so i decided it was about time to learn how to change my brakes myself... incidently my brakes needed to be changed so this worked out good for me...

My problem is that when changing the rear brakes i coudlnt fit the new brake pads in because the piston was not retracted all the way... i went to autozone and borrowed a tool from them that turned the piston so it retracted back in place. it wasnt easy to turn at all and took ALOT of force. one side was successful, the other side (drivers side) i wasnt able to turn it enough to fit the new pads in. so i stuck the old rotor and pads back on and now im stuck... i dont know what to do. are my pistons so old that they are shot and need to be replaced???

a side note... now my braking is really weak... its almost like i have no back brakes at all... i know my front ones are fine, but the back ones seem like they arent working at all..... any advice???

thanks

 

My rear brakes calipers were the same way, "Very stiff". What I did was open the bleeders so their wasn't so much pressure on the piston when screwing it back in. It worked great, only down side was having to bleed the rear brakes.

 

how does one bleed the rear brakes...

 

Did you have the brake reservoir cap off when you where trying to screw the piston back in? if not, you may have forced a leak somewhere in your brake system - think about it, as you push the piston back in the fluid is getting pushed back thru the brake lines and into the master cylinder... if you don't have the cap off the reservoir there is no path for the fluid to move - so it has to either seep out from a seam or pop a seal etc. etc...

If you did have either the bleeder screw open, or the cap off, then you probably have a seized caliper piston and the best thing to do is to replace the caliper with a rebuild. The rear calipers are a little more expensive than the fronts but the replacement is easy.

Here is a link explaining the use of speed bleeders to bleed a brake system:

http://www.greghome.com/Greg's%20Garage/1999%20Nissan%20Maxima%20SE/SpeedBleeders.htm

For people without speed bleeders, it is easiest with two people, one person presses the brake pedal (car off) while the other opens up the bleeder valve to let brake fluid escape as the pedal is pressed... once the pedal is almost near (but not all the way down) the end of its travel, the bleeder screw is closed, the pedal is released and the process is repeated. After a few pumps/bleeds, top off the reservoir so no air gets iinto the brake system. Also make sure the reservoir cap is on - you want the fluid to come out of the bleeder valve when the pedal is pressed.

 

i had the reservoir cap off, but apparently there was still too much pressure, is it easier to just take off the bleeder cap??? i dont have speed bleeders, so i need to recruit a second person to give me a hand i guess...

 

will this hurt my car to drive around with only front brakes??? i wont be racing anyone obviously, but i dont have time to deal with this before tuesday night.