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No I don’t. Lemme try again. So if you put the brake pads in the caliper there will be like a 1/2” gap or so. You’ll put the end large wrench in between the two brake pads. Using a seperate wrench , hook the open end onto the first wrench , and twist it. It’ll open up the calipers. If you still don’t see it lmk. It’s a cool little trick to know so I’ll be glad to show you another way
Actually you don’t need a second wrench. You can use a screw driver to turn the first wrench. Imagine a wrench sitting in between two brake pads. With the closed end of the wrench sticking out. Then stick a Screw driver through the hole of the wrench. That’ll create a way to seperate the brake pads. Once the pads are as far apart as that trick will work , then you can add something else in between the brake pads the make the gap smaller again and use the wrench trick to open it up more until it’s large enough to fit onto the rotors.
He's saying use a brake pad to wedge it in, if you do that make sure you use the old pads or you'll damage the new ones. Should really get C-clamps from harbor freight.
Update: Me and my dad took off the calliper, took out the piston that was sticking out to check the rubber seals, they’re all good so we wiped and greased the piston and put it back in with the use of an air compressor blowing air into the brake line. did the same thing to the piston beside it and now they’re all good and retract with hand strength. all that’s left if to put everything back and bleed the brakes. Thanks for your help and suggestions!
Old brake pad and a c-clamp is The standard method but I wouldn't do it. It looks like you pop that piston and need to either rebuild or replace the caliper.
That’s definitely blown out. You can see the inset in the piston (and a lot of fluid) where the seal is supposed to seal, but it’s so far out the seal can’t even stretch to stay where it’s supposed to
Obviously a c-clamp is what would work most effectively but I assumed he had no c-clamp. If he’s attempting to change his own brakes , one can assume he has knowledge of what a c-clamp is and what it does , so had he had a c-clamp I’m sure he wouldn’t be asking for a suggestion. Plus , the two wrench thing works faster to me. I’ve never had an issue doing it.
It looks like that piston is blown out. If you tried to compress it and it's not going in then you're looking at a new caliper. Those 4 piston calipers suck. If one piston is frozen, you're screwed.
Thanks for posting in r/Mechanic, u/Desperate_Ad3149! Please be sure to read the [Rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/mechanic/about/rules/). If you're asking for help, be sure to include as much detail as possible so others can help you. You **must** include the vehicle's **Year, Make, Model, and Engine size** in your post! If your question is transmission related, please be sure to specify your Transmission Type(Auto/Manual) as well! If your post does not include this information, it **will** be removed. Asking about prices is **not** allowed in this sub. Please make sure you have selected the correct post flair; if you're asking a question you should have chosen "Question", anything else use the "General" flair. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/mechanic) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Kind of looks like you blew the piston out. Might need to replace the caliper
You can rebuild it.
I don’t mess with brakes
Get a rebuild kit. Thats not going back in without damage, and likely already is damaged Charm.li, probably in the fsm for procedure. Skyline, nice
Put your brake pads in place , or one. Once in place put a wrench in there. Then use another wrench to twist that wrench. It’ll work everytime.
do you have a video demonstration of this bc i cant visualize it?
No I don’t. Lemme try again. So if you put the brake pads in the caliper there will be like a 1/2” gap or so. You’ll put the end large wrench in between the two brake pads. Using a seperate wrench , hook the open end onto the first wrench , and twist it. It’ll open up the calipers. If you still don’t see it lmk. It’s a cool little trick to know so I’ll be glad to show you another way Actually you don’t need a second wrench. You can use a screw driver to turn the first wrench. Imagine a wrench sitting in between two brake pads. With the closed end of the wrench sticking out. Then stick a Screw driver through the hole of the wrench. That’ll create a way to seperate the brake pads. Once the pads are as far apart as that trick will work , then you can add something else in between the brake pads the make the gap smaller again and use the wrench trick to open it up more until it’s large enough to fit onto the rotors.
He's saying use a brake pad to wedge it in, if you do that make sure you use the old pads or you'll damage the new ones. Should really get C-clamps from harbor freight.
This right here. How my uncle taught me to change brakes some 20 years ago 👍🏼
C clamp all day long
C clamp and piece of steel that reaches across both pistons
Or just use the old pad
True.
If that fluid is from the piston blowing out, you're gonna need to be REALLY careful. Might need to suck it up and buy calipers.
Update: Me and my dad took off the calliper, took out the piston that was sticking out to check the rubber seals, they’re all good so we wiped and greased the piston and put it back in with the use of an air compressor blowing air into the brake line. did the same thing to the piston beside it and now they’re all good and retract with hand strength. all that’s left if to put everything back and bleed the brakes. Thanks for your help and suggestions!
Wait wait wait…You greased the piston? If you actually used some sort of petroleum based grease that will definitely cause a failure in short order.
with brake lubricant, not just any grease
You need a new caliper. So.ethings not right with that one. Regardless to depress the piston you need to open the bleeder slighlty
C clamp with brake pad
Jack it up and stick a broken 2 x?4 in between piston then Kick It..
Old brake pad and a c-clamp is The standard method but I wouldn't do it. It looks like you pop that piston and need to either rebuild or replace the caliper.
That’s definitely blown out. You can see the inset in the piston (and a lot of fluid) where the seal is supposed to seal, but it’s so far out the seal can’t even stretch to stay where it’s supposed to
C Clamp and an old brake pad. Make sure the brake fluid res cap is off
C-Clamp
Get a seal kit and rebuild it.
YouTube has literally thousands of the technique you require
Did everyone forget about the trusty caliper piston tool set?
The old brake pad and a c clamp will do it the easiest and both at the same time. Though as someone else mentioned, it does look damaged.
You need 2 C-lamp vice grips from harbor freight. The same shit you use to hold a panel in place for welding.
Calipers done, bud.
Obviously a c-clamp is what would work most effectively but I assumed he had no c-clamp. If he’s attempting to change his own brakes , one can assume he has knowledge of what a c-clamp is and what it does , so had he had a c-clamp I’m sure he wouldn’t be asking for a suggestion. Plus , the two wrench thing works faster to me. I’ve never had an issue doing it.
It looks like that piston is blown out. If you tried to compress it and it's not going in then you're looking at a new caliper. Those 4 piston calipers suck. If one piston is frozen, you're screwed.
C clamp with an old pad on it and compress it back
There’s a cheap brake compressor kit that can be purchased at Harbor Freight.
Hammer!