Rear driver brake piston does not want to go/push in after turning, brake f@#ked !?

[Indolent]

Driverside Rear Brake Caliper, S14 if it matters
Used the special tool thing that attaches to the 3/8 ratchet to turn the piston
-bleeder completely off along with the ebrake cable, ebrake all the way down too
-Turned clockwise A LOT and using pressure/force against it, me & my buddy only got it to push in so much but obviously not enough and it doesn't seem to budge no matter how many times we push while turning the piston

Any ideas or is my caliper a piece of feces

[kdashy]

Your parking brake is all the way down right?

[Indolent]

Yeah, ebrakes completely down, and i took the cable off the caliper as well =\

[kdashy]

Yeah, ebrakes completely down, and i took the cable off the caliper as well =

Hrmm shouldn't require that much effort, FSM says you can do it with pliers.

[yarou]

Yeah, similar thing happened to me(s12 however, but similar calipers I believe) and it just wouldn't go in. I even took a sledge to it, and someone told me to just take pliers and spin it clockwise while pushing and it went RIGHT IN. Maybe it'll work for you too?

[Indolent]

yeah me and my buddy have been turning while pushing forward with A LOT of effort and it doesn't want to go in all the way, by doing that we got to push it in a good amount, but not quite enough, and it just seems to stop/not want to go in anymore after that, we'll try again that method again tomorrow

[Addicted2Kouki]

same thing was wrong with mine.

turned out the piston was close to being seized...
and 3 months later, you guessed it
it seized up on me.

i ended up replacing it.

[g6civcx]

Caliper seized. Replace both sides on the rear at the same time.

[The Chad]

^^ caliper is probably seized. You are doing everything right. I even have the actual "Snap-on " Caliper tool made for it and my piston wouldnt budge. Drove it back to my apt and the rear piston locked up on the old rotor and actually cracked the rotor....You can get these Calipers from just abt any junk yard for about $15 or buy a new one from advance for abt $50, just don't wait till you get stranded on the side of the road like me :( .

[sw20>>s14]

same problem happened to mine, but i have another question thats somewhat related...

i looked at the PO's maintenance records and the same caliper seized and was previously replaced (coincidently, same as OPs; s14 drivers side rear)...just wondering, is there any thing that can contribute to the same corner seizing twice within a rather short period of time? or is it purely coincidence?

[g6civcx]

same problem happened to mine, but i have another question thats somewhat related...

i looked at the PO's maintenance records and the same caliper seized and was previously replaced (coincidently, same as OPs; s14 drivers side rear)...just wondering, is there any thing that can contribute to the same corner seizing twice within a rather short period of time? or is it purely coincidence?

Buying crappy remanufactured calipers. Improper installation.

Replace both sides.

[Addicted2Kouki]

everytime i hear about this. its about the drivers side rear.

[Dream240]

Buying crappy remanufactured calipers. Improper installation.

Replace both sides.

No, no. Replacing both sides will only do one thing, cost you more money. It's not shocks you're dealing with here. If it's a seized piston, then replace the bad caliper, there's no need to replace what isn't broken.

Now brake pads and shoes, that's a different story. Replace these in pairs (front and rear). Also one important tip, when you're mounting the pads on the rear calipers, pay particular attention to the mounting nubs on the backs of the pads. If you don't line these up right, you will get uneven pad wear and can lead to a failing piston due to the pad not being seated properly in the caliper. Interestingly enough I always hear of failing rear pistons and no one ever mentions the install process being faulty. More often than not, caliper failure is due to installer error.

The pad with the two nubs on the back goes on the inside touching the piston. The nubs are designed to keep the piston from rotating while you brake. The rotation is what allows them to retract, if the piston is rotating while you brake then you have some serious vibration and movement in the caliper that was not intended. Thus resulting in premature wear and failure. And believe it or not, but you CAN mount the pads in incorrectly and the brake will STILL go back together without you being the wiser.

everytime i hear about this. its about the drivers side rear.

That's mainly because you have more braking load on the driver's side due to the driver's weight (150-300lbs), resulting in more wear to that side.


GL

[zavala]

how is it suppost to stay locked in the nubs on the back of the pad if the piston rotates and the pad is locked in the caliper?

[TNathe]

try hitting up your local autoparts store for another piston and seal? Id imagine new parts to rebuild it will run you around $30ish.

[g6civcx]

No, no. Replacing both sides will only do one thing, cost you more money. It's not shocks you're dealing with here. If it's a seized piston, then replace the bad caliper, there's no need to replace what isn't broken.

Since I don't know the person, and I'm not there to see what's going on, I tend to err on the side of caution and say that if one side has failed, most likely the other side isn't far behind due to age and wear.

You should replace pads and discs at the same time as well to save on downtime. And chances are the pads and discs on the other should be replaced with the same brand as well.

At that point, you're very close so may as well replace the whole caliper.

[alkemyst]

my passenger side rear S14 caliper seized. Made a freaking mess of my car in a week with rust spots.

cleaned them up but it took MONTHS!

I went with a brake swap.