Cannot Rewind Brake Pistons

[SargeRX8]

Hi guys,

Trying to change my brake pads. Its a surprise how fast the car munched through these. Anyway, I cannot get the pistons to squeeze back into the caliper to fit the new pads in. With that said, I've also got a new set of rotors to go on the front too which is just gonna make things even more challenging.

I've got someone to crack the bleeder as I applied pressure using a screwdriver against the piston which didn't help. My old method was to use clamps to squeeze the old pad down the middle to evenly push both pistons back in. No dice. They won't budge.

Any ideas? Will cleaning then with brake cleaner help? Any special tools to do this? Everything I've found is designed for those brakes which are different to skylines, they only have pistons on one side.

[chiksluvit]

that usually means its time to get the caliper serviced, look for uneven pad wear to see if your calipers need to be serviced

my backyard way of dealing with the stubborn ones is this

• clean it first,
• then put the old pads back on the caliper,
• put the caliper back on the hub, do the bolts up,
• then stick a pole in between the pads (the one for the jack) and leverage off that to force the pistons to open up..

the old pads will protect the pistons and seal from damage

make sure you open the lid for the master cylinder to make things a bit easier

obviously this won't work with single piston rear brakes with the calipers acting as hand brake as well, I've only ever done this with opposing piston calipers

that's my 2c

Edited November 25, 2014 by chiksluvit

[chus13]

First things first, undo the lid on the brake master. Someone who isn't me spent a while trying to get their pistons back inside the caliper to no avail, only to realize that he had not undone the filler cap. As soon as he undid it and gave them another shot they slid back into their position easily.

Also get yourself a large pair of multigrips. They make life a lot easier.

[GTRPSI]

Use a g clamp or a proper piston push back tool.

Sounds like rust or dirt on the pistons or they are going in at an angle and stuck.

The last time i had a difficult piston, i dissembled it and found it was rusting in the caliper bore, changed the piston and seals and all was good.

[warps]

Rear calipers?

Do the pistons have a pair of slots in the face (like a big cross)?

If yes to above, put a big fat screwdriver into the slot and screw the pistons in like a big fkoff screw. This is part of the park brake adjuster mechanism.

Note I see you have an R33 with twin piston calipers, so they probably have the drum style park brake. In that case, the above won't be applicable (it works on R31's though)

[niZmO_Man]

Good gods you still have to wind pistons in the 90's?

[GTSBoy]

R31 is ye olde vintage 80s tech.

[warps]

Honda still used them in 2000 ITR's. Dunno about the later models though.

[GTRPSI]

Yep S2000 rear wind back, yes have a cross in the middle of the piston to drive them back with and for the pads pin to lock into, R32, R33 and R32 have the handbrake in the drum part of the rear discs so its a straight push backwards, pistons are flush with no cross.

Usually the windback type calipers are the ones with the handbrake working the pads in the caliper, not from a seperate pair of shoes inside the discs drum section.

[niZmO_Man]

R31 is ye olde vintage 80s tech.

Yeah I know, had a caliper seize up as well. Glowing rotors are cool

[MrFijiGold]

Honda still used them in 2000 ITR's. Dunno about the later models though.

Accord Euro's have them too.

[GTSBoy]

There's another consideration. They only appear on sliding calipers where you can access the pistons with a screwdriver. it's a little hard to put a big screwdriver through an opposed twin/four/six/eight piston caliper.