Topic: REALLY Stuck Caliper

[Mr. Dave]

Are there some magic words and tricky phrases needed to get a stuck caliper out of the housing.  I haven't found anything I can grab it with.  thanks guys.

[dustyc]

"Clatu Verata Nictu."

Seriously, try backing out the bolts a little and squeeze the brake.  Back the bolts out a little more, squeeze again. Repeat until you've got it out.  Hopefully some experts will chime in, but that's how I got mine unstuck.

[Gordon]

I'm a little confused.  Are you talking about the piston being stuck in the caliper?  If so, remove the caliper from the fork with the brake line still attached and pump it out with the brake lever.

[csendker]

You can also pull the caliper off, and gently screw the end of a grease gun into the hole that the brake line attaches to.  Gently because the thread patterns are't exact, so you can only get a turn or so in, which is all you'll need.  Then pump the grease gun and it will pop out the puck nice and gently.  Hitting it with an air gun tends to send the puck flying across the room.

[super pasty white guy]

second the grease gun, only I attach the gun to the bleeder nipple and screw a solid bolt into the banjo fitting threads.

dave

[hopterfixer]

Third the grease gun.  There is a topic in the tech tips concerning this.
http://www.sohc4.us/forums/index.php?topic=15059.0

[Mr. Dave]

Thanks troops< there's nothing like experience!

[hopterfixer]

I thought mine would never come out until I read about the grease gun trick. 

[ClassicGlory]

Just to prove I am real di@khead I used an airline.... and the puck flew across the garage.

Mind you, it didn't damage it and it did come out and I don't have a big enough grease gun.

It did scare the cr@p out of me though.... boy did it fly!

Regards

Chris.

[csendker]

My grease gun uses mini cartridges and cost about $5 at K-mart.  It's not the size, but the hydraulic pressure from really incompressible stuff like grease that does the trick.

[Sweep]

Re: the flying across the garage thing.  Just put a nice soft folded towel or something on the bench and make sure the piston is facing downward.  It worked for me.  I also do a small shot of air every couple of seconds so it doesn't build up so much.  My particular grease gun wouldn't work so I had to use the compressor.

[joeb]

I use air pressure.

[Tvag]

I took the caliper off and pumped it out using the brake lever, but I had to bleed it first.

[tmht]

Be aware that if you already tried to use pliers to pull the piston out of the caliper you may have already done irreparable damage to the piston. Inspect it carefully for tool marks at or below the point were the piston meets the seal. You may be able to polish them out with no ill effects, but if you find any tool marks or gouges there, expect that your piston will no longer retract correctly.

[Chris Liston]

air comp all the time.  Who wants to clean up grease     Put the caliper puck side down onto a towl.  Place air comp nipple into brakeline area and POP. 

[boatsdickson]

From recent xperience, 90pounds from the compressor will loosen any piston you got. It will also send the piston across the shop, put 2 chips in the concrete between my car frame and the floor while it bounces off momentum, and send my wrench getter runnin for the house.

[bradweingartner]

I've had a couple that air just wouldn't do the trick for. So now I just pull off the caliper stick it in a plastic tub and pump the brakes/add fluid until the piston pops out. No grease mess, and it cleans out the master cylinder with clean brake fluid too.

If your piston is in good shape air seems to work. If you're in need of a new piston, it catches on the corrosion. I'm making/selling stainless steel pistons to alleviate this pain in the bum.