doing brakes right now - front brake piston only needs to be compressed - not spun and compressed?

the read need to be rotated and compressed, right? first time doing the brakes on this car since ive owned it my whole 2 months... :-)

 

only the rear because of the hand break/emergency breakneeds turning and compressing

 

compress slowly, you're pushing fluid up thru the ABS module the opposite direction its usually going.

 

I know this sounds stupid... but make sure you have the cap off the master cylinder too or you'll be pushing all day.

 

I didn't have to take the cap off when I did mine. Plus I did mine three times due to being shipped the wrong discs.

 

you didnt take the cap off the master cylinder before compressing the caliper pistons?... uh... thats very odd. you should open that end of the system so the fluid has somewhere to go when you push the cylinder in. Otherwise, you're pushing on a closed system. [sm=dontgetit.gif]

 

All I'm saying is I wasn't there all day and had/have no problems...
No I did not remove/lossen the cap to the master cylinder while I compressed and spun the rear piston.
It's not odd at all actually, because there is some air space from the cap to the fluid. Not to mention the piston doesn't get pushed in all that far.

 

How far it's pushed in should only be the difference between the thickness of your old pads vs your new pads. However, that air is there under the cap of your master cylinder while they're in use too. What do you think would happen if you were just able to press the brake pedal down and that air just compressed... your brakes wouldn't work. Even though it's only air, air takes up a finite amount of space and should be released from the system to allow for the pistons to compress. You may not have had as hard of a time doing it on the rear because they also screw in, but the fronts would have pushed back out as soon as you released the compression tool.At some point in the system, you have to release the added pressure to allow room for the piston to go back in. Most choose to use the master cylinder because it helps ensure you don't get air back into the lines.

 

1. the filler cap is vented so dosnt need to come off when just fitting pads ( however the cap should be removed and a cloth put under the unit to catch any over flow of break fluid ),
2. you push the pistons as far back in as you can and not just the thickness of the pads because your creating excess work for your self in fitting the caliper,
3. should you bleed that caliper(s) answer is - only if the breaks are spongy

 

Fronts are already out of the way and calipers painted red. Today we're doing the back.
Also changed the fuel filter and dogbone mount.

All in all - we did brakejobs for 4 different cars yesterday. =/