Hi thermo..thanks for the detailed instructions..i hope is easier than it sounds..ive never done brakes before!!

Ive been at my rear driver side caliper for roughly an hr..opened the bleed screw slightly and entirely and nothing seems to work..the piston is still not screwing back in (counterclockwise)..can you elaborate on your first point please..

You are right that the piston is further out than usual because the back plate on the tool im using is not fitting properly where it is suuposed to be..do i have to push the piston in first before i try to screw back in??

 

Droid, think of the russian dolls, how one fits inside the other. With your rear brakes, you have the e-brake mechanism that sits inside the piston. But, in this case, they e-brake mechanism has threads on the outside of it and the piston has threads on the inside. So, you have to mate up the threads and then screw them together to get the piston to go back in. Unfortunately, what you may need to do is to turn the piston the other way to undo the piston some more (should see it rise if he threads are still engaged). If you see the piston rising more, then you should be able to just screw in the piston. If you can grab on to the piston and lift it straight out at you (out the side of the caliper like it was going to go through the pads if they were there), then it is unthreaded already and what you will need to do is to turn it the wrong way (like you were wanting the piston to come out) and turn it till you feel the piston fall slightly (about 1/16" or so). At this point, you can then get the piston square with the caliper and screw it back together (make sure the bleed port is open).

Option #2 is to get your hands on a 14mm pentasocket (yes, a 5 pointed socket, can be found on e-bay for about $15 or a place like Snap-On sells them too). You can then dismantle the piston (remove the 14mm pentabolt on side of the caliper). You can pull the piston out with the boot still installed on the caliper. You will then want to take a small flat blade screw driver and go in through the hole where the piston was and slide the screw driver between the metal part of the caliper and the rubber boot. You will then want to pry the boot off of the caliper (just make sure to keep the screw driver pressed in against the steel wall, otherwise you run a chance of popping a hole in the rubber boot). From there, you can reach in and remove the e-brake mechanism (will need to make sure the bolt holding the e-brake lever to the caliper is removed which is done using a T17-T20 (?) Torx bit.

Once you have the piston and the e-brake mechanism out, you can screw them back together and see what you are doing. Putting things back together is pretty straight forward. The big thing is making sure that you have the slot on the side of the e-brake mechanism lined up with the pentabolt (probably a good idea to note which side is facing the bolt when you remove the e-brake mechanism initially). But, this will allow you to assemble the piston fully retracted and you can slide the boot on to the caliper with the piston.

 

I am trying to wind the rear piston but it's not going in....I wound the other way just to see and it started to come out so i was winding right but it's not going in??

 

Fredpribyl, if you look on the caliper, you should see a nipple on the back side of it (facing down in your image). Open up that nipple using a 10mm wrench and then push the piston back in. May take a few turns for the threads to engage as it looks like you have separated the operator from the piston. Just keep the piston parallel with the face of the caliper and it will screw back together. Once you get the piston back in, close the nipple. Once you get the pads installed, then you will need to move the e-brake lever a few times to get the pads where they need to be. From there, then you will need to bleed the rear brakes to get rid of any air that may have been introduced by opening the nipple. If you need more specific directions on how to bleed the brakes, let me know or look on here as I have a few write ups on how to bleed the brakes.

 

Thank you I loosened the nipple and was trying to wind it in with force but must not be enough....fluid seeps out when I turn but the piston is not going in.........bumming out.....

 

Fred, just to ask a silly question, but are you turning the piston the correct way. One side goes clockwise, the other goes counter clockwise (forget which goes which way). You may also find that getting it to start will be a little tricky. The trick I have learned is you turn it in the way to make it extend out further. As you are turning it that way, be pushing down. At some point, you are going to feel the piston drop just a little bit. STOP. Now, turn the piston the other way and it should engage the threads and allow you to screw the piston in like it should be May want to try removing the rubber boot too to make turning things easier. That boot is only a dust shield. There is another o-ring deeper inside that is your seal to prevent the fluid from leaking out. Just be gentle with the boot as it can be easy to rip. Not the end of the world, but don't need to be letting dirt get in to the piston either.

 

Thermo
thank you very much will try it in the morning alot cooler and it's in the shade.....

 

I believe on my ‘06 STR both rears turn clockwise to go in. But you need to push like hell as you turn the piston. Its as if you push to wngage the threads then it spins in. No push and it just spins

 

Yes they both threaded in clockwise.....but Thermo.....I did like you said and turned them out until it dropped then lined it up perfect and they went in.....thank you very much.....