I was changing my rear brakes and I went to turn back the rear piston clockwise first with pliers then i went out and bought the brake tool and still the piston barely moved. It moved a little bit but it was extremely difficult and both the tool and the pliers kept slipping. I ended up having to put the old pads back in. Do you guys have any tips on how to make this easier? I thought it was supposed to be fairly easy to turn the piston.

 

Your piston is probably seized - time for new calipers.

 

Not really it would be a little hard, I've always found it easier to compress front calipers and turn rear calipers with the cover off of the master brake cylinder. It not unusual for one to turn smooth and the other to be a total pain.

 

i had to replace my rear driverside caliper.

 

Likew ise. Rear caipers X 2.

 

mine was slipping n really hard to turn mine also. but if you were able to turn it a lil. then you should be able to turn it all the way. i took of my calipers, removed my rotors n then put my calipers back on n then turned them. it was a lot easier that way. and if his calipers are seized, when he put his old pads back on, wouldn't it start to smoke after he pressed the brakes???? hope that helps....

 

I don't have my trusty manual with me and I haven't done the rear brakes in at least a year, but isn't the thread a left handed thread meaning, that you turn it counterclockwise to turn it in??? Don't forget to line up the stud on the back plate with the indent on the piston.

 

Nope - clockwise to turn it in. Yes - you do have to line up the notches on the piston so the nub on the pad sits in there when assembled.

 

Yup, blown calipers

 

Did you remove your brake master cylinder cap? Sometimes once you've turned it a complete revolution it gets easier, but without looking at it we can only guess it's seized. Turn it clockwise

 

What's this nub thing yall are talking about?

And... I just changed my rear pads. 105k miles and the rear driverside started sticking, how do i know? Let's say i drove somewhere a few miles away and when I got out it, the smell of burnt rubber was very noticeable. Anyway, the pistons were a pain in the butt to turn for me as well (clockwise rotation).

 

I just did my rears. I couldnt twist the piston back with pliers. So, I called Nissan who told me you need the special tool. They laughed at me when I said I tried to use pliers. What was really bothering me is all the people who said you only need needle nose pliers to twist it.

I cant imagine anyone using pliers to do that.

 

You only need pliers. Take the cap off the master cylinder reservoir and bleed the brakes a bit to relieve the pressure. It should then turn in fairly easily. If not, start the piston turning in (as if threading a bolt) and then use a C-clamp with a rag in between so you don't mar the piston. If you do it carefully it shouldn't damage anything. Part of the trick is not to let the piston get out too far in the first place.

As far as sticking goes.. the brakes on our cars are tight tolerance... they need to be maintained or they will start to stick but it's not the caliper like many think. The pads and retainer clips rust up slightly and bind on each other thus the pad can't slide in and out well enough. The way to prevent this is to take the pad and clips out, brush off all the rust and if need be shave off the tabs on the ends of the pads slightly. Then antisieze them up and put them back in, making sure they slide easily on the clips.