Oh and rebuilding them is a good idea considering the age of our cars.

 

FRONT OR REAR????

if it's the FRONT, then you can do what everyone else is saying -- just use a c-clamp or something like that to push it back in. you can just open the bleeder plug if you don't want to completely remove the caliper. also, rebuilding wouldn't be a bad idea.

if it's the REAR, then you will have to "screw" it back in. you can use either some needle nose pliers (if the pistons are loose enough), or you can buy a special tool made for doing this at Pep Boys or any other automotive store. again, loosening the bleeder plug will help relieve some of the pressure, so that it'll screw in easier.

after you get it back in, if you opened any bleeder plugs, then you should definitely bleed the system afterwards.

hope this helps. good luck -- those rears are a bitch

 

Thanks for the responses.( Yes I did want to kick my friend in the nuts! We did use the c-clamp while the caliper was completly disconnected from the brake system and we bleed the brakes and the piston would still not go in. so we took it to our shop and my mechanic said it would need a rebuild but we had a extra one laying aroud i did not know about and used it instead. In other words my *** got lucky!