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'11 Brake caliper piston won't retract all the way..

603 Views 22 Replies 9 Participants Last post by  Turbonut, 
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I'm trying to do the front brakes on my car, but I can't seem to be able to retract the piston all the way, enough so that I can install new pads. I've even tried opening the bleeder screw and compressing piston with a tool and nothing. Is there a trick to this??
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Is it corroded? One of the main reasons you can't get a caliper piston to compress into the bore is because of corrosion. Is the boot still intact?
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Both sides the same? Did the piston go in smooth then just stop, piston level with caliper housing? If so, maybe try new pads. As pads are made to specific applications, never thought I'd ever run into a pad problem, but many years ago had ordered pads for a Vette, but after installing the pads, they were too think, couldn't install calipers, never had that before, but both sides the same. No problem with the brake system, pistons bottomed out, so ground down the pad material to fit, and no problems after installation.

Here's another example:
On the '11 2.0T, front rotors fine, just a minor lip on the inside/outside, but surface perfect, so just installed new pads, good to go. After a period of time heard an unusual noise, right front, when slowing, as the tire rotated with light pedal application it would come and go. Took everything apart, looked fine, out on the road and sound continued, really an unusual sound, so yesterday had enough and ripped it apart. Checked piston, holders, sliders, all fine, then removed the pads and found both pads had a slight wear grove at the very bottom in the middle from the inner lip, and could see where the top was rubbing against the outer rotor lip. Ground down the outer lip on the rotor, and cut back the lower middle portion of the pad, did an install and no more noise.

Never know what variations can be engineered into aftermarket parts.
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Dave200 said:
Is it corroded? One of the main reasons you can't get a caliper piston to compress into the bore is because of corrosion. Is the boot still intact?
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Boot still looks good. Doesn't look corroded. Ive only worked on the right side first, don't know how left side is.
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KingFatty
How close does the gap come to being wide enough to fit back over the rotor?

Are we talking a millimeter or two, or are we talking like a quarter inch or what?
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KingFatty said:
How close does the gap come to being wide enough to fit back over the rotor?

Are we talking a millimeter or two, or are we talking like a quarter inch or what?
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Do you mean the gap after I try spreading it? If it is, it's about a 16th. So what else can i do to fix this? My pad is about .020 thick! Can I try rotating the piston to see if that helps?
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Sc2dave said:
Do you mean the gap after I try spreading it? If it is, it's about a 16th. So what else can i do to fix this? My pad is about .020 thick! Can I try rotating the piston to see if that helps?
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if u still haven't tried the other side then do so. if it's the same problem buy a different brand of pads.
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chauncey said:
if u still haven't tried the other side then do so. if it's the same problem buy a different brand of pads.
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How does the brand of pads prevent the ability to compress the piston back into the caliper????
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Sc2dave said:
How does the brand of pads prevent the ability to compress the piston back into the caliper????
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it sounds like installer error if you have the correct pads and can't figure it out.
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chauncey said:
it sounds like installer error if you have the correct pads and can't figure it out.
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Sounds like you're not understanding a basic procedure and can't comprehend. I cannot compress the piston back into the caliper, even with a tool. I'm not trying to install caliper back onto new pads on the rotor.
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Sc2dave said:
Sounds like you're not understanding a basic procedure and can't comprehend. I cannot compress the piston back into the caliper, even with a tool. I'm not trying to install caliper back onto new pads on the rotor.
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your original post is saying you're replacing pads. what are you talking about now? this is strange.
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chauncey said:
your original post is saying you're replacing pads. what are you talking about now? this is strange.
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1 you are replacing pads
2 you say the piston on the 1 caliper is not going in enough.
3 i said to try the other side.
4 if both pistons are going in the same amount then i said to try a different brand of pads.
5 did you even try the other side yet or are we just wasting each others time here?
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chauncey said:
1 you are replacing pads
2 you say the piston on the 1 caliper is not going in enough.
3 i said to try the other side.
4 if both pistons are going in the same amount then i said to try a different brand of pads.
5 did you even try the other side yet or are we just wasting each others time here?
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Been going on for 2 days, so guess OP doesn't read all the posts!
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KingFatty
The caliper could have failed. You can get a replacement aftermarket on rockauto for a pretty good price.
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professort4u2
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Sc2dave said:
I'm trying to do the front brakes on my car, but I can't seem to be able to retract the piston all the way, enough so that I can install new pads. I've even tried opening the bleeder screw and compressing piston with a tool and nothing. Is there a trick to this??
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Dave,
I also have a 2011 Optima and ran into the very same issue 2 weeks ago. I've read the posts and not sure why some people are having difficulty understanding you. It was very clear to me on first read. Anyway, It's corroded inside the calliper housing. And usually you can see corrosion inside the piston too even tho that doesn't affect the performance but it give a good indication of the quality of the metal. You may have to take off the entire brake housing from the car to be able to manipulate it well. Remove the bleed bung completely. Remove the feeder hose. Spray WD40 inside and around the boot so it soaks down inside along the sides of the piston. Also spray WD40 into the bleed opening to soak the backside. Use a power tool that can amplify your strength (vice, monkey pliers) anything that can transform arm fulcrum into pure pressure. That's how I had to do it to create space for the thicker/new pads to fit. Hope that helps.

