i painted my calipers today, but i pulled the handbrake up while one of them was off for some dumb reason and i cant get the piston back in. ive tried everything i can think off. please help, thanks.

 

Front or rear caliper? If it's the rear, you have to buy a caliper tool, or use a pair of needle- nose pliers in the notches in the piston to turn it back in. Thay don't push in.

 

yeah its the back one. where are the notches? on the face of the piston? is it hard to turn?

 

sometimes you can get away with using a c-clamp, don't put anything in between the clamp and the piston. As you turn the clamp, it'll turn the piston. Hopefully it's not so far out, that the piston won't go back without removing the parking brake cable.

 

Yea, the notches are on the face of the piston, there are 4 of them. It shouldn't be that hard to turn. The first time I did them, I used needle-nose pliers, the second, I bought the tool. The tool is easier, but if you don't want to waste thirty bucks, use the pliers.

 

buy the tool...screw it back in.

 

ok thanks. i got it screwed in but now my brakes are all soft and the pedal sinks to the floor? what now?

 

o yeah i remembered one last thing. when i was turning the piston i turned it the wrong way till it almost came out then i realized what i was doing then turned it the right way. is it possible that i got air into the system? if so would that cause my brakes to feel soft? how do i correct that? i have abs also. thanks for the help y'all.

 

DEFINITELY bleed the entire system.

 

ok where can i find instructions on how to do that?

 

on an abs system

 

also be sure to pull up the parking brake a few times and reset it if you've got your pads and rotors you want on there. sometimes that can be the issue as well...
do that before bleeding the brakes.

 

the bleeder valves are on the calipers. they're covered up by a small rubber nub.
you'll need two people to bleed the brakes. one to work the bleeder valves and one to pump the brake pedal.
when bleeding the system you should start from the wheel farthest from the master cylinder. so start with the passenger rear, driver rear, passenger front then driver front.
make sure you are topping up the master cylinder level while bleeding the system too.

 

does that work for abs also. I know what you listed is right for non-abs, but I thought abs was a presurized system so it was a different process

 

Yes Will This Work For An Abs System? I Remember Seeing Something About Submerging A Hose In Brake Fluid While Doing This? Or Is That All I Need?

 

if you could explain in detail or point me to a write up i would really appreciate it. i just want to know what im doing before i freak my brakes up.

 

How do I tighten my parking brake cable?