hi yotatech friends, i managed to change my own brake pads this morning, but it wasn't pretty. on the drivers front, i pulled the pads out BEFORE compressing the piston into the caliper, man that was a mistake. the pads were very worn and thin- so there was no room to get the new pads in. I tried to compress the pistons without using the old brake pad. anyways, while trying to get the pistons back in - i manged to get a few- maybe all 4 - fulled extended and falling out, leaking fluid profusely

so long story short, i got it back together, passengers side went MUCH better and faster. but i still need to bleed the brakes.

the question, did i mess up the pistons by extending them all the way out?? there is NO brakes in the front, but i haven't bled the lines yet. getting a rebuilt caliper sure is cheaper than crashing into something....

thanks.

 

Not at all. Thats how you rebuild calipers. You use an air gun and pop the pistons out (insert the nozzle in the hole where you take out the banjo bolt for the brake line) , replace the dust boot, and rubber ring inside. Just put em all back in with either a c-clap or a big channel-lock, or caliper piston depressor.

 

just push them back in with a c-clamp (make sure not to puncture anything), install the pads and bleed

 

Also, if your pistons are aluminum or steel, you can sand down the sides a bit if they are rusted or corroded, but if you have the brown non metal ones (forget what they're called...) you cannot sand the pistons themself. You can also get a hone, and hone the inside the hole where you took out the piston. It's a Z bleed if I recall correctly. Right rear, left rear, right front, left front.

Yeah, I work on brakes all day

 

as stated above, your good to go. I, too, on my first brake change over extended my pistons, just make sure they're clean and work them back in there. One may even get a little tweaked and get bound up, if it does, pop it back out, and start again.

 

you guys rock, thanks so much... bleeding the brakes should solve the spongy pedal. since i got air in the system i have to bleed from all 4 wheels?? or can i just do it on the one the one caliper that i made a mess of?

 

Yeah, they're real easy to get tweaked. I've found that it's also alot easier to slide em in if you put some brake fluid on the rubber ring and the piston. Lubes it right up to slide on in

 

oh yeah, the pistons were a-ok, nice and shinny, slid very well...

 

Do em all... You'll need two people if you don't have a pressure bleeder. Get a turkey baster and suck all the old fluid outta the master, then pour the new dot3 in. You'll wanna bleed each caliper (or drum if you got em) till there are no more bubbles, and the fluid runs clear (if you emptied out the old fluid that is).

 

If your pedal doesn't quit feeling spongy, it may be your master cylinder. If you wanna check it, clamp off the rubber brake line that leads to each caliper/drum, then pump the brake pedal. If it gets hard, instead of fading, it's good.