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KingFatty
What kind of tool did you use for pushing the brake piston back?

Did the piston move at all, or is the piston completely frozen and cannot move? If you can't get the piston back enough to fit the pads, then I don't see how you can get it back even further to fit the pads and have room to fit the pads around the rotor. On my 2012 SX, one of the rear calipers failed and it was pretty easy to replace it, no special tools needed.

Maybe you could try a tool specific for this job:

Advance Auto Parts - Down for Maintenance

Other stores have them for cheaper, like Harbor Freight.

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BigGuy91
Sc2dave said:
I'm trying to do the front brakes on my car, but I can't seem to be able to retract the piston all the way, enough so that I can install new pads. I've even tried opening the bleeder screw and compressing piston with a tool and nothing. Is there a trick to this??
Click to expand...
It may help to review a few YouTube videos on inspecting and repairing your piston and caliper. Depending on how comfortable you are with this procedure, you may wind up either disassembling the caliper, as already mentioned here, cleaning the corrosion or any debris inside the caliper, and reassembling it, or simply replacing the caliper altogether with a new part from RockAuto, which has great parts for our vehicle. Be sure to view a few different ones as not everyone posts quality videos. Also know that if you disconnect the brake line, you will also need additional brake fluid and know how to know how to bleed the air from the brake lines when you reassemble the caliper. Given that this seems to be taking more time than originally planned, if possible, reassemble all the original parts for now until you have looked at enough videos to reattempt this. It can be done without going to a mechanic, but just takes a little more research to get it right.

Hope this helps.
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Johncrawford39
I've had that problem. I use a c clamp to compress and I have to work all 4 sides or the pistol will go crooked and stop moving.

I'm sure this is wrong but I've doing it that way for years. Lol
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BigGuy91
Johncrawford39 said:
I've had that problem. I use a c clamp to compress and I have to work all 4 sides or the pistol will go crooked and stop moving.

I'm sure this is wrong but I've doing it that way for years. Lol
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Hi John,
In the case of a crooked piston, how did you straighten it so that it depresses evenly? Not sure what SC2Dave is using to depress his pad, but if it is just crooked, this solution may help.
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Johncrawford39
BigGuy91 said:
Hi John,
In the case of a crooked piston, how did you straighten it so that it depresses evenly? Not sure what SC2Dave is using to depress his pad, but if it is just crooked, this solution may help.
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I just pushed on one side when it stopped moving I noticed it was crooked so I moved the clamp to the other side and it straightened out. After that I just kept moving the clamp around the piston a little at a time.
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