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that should not be a problem. I had the same thing I had one piston that *BARELY* worked. I eventually got it worked out just enough and put the new pads in. I then did my first autox and the brakes got real hot on that side, but I didn't have any problems.

I ran on brakes that pullled hard for about 6 months with that one piston not working.

trent tilton -71

Well, thanks for the advice! I actually did that stuff after I posted the message. In fact, here's what I did: I took off the caliper entirely, then clamped it, jumped on it, swore at it, punched it, the whole enchilada...nothing! so I guess you're right that the caliper has been running a piston short and I never caught on. Since I need to get on the road and can't get a rebuilt caliper on Sunday, I put everything back together with the OLD pads (cause the new ones won't fit past that protruding piston) Don't worry, I put ALL the old ones back onto both wheels and I'll bleed tomorrow. I'll buy an new caliper this week. Anyone see anything wrong with this idea before I take her out on the road (carefully) tomorrow morning?

Thanks for listening!

leroy
1974 2002

Thanks for all the help I've gotten lately about my front brake job. Thanks to Trent I got 7 of my 8 caliper pistons flush against the caliper and finished off one wheel completely. It's that D*&^)#$@ 8th piston that WILL NOT budge. Brakes have always been fine, so I would be surprised if the piston is more than just REALLY stuck. I even just now opened up a bleed valve while someone else tried to push it in as hard as possible and still no go...what's my best bet? I need to drive this car as soon as possible!!
All help is appreciated.

leroy
1974 2002

Leroy, if this piston stuck? Meaning, will it not move out or in? If that piston is not moving in with a fair amount of leverage from a screwdriver or pry bar, it is likely frozen. It is quite possible for you to have a stuck piston and still have a functional (but not great...) brake on that corner.

Sounds like you don't have too much to lose with this piston, so you may want to try a clamp on it. I suggest either a C-clamp with a flat head that will fit into the caliper opening, or a pair of Vice Grips.

I don't have an 02 caliper in front of me, and I don't remember how much clearance there is, but another approach is to use a flat strip of metal (a piece of scrap 1/16th inch steel, maybe 1" wide by 3-4" long) over the piston, then just lay the strip flat on the top of the piston inside the caliper and apply pressure from your clamping device as close as you can get to the piston. This will keep the end of the piston from getting munged, but still give you a pretty good angle on compressing the piston. If you can break the piston loose, you may get it moving, but it really sounds like a caliper rebuild is in order.

Chris B.
'73 ex-Malaga

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