I just did all four brakes in my Max, the rear pistons where very hard to get to turn back in. I had to get the 'good' tool that pushes and turns at the same time, there was no way the crappy little tool that fits on the end of a socket was going to do it. Even with this tool I had to take one of the calipers off and (carefully) put it in a vice to get the piston to crank back in. I haven't bled the brakes yet and it obviously has to be done, they are super spongy. The rear brake bleeder screws seem like they may be frozen.

Are my rear calipers toast? I don't want to ruin my new set of ($65) brake pads.

 

Did you leave the brake fluid cap open. That will help decrease pressure when you are turning. Try knocking it with a hammer, perhaps the piston rusted a bit. Use some penetrating oil.

Bleed the brakes, and see what comes out. For the bleeder screw, use some penetrating oil, and if you must, attach the open wrench to the nut and bang it with a hammer. That should knock it loose. It's a small nut.

 

Yes I left it open, the fronts went in no problem.

 

Mine were replaced at 60000mi, mechanic said that calipers are crapy on Maximas and he got at least 4 Maxima a month with stuck calipers.

 

I thought mine were seized as well, but I borrowed a tool kit like this from Autozone:
http://www.sjdiscounttools.com/ap7860.html
Is that the "good" tool you were referring to? I gotta say it works wonders. The brakes still stop the rotors from spinning, so I'm guessing nothing's seized. It seems like a lot of people are having a similar problem so it's either a major defect on these Maximas or it's nothing to really worry about too much.

 

I had the same problem with mine, took me about an hour, a couple cold beers, and a ghetto rigged bearing pusher to muscle the piston back in on the rear calipers, but they seem to be working fine...

 

If you look at the first two pages, there are at least 3 topics about calipers. I would say it is a defect...

 

I wouldn't go as far as to call it a defect. One of my rear calipers failed after more than 10 years, the other still functioned but I couldn't turn it in. So I just replaced both.

 

I replaced both rear calipers 2 days ago. The right rear was seized. The car had only 58K of mostly highway miles, but is over 10.5 years old. I haven't used the parking brake very often over the years and 3 brake shops told me to start using it on a regular basis. Evidently it helps the rear caliper piston to turn in further. Recent use of the parking brake on hills may have contributed to the piston seizing.

 

What are some good aftermarket brake kits (rotor and calipers) for the Max that I can buy?

 

well none for the rear that i know of.....u can do the ol 300zx brake upgrade.....cobra BBK....theres is always SSBC brakes <----highly recommend, or the old stillen or AP/Brembo upgrade

 

yeah I had the EXACT problem on my rear brakes...I got everything off and I was trying to compress the calpier on the rear passenger brake side and that f**ker would move for like an hour or 2....my uncle and I finally took it out and put it in a vice and still had problems....I dont know how my uncle got it back together...but he did...and I just took it to a shop to have the other rear side done....what a nightmare....I still wonder if im even getting my full braking powering on that side...when I took the rotor and pad off on that side...the one side of the rotor showed uneven pad wear, like the pad wasnt touching all of the rotor that it should have been....WIERD...and you know what else, after a month or two or new brakes...they dont feel like they are gripping like they used to a month or 2 ago....and I have axxis ultimate pads and brembo rotors..brakes are a nightmare

 

Did you use the tool that turns the caliper piston as it pushes it back? I did my front and rear brakes like 2 weeks ago and that tool made it a whole lot easier. And try loosening the master cylinder cover so theres not as much pressure.