Topic: Removing Old Brake Pad That is Stuck in Caliper

[ironandtime]

I thought I'd share what turned out to be a simple solution for removing an old brake pad that was stuck in the caliper. I simply drilled a hole in the middle of the face of the brake pad, then screwed in a small eye bolt (matching the hole size). Then all I had to do was to grip the eye bolt with channel lock pliers, and the pad came out right away.

[Stev-o]

How will you get the piston out?

[tomk1960]

Great suggestion on getting the pad out - thanks!

[Honda550k]

What I did was I hooked mine up to a mc and just pumped the piston and pad out.

[70CB750]

Maybe pumping the piston out would get the pad out too? 

[Stev-o]

Maybe pumping the piston out would get the pad out too? 

That's what I was thinking. 

[tomk1960]

Maybe pumping the piston out would get the pad out too? 

I'm going to be rebuilding the front brakes on my son's 550 and that's exactly what I did:



I used the C-clamp to keep the piston from coming out too fast or with force.



I pumped it out until it touched the clamp, then loosened it up a bit, pumped some more, etc.  I had it all apart in a few minutes.  What a mess it was inside!  The brakes will be like new when I'm through with them.

[ironandtime]

Hey guys - I should have clarified...that there piston and brake pad were totally seized up and rusted all to hell on the inside. Pumping the brake to get the piston to push it out was a no go, so I had to take it to the next step!

[Stev-o]

How will you get the piston out?

[krusty]

Hey guys - I should have clarified...that there piston and brake pad were totally seized up and rusted all to hell on the inside. Pumping the brake to get the piston to push it out was a no go, so I had to take it to the next step!

Sometimes you need more pressure than the MC can give. This is where the grease gun method shines, and less mess. See this thread;
http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php?topic=101649.msg1551835#msg1551835

[70CB750]

Hey guys - I should have clarified...that there piston and brake pad were totally seized up and rusted all to hell on the inside. Pumping the brake to get the piston to push it out was a no go, so I had to take it to the next step!

As long as you don't drill the housing to push the piston out 

Somebody had a picture here what the PO did to a brake caliper.  Drilled a hole, pushed the piston out and plugged the hole again.

For stuck piston off the bike or when the MC is not strong enough there is either grease gun or compressed air.  Compressed air - from what I understand, I always use grease gun - is more fun, since the piston shoots out very fast, but grease gun is the preferred method.

[vfourfreak]

Hey guys - I should have clarified...that there piston and brake pad were totally seized up and rusted all to hell on the inside. Pumping the brake to get the piston to push it out was a no go, so I had to take it to the next step!

As long as you don't drill the housing to push the piston out 

Somebody had a picture here what the PO did to a brake caliper.  Drilled a hole, pushed the piston out and plugged the hole again.

For stuck piston off the bike or when the MC is not strong enough there is either grease gun or compressed air.  Compressed air - from what I understand, I always use grease gun - is more fun, since the piston shoots out very fast, but grease gun is the preferred method.

I had a Yamaha TZ caliper split last year. The piston on one side came out fine, other side, not a chance. For  several reasons I could not set up the grease method, so I went for compressed air. I stood behind it, and set up a cardboard box  well padded to receive the piston. Applied the air in many short bursts, I could see the piston straining against the seal. Bit by bit it moved, then POP out she came and almost went through the end of the box which was padded with a large jiffy bag. Certainly a method to be done with caution.

Kev

[Oz350Four]

  I've just finished removing all the parts from my cb350f front end including brakes etc.
The bake pad is stuck in the calliper still. I've read the posts about grease gun yada yada yada...
The MC is still connected to the lines as is the calliper, however the brake fluid has been removed.
As I don't have any brake fluid at my disposal would it be Ok to fill the line and MC reservoir with water to push it out and then draining it again..??  I wont be putting it back onto the bike for some time and will it probably be dry by time I go to reinstall.

 

[calj737]

I wouldn't, due to the presence of water in your system being a long term problem. Moisture causes corrosion and all that yada yada yada nonsense.

You have two simple solutions: DOT 3/4 or the old grease gun method. Which do you prefer? If it were me, I'd use DOT 3 as it will-

1-allow me to purge the old lines of all the old crap built up over 40 years
2- allow me to extract a stuck piston without further clean up necessary (grease gun works, but is a tad messy)
3- provide me with enough fluid to refill my system after a proper rebuild of the caliper and bleed of the system.

DOT 3/4 is available nearly anywhere and is the simplest solution to solve your issues. Yada yada yada and all that....

[Stev-o]

Water...you kidding?   Yadayada, listen to Cal, yadayada

[koendd]

Water...you kidding?   Yadayada, listen to Cal, yadayada

my thoughts exactly! doesn't cost much!

Yad... (nevermind... )

[LesterPiglet]

Throw some thin oil in, it won't hurt it.

[Oz350Four]

Thanks folks I'll wait till I can get the Dot 3 fluid as you've suggested.
And also thanks for enlightening me about the intricacies of water in a brake system / line... I wasn't sure that's why I asked the forum...

I'll make sure the yada word doesn't get mentioned again by me... After that lot I'll have trouble even with yoda..!!!

[el__burro]

Did a few times with a grease gun,  cheap and effective.
El__burro