I just removed my rear brake pads that where pretty much rusted to the pistons and rotors from two years of storage. The pistons where not moving. I got the pads out and when I tried to adjust the pistons with the adjuster screws I lost some fluid and the pistons tightened up on the rotors with no pads on. What do I do. It seems that when I try to adjust the pistons in and out I'm not getting any movement. I've never tried this before and it's very frustrating right now. Any help, suggestions or even a picture of how I'm supposed to tackle this would be very much appreciated. Exactly how do you use the adjusters? do I loosen the nut and then use the hex screw. As you can tell I'm totally lost. Thanks

Hi Ronnie,

Let's start with a how-to on the adjusters.

Outer adjusters: Yes, loosen the 13mm lock nut and turn the 4mm adjuster. This is a direct drive adjuster. Imagine turning a stationary screw into a piece of wood. As you tighten the screw the wood will come toward you. Same goes for this piston. Turning clockwise pulls the piston in.

Inner adjusters: You will need to take the cover off. 90% of them strip because the 4mm hex does not have enough surface area to overcome the rusted threads. Before it strips totally, take a cold chisel and hit the cover in the 8:00 position to get it to move. Then you can turn it with the 4mm and possibly reuse it (with thread anti-seeze).

With the cover off, you can access the adjuster. This adjuster is "NOT" direct drive. It is gear driven so, all methods of turning are exactly opposite of the outer adjuster. Turning clockwise will adjust this piston "out".

Now, let's talk about:

* I lost some fluid and,
* the pistons tightened up on the rotors.

Where did you lose fluid from?
Attempt high speed (air wrench or drill with a 4mm hex) on the adjusters to get them to move. (make sure you go in the proper direction)

When I loosened the 13mm nut and turned the hex screw I lost fluid around the adjuster screw. Also I am still a little lost on how to collapse the pistons if I cant get the adjuster screws to collapse them so I can put on new pads.

First of all, they need to be rebuilt. Leaking fluid around the adjuster means that seal is shot. The seal is more than likely hard and flat by now. You can try some PB Blaster around that seal area. It is billed as a "seal conditioner" as well as a great penetrant. It may swell the seal slightly to solve the problem for a little while. However, you need a rebuild.

Do you have an air powered wrench? If so, you'll need to get a 4mm hex socket and turn them at high speed to get them to come in. So, outers, clockwise at a high rate of speed in quick bursts from an air wrench. For the inners; do the same but counter clockwise.

You may want to wedge a piece of wood in there and try by hand again. Use the wood as leverage on the pistons to help push them in while attempting to turn the adjusters.

All this speaks to the fact that these rear brakes need to be rebuilt.

I work for smoked whitefish from the Leland docks or... quarts of cherrys.

Thanks,

Looks like I need a rebuild. I'm down in Sterling Heights and my daughter lives in Suttons Bay outside of Traverse City. I go up every couple months and if you want some smoked white fish let me know.

Small, small world. We used to keep our boat in Suttons Bay.

I grew up in Lansing.

Let me know if you need some help with the rebuild.

Eric,

Thanks, It's a small world. I bought my house in Suttons Bay when I retired from the Navy in 1998 and lived there till 2004 and then took an Civilian Engineering job in Alaska for a couple years to get two new Brigades up and running. I'm now working at the Tank Command in Warren as a Communications Engineer on the Army Strykers. Anyhow I'm wondering if I should send the calipers to someone for a rebuild or try it myself. I'm a Comm Engineer and haven't done much mechanical and brakes are something you don't want to mess up.

It's up to you... I can restore them for you or I can help you through it... or, you can start and I can finish them if it gets too hairy for you. No real loss there.

http://www.pmbperformance.com/page/page/4741552.htm

From the sound of the pistons hanging and the adjuster seals, they do need a complete rebuild.

What do you charge for a rebuild? You can post it here or email me at ronniejcarr@yahoo.com. Thanks Eric.

It's in that link in my previous thread. That price includes a $100 core charge that gets refunded when your cores come back so it looks artificially high.