only done brakes on my civics and other civics before , theres 2 bolts on back and the caliper slides off , one more bolt and the caliper slides open and you slide old pads out and put new ones it this seems a bit different, I took off the 2 17mm bolts on the back of the caliper (mine were a PITA ,**** you rust.)

now my caliper is still stuck to the rotor and before I went any further I wanted to know exactly what I was doing. how do I get the caliper off and the pads out?

on top of that I was told I need a C clamp to compress the piston to slide the pads in? Ive never had to do this on my civics... what is this guy talking about?

 

two 14 mm bolt on the caliper need to be taken off. the caliper will then slide off the pads and then you can remove the pads you did not need to remove the 2 17mm bolt and yes you will need a c clamp to press the piston back in

 

the c clamp is for your front calipers to depress the pistons, remove the cap on your brake resevoir first. the rears DO NOT press in, you can use a pair of needle nose pliers or get the specialty tool from any auto parts store it's cheap. As for getting the old pads and rotors off, if you've removed the two caliper bolts there is one thing still attached to the caliper, the brake line *or the brake line PLUS the e brake linkage if ur doing the rears* if your caliper is still stuck fast best to just remove the brake line thus releasing any residual pressure the piston may have. hope this helps!

 

x2, i believe you removed the caliper bracket bolts, not the caliper bolts themselves...if you are replacing pads, just remove the bottom bolt and loosen the top bolt so itll just pivot up. you can use the C-clamp with it tilted up, unless you have ginormous hands..but i thought the rear used a tool of some sort, i dont recall too well, its been a while since i touched my rear calipers. but if you did hondas before you should already have teh tool to do that pressing in of the rear caliper

 

1:08 tells you what to do, basically just unbolt the caliper off the bracket. change the pads and then compress with a c-clamp. If you were changing the rotors then you'll need to take off the 17mm. What you did was entirely wrong, screw back on the 17mm bolts, and just unbolt the screw on the caliper itself.

 

thats what I thought , I think it has just been so long since I did the work , and I was supposed to take the 17mm bolts off , not sure why you say I shouldnt , I am not pad slapping this I am doing rotors , pad and hardware.

 

u didnt say in ur op that you were doing your rotor also thats why we said you didnt have to remove the 2 17 mm bolts its all good though

 

yep , thats why I made the clarification.

thanks for the help guys its mucho appreciated. I am the kind of guy where I will not attempt something unless I know each step very carefully.

 

Here's the tool to turn the rear caliper pistons in. Needle nose pliers work too, but this tool makes the job way easier.

 

how much and where can I get this?

 

i got mine at advance for like 10 bucks

 

I have to say I'm a little curious about this. I had to compress the pistons to get the new pads in on the Civic I owned a few years back.

 

To depress the cylinder in the rear (front you can use a C-clamp if i recall), you need a tool to turn the cylinder. It will not retract by using a C-clamp. I used needlenoses and another person, mine were rusted to insanity. Good luck.

 

you can get that tool anyplace that sells any kind of brake part (should be able to). its cheap! this will eliminate the possibility of having to bleed the brakes. who wants to do that??

 

who doesnt bleed the brakes after installing new pads n rotors?

 

me, if you dont open up the bleeder/brake line, a pump of hte brakes will suffice, but if you remove the brake line, then u need to bleed

 

what do you mean a pump of the brakes will suffice? I have allways bled and refilled with new fluid when doing brakes....my pedal was pretty soft until about 3/4's of the way down. my pads and rotors were complete toast my rear pads came out so rusty I peeled what was left of them apart like trident layers.

my fronts werent terrible but whoever machined the rotors last machined them just out of spec so they were toast too. rears had some rust on the edges and when I took it off it was out of spec so I got 4 new wagner rotors with lifetime warranty =)

do you think my pedal was soft because I have air in my lines or because my pads n rotors were worn like a ****?

and should I bother bleeding the brakes?

 

when you reassemble everything, granted you didnt take off the brake line bolt, get in teh car, pump the brakes until they are hard, start the car make sure every thing is good.

bleeding the brakes never hurts, your pedal was more than likely soft mainly because of the pads/rotors, but you can bleed just for reassurance. i mean even if its soft before you bleed, its not hard to bleed them.

 

You should actually flush the system every time components are changed.
Brake fluid is hydroscopic by nature and degrades over time.
It should be changed on a regular basis to help keep your brake system from corroding from the inside out. I always change my brake fluid when I do a brake job on every car I've ever owned. I've also never once had a brake system component fail on me!

Maintenance is the key to longevity.

 

right on , do I just bleed until the pedal is hard? on one of my civics I could never get the pedal to be firm like I wanted it.

