Is there a way to try to unsized a sized caliper without taking it apart other than taking to a $$mechanic$$. Maybe jarring/hammering or prying it?. Appreciate any ideas. Only the rear driver side is stuck. Braking is still fine. Parking brakes not holding.
Thanks for the reply Sorry what I ment when I said braking is fine is the car still stops good with 3 brakes working. Also the rear driver side disk is kind of rusty now. Can the rusted parking brake cable siezed the piston? Cable looks ok. How do you screww in the piston?
Take it to a qualified brake shop for service. The caliper must be removed and either rebuilt or replaced with a new or rebuilt unit. The piston has seized for some reason. Even if you simply push the piston back in, it will almost certainly seize again when you step on the pedal and the piston comes back out and reaches the point it is at now.
The easiest way to push a piston back in is to slip the caliper off the disk and hold it up with a wire or something so it doesn't hang from the brake line hose. Next, remove the brake pads (and shims if there are any, noting which side they go on and their direction). Place a small flat piece of wood over the top of the piston, then use a C-clamp big enough to go over the outside of the caliper housing on the piston side and the wood. Slowly tighten the clamp and push the piston back in. NOTE: Check the brake fluid reservoir beforehand and make sure it will not overflow as you push the piston back in. Most manuals advise you to remove some of the fluid before pushing the piston back in and replace it with fresh fluid of the correct type for your car when you are done with the repair.
After replacing the caliper and the wheel, pump the pedal slowly until it pushes the caliper tight on the disk and the pedal is solid. Recheck the resevoir level again and top up as necessary.
Test drive the car carefully at slow speeds and check the affected brake to be sure it is now in operation. If that disk is rusty as you say, you might have to have the disk turned to remove the rust before you put the caliper back on.
All in all, I again recommend you go to a qualified brake shop and let them fix it. Too much depends on those brakes working when you need them.
This is only true to the front brakes. The rear brakes on the integra and most cars have the screw on type of piston. I got a tip that will make the cylinder go in easier: open the brake fluid cap, this makes it easier to do it.
Anyway, about rear calipers for our cars. they are a very poor design, as they tend to seize quite often, even after installing a rebuilt one. Every year I need to do a cleaning of the rear brakes after a winter because salt & water really likes to rust those things.
thanks for correcting my advice re. the back brakes. Sorry if I caused confusion. As you noted, my advice was general to most disk brakes and the Integra brakes require a different approach. Live and learn!
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