Car disassembled in drive. HELP! Rear breakes. (1 Viewer)

[CRyan]

2002 Honda Accord Coup EX...

Well, due this great forum, I was able to replace my front disc breaks a month ago with ease. One nut, the caliper swung upwards, and I was in business.

Well, I got cocky and decided to do the rear breaks today - also disc breaks.

Well, I unscrew that one bolt, take away the parking break mechanism (easy enough) and I am screwed.

The calliper will swing partly up and then it stops! Nada - wont budge past half way. It will simply not rotate all the way up to allow full access to the pads. So what gives?

The break line is not holding it up and I can honestly see nothing that is preventing the thing from moving. Just the caliper is the only thing left. The only thing that I can tell may be the problem is the spring mechanism that is a part of the parking break assembly. Now the parking break is no longer attached with cable etc, but this spring is a part of the piston housing.


Any Help would be GREATLY appreciated.

 

[CRyan]

OK, UPDATE. Car still off the ground. :frowning:


I now have the entire caliper in my living room! I just took the whole thing off. Problem solved I thought. Nope, the piston will not copmress with my C-clamp. What is going on? As hard as I might, the piston simply will not retract. I know it is not bad, so what do I need to do?



Ryan

 

[Steve Schaffer]

Parking brakes on cars with rear discs work in one of 2 ways--there may be a tiny drum brake in the disc or the parking brake works by mechanically rather than hydraulically squeezing the pads onto the disc.

If the caliper piston has a couple of small holes in the surface that contacts the pad, they are there to insert a special tool with a handle with which you rotate the piston in the caliper to retract it back into the caliper. Sometimes you can substitute a pair of needle nose pliers for the special tool by sticking the pointy ends of the plier jaws into these holes. It may turn clockwise or counterclockwise, varies by make and I'm not sure about Hondas.

Also keep in mind that upon re-assembly you will have to bleed the brakes.

 

[KyleS]

Check for what Steve is talking about. When I replaced the brakes on my 88 RX-7 GTU it was really pissing me off that I couldnt get the calipers to push in with a C-clamp. Called a mechanic friend and he told me to look for the notches where you can rotate the pads out. Worked like a charm.

KyleS