 

If you want firm brakes dont bleed the system, all you have to do is compress the front piston with a C-Clamp and the rear you turn the piston with a needlenose or special tool. The pedal wont be hard if you bleed the brakes, it'll actually be soft and it'll be a while before they are firm.

 

care to elaborate?

 

last nite , got rear caliper compressed , it was so hard becuz it was rusty got it to where it would slide half way over the brakes , couldnt get it on there , so I greased up piston contact points and gently slid it on with a hammer . Will this cause an issue?

 

you are supposed to rotate the piston on the rear, if you beat it on with a hammer, i dont think thats good..

 

oh wow no sorry , that sounded horrible , was on my phone typing and in a hurry lol.

I spun the piston with the cube tool =) it just wouldnt get that last little bit compressed , I slid the caliper over the pads to see if it would go on and only got halfway down .

then I tried and tried and tried , to get it to compress and even my dad who is extremely strong couldnt get it to compress anymore so I put on my grease slid the caliper halfway over the pads/bracket and lightly hammered it on there so that I could bolt it all up. I havent finished the other side yet , I want to know if this one will cause me issues first so I dont run into the same thing on the other side.

 

i did my rear brakes a few weeks ago using that stupid cube tool and lost a fingernail! i *think* the sign of a seized caliper is that you cant rotate the piston all the way in. whats the miles on the car? some guys say the rear calipers suck and went thru more than set

 

my caliper was not "seized" 2 days ago when I put it on jackstands....that wouldnt make sense to me. it seemed like the piston might go all the way in but i nor my dad was strong enough to get it.

 

yea, if its tough to compress teh rear caliper, thats a sign of a seized caliper..you may have gotten it on, but you will have issues down the road, pretty soon, o vote get a set of new calipers for the rear. 4th and 5th are pretty common with rear caliper failure

 

i had a super hard time with my rears, but got them on, no sign of failure yet, as the caliper never gets super hot

 

i had an issue turning my calipers in...not too much longer was my rotor toast/hearing roaring. just keep your eye/ears open

 

i'll will keep an eye on it, put on brand new rotors and pads, as there was almost nothing left of the pad, or the rotor for that matter...

 

yea...seems that everytime i have an issue with my max i get on teh forum and all of a sudden see an abundance of threads that pop up on that subject AFTER i learn about the problem...if i knew about teh transmission issues i'd never be in the max game

 

most cars are gonna have issues, although i have to say my max has been pretty much trouble free besides basic maintainance...maybe if i actually drove it more than 8K a year i might develop a problem!

 

I just looked they sell calipers for 35$ for the FRONT and 106 for the Backs ? I am not spending another 200$ on brakes , I will set the car on fire first. im so frustrated right now.

 

where did you look?

advance = $55/caliper

http://shop.advanceautoparts.com/web...S_676874075___

 

For future reference, I clean and then heavily lube the piston and boot with brake lube before attempting to push or turn the pistons back in. Haven't had a problem since after I picked up this method from a BMW tech.

 

here are instructions for the rear calipers:

1. Raise and safely support the vehicle. Remove the rear wheels.
2. Remove the parking brake cable stay fixing bolt and the lockspring.
3. Remove the brake fluid hose from the caliper.
4. Remove the lower caliper-to-torque member pin bolt and raise the caliper.
5. Remove the pad retainers, the pads and the shims.
6. Remove the upper caliper-to-torque member pin bolt and remove the caliper.

To install:

1. Clean the piston end of the caliper body and the area around the pin holes. Be careful not to get oil on the rotor.
2. Using a pair of needle nose pliers, carefully turn the piston clockwise back into the caliper body; remove some brake fluid from the master cylinder, if necessary. Take care not to damage the piston boot.
3. Coat the pad contact area on the mounting support with a silicone based grease.
4. Install pads, shims and the pad springs.
5. Install the caliper body into position and tighten the caliper-to-torque member pin bolts to 16-23 ft. lbs. (22-31 Nm).
6. Reconnect the brake fluid hose and tighten the flare nut to 12-14 ft. lbs. (17-20 Nm).
7. Install the lockspring and the parking brake stay fixing bolt.
8. Bleed the brake system and top off the master cylinder as necessary.
9. Install the wheels, lower the vehicle.

http://www.chiltonlibrary.com/conten...s/89619g06.pdf

 

Disconnecting the e-brake cable from the calipers helps when installing new pads. Then you just have to worry about the piston screw adjustment. You might need to loosen the e-brake adjustment to get them back on after the new pads are in.

Also if bleeding brake fluid, keep an eye on the fluid level in the reservoir. If you let it get too low it can suck in air and you'll have to bleed all four corners.

And to everyone recommending C-clamp for REAR brakes.

 

No one recommended C-Clamps for the rears. Fail for reading.