After 12k miles my rear brakes were all scored and worthless, but that is no news to anyone. But at 20k they were metal on metal, and grinding bad, so i finally located a set of rotors and got some new pads.

Pulled the wheel and caliper today, went to go compress the caliper and NOTHING! it actually twisted the plastic handle right off my lil autozone brake caliper compressor tool...

so i thought "oh darn it i must have the ebrake on!!" but nope.. ebrake off.
then i thought "oh maybe these are like those import brakes that you have to bleed to compress" so i crack the bleeder and put a c-clamp on her.. and again NOTHING. I got like 5 drips from the bleeder with the clamp twisted down. but visibly the piston hasnt budged a fraction of an inch....

So... Do i just have a siezed caliper? or is there some bizarre trick to compressing these that i dont know about (much like the beloved spare tire that only fits on the rear axle, so to fix a front flat you need to use a rear on the front and the spare on the rear.. just met a fellow at the tire shop who learned that the hard way, thanks GM!)

I am stuck here now with my car torn apart and up in the air... As difficult as it was to get rotors for this car, i dont even want to think about the headaches and cost of a new caliper!!!

So please someone tell me that i just have to hold down the lock and trunk button on my key fob simultaneously while compressing the caliper to open the bleeder check valve... Cuz if these are frozen i am majorly screwed.

(but the odd thing is that the brakes worked... parking brake and pedal brakes work in the rear... (i know because the grinding noise of the rotors gets crazy loud when i step on the brakes... and if my parking brake didnt work my car would be in the neighbors front yard)

I am so confused... someone please help...

 

they have to be spun and compressed at the same time

 

its a ***** to do without an actualy decent caliper compressor. i had ran into the same problem

 

SPUN???? spin what?

 

its a secret. you need to twist and push the brake piston in to compress it. go back to autozone and buy a 6 way brake cube.

 

the piston has to be compressed and turned at the same time to compress. i had to go ghetto before and used a big C clamp and used vice gribs to turn it. and then i whent and got a good caliper compressor

 

and hopefully u didnt suck any air in your brake like when u cracked the bleeder.

 

where can i get a good caliper compressor? and where can i get one on a sunday afternoon?

and what is this "6way cube" thing... and how does that help?

 

i got mine from autozone, im not sure wtf a 6way cube is. gotta ask other guy on that one.

 

Autozone, O'Reilly's, NAPA. They all have this. It's cheap, too.

 

ok wonderful... but what exactly is that, and how does that help me? I dont quite see how that metal hunk is going to compress my caliper for me.

The fancy caliper tool that was mentioned makes sence... it looks like a twister and pusher in one... for $55...

this thing looks like it will keep my papers from blowing off the desk.

What do you do somehow shove that cube between the compressor and the piston? and somehow try to turn both together?

 

Ok, i guess this is where my confusion lies.... do they need to be compressed AND spun at the SAME TIME?

or can you spin then compress? or compress then spin?

If you can do one then the other.... then the cube makes sense. i imagine you hook it to a ratchet, stick the pins in the piston and turn it.... So the cube takes care of the "spin" part... but i dont get how it does the compression at the same time.

If i can spin first, then that is no problem. i can quicly make a gizmo to go in the holes to spin it..... then use a c-clamp to compress after.

so how important is the "at the same time" bit?

 

Take a good look at that. See the square holes? A socket wrench extension fits it, see the pins? There are 6 different sizes. One of them fits your car. Look at your caliper piston, match the pins. Pit the pins into the piston. Stick a socket wrench in, push down and turn at the same time.

 

Most auto parts stores will loan out brake caliper compressor kits. It works similarly to a C-Clamp, but as it compresses the piston it also spins it clockwise, which allows the piston to compress.

That brake cube does kinda the same thing. Put it on the end of a socket wrench extension, and use it to push the piston in while rotating it with the socket wrench. I've never used one because it seems to me that it would be cumbersome, so I just rented the caliper compressor kit. It was free at Murrays. I'm sure they have them at Napa, Autozone, Pep-boys, etc.

 

Here is the tool you want..not the *square block* thing:

K-D Tools 3355 GM and Ford Disc Brake Piston Tool

 

I just used needle nose pliers. Push and turn at the same time. Took awhile but was easy.

 

The square block works perfectly fine and works on more than one type of car.

 

There is a tool at auto zone that is the 3355 GM end with a long bolt and back clamp plate. This will allow you to use the other side of your caliper as a pressure point and you will get that piston all the way in by the 4th or 5th turn. The tool is $50 to rent. Brake job took only about an hour.

 

instead of wasting your money on those lame ass tools just use some needle nose pliers and push and twist. takes a little time and elbow grease but it works just as well and if you already have needle nose its free.

 

another trick is to use a ballpeen hammer and hit the piston a few times with the bleeder screw open on the caliper...then compress with c clamp..and repeat if necessary.

 

Fellas....
The GM part I posted is a friggin $10 and change. Come on.
Just order the thing AHEAD of time and be done with it.

 

I would agree with you, Ronn, but he was already in the middle of the job. On a Sunday.

I'd thought of suggesting the needle nose route, but I once pinched and tore a dust boot going that way. Having done that myself, I wouldn't make the suggestion to someone else when a better tool is widely available.

As for the ball peen route, sorry, just not going to suggest the "get a bigger ******* hammer" route. That makes more problems than it solves.

 

yea the hammer is a fast way to **** your **** up as long as your careful the needle nose will be fine

 

using needle nose is a significant pain and will possibly damage your needle nose pliers if you are wreckless with them. PUSH and TWIST. Its easy. I did my brakes.

 

i dont know about you guys that use the cube. but i bought the same or at least similiar cube. the only one pepboys or autozone had and the not one of the six sides fit my rear brakes.