Caliper Cylinder Should Push Out, Right?

[demetk]

Maybe this thread should be renamed to something like "How I hacked my brakes and lived to tell about it".

One way of avoiding getting into this type of precarious predicament, especially if you are relying on only one car, is to stock pile certain types of "known good" parts that you know you are going to need sooner or later. Brake calipers are one such item. Get a used set of brake calipers far in advance so you can take your time to rebuild them and have them ready. I have a set of rebuilt calipers, brake disks and pads waiting on the shelf for just that eventuality.

Hopefully the OP has been embarrassed enough at the absurdity of his original ask that he never attempts any of the absurd hacks that have been proposed.

[moroza]

I was under the impression that there was something like an emergency. And made it clear that nothing about this is safe. I'm more bothered by threads that ask X and go on to waste keystrokes and bandwith talking about Y, Z, Q - instead of the technical question X actually asked - than about posting information which, if quoted or used out of context or by idiots, could be dangerous. Taken to its logical conclusion, such a taboo-oriented approach to sharing information would result in the outright closure of car forums that talk about anything more than styling.

[ross1]

Maybe this thread should be renamed to something like "How I hacked my brakes and lived to tell about it".

.

Since we haven't heard from the OP in a few days we'll need to wait and see about that

[alang1990]

Maybe this thread should be renamed to something like "How I hacked my brakes and lived to tell about it".

Agreed.

Hopefully the OP has been embarrassed enough at the absurdity of his original ask that he never attempts any of the absurd hacks that have been proposed.

New here but since I contributed I will comment. No offence meant to anyone.

None of the hacks here were absurd. They demonstrated understanding of the underlying equipment and some out of the box thinking. The hack mindset is important to nourish because the same hack here can apply in another situation. The way to properly live within the hacked solution is also important to understand. It would have been a very bad idea to deactivate only one calliper, for instance.

Shogun's method of a direct suckup of transmission oil to change out all the oil including torque convertor is a brilliant hack. No workshop I've been to suggested anything so simple, elegant and easily done together with a standard filter and gasket change. And they are the professionals who do this every day. Shogun wasn't born knowing how to think like this. He developed it as a skill and keeps it in tune by regularly thinking that way I bet.

The OP is clearly in a very bad financial situation if not he would be taking cabs 60 miles both ways or getting a workshop to rebuild his calliper since its such a straightforward job. Since we don't know the details about that I wouldn't judge. Finally about 95% of car accidents major or minor are due to speed and carelessness, and not due to mechanical failure. So it is a thinkable thing overall for a few days if you really need to. And someone reading this who finds himself stuck in a desert situation would have something to call in off the top of his head, because hacks were discussed.

[ross1]

Deliberately disabling any of the brakes, whether one wheel or an "axle" and driving on shared public roads is irresponsible, period.

Where I live there are no motor vehicle inspections, only emissions "testing". As long as you are not a gross polluter you can operate any bodged together pile of shit that can self motivate. I've seen enough dangerous "repairs" in my time and certainly won't be encouraging any more.
I don't care how someone hacks together their engine to run but when it comes to safety there is an obligation to those that share the road.
If you cannot properly repair safety items on your car you shouldn't operate it, at all. No dough? Tough beans, walk.
Discuss the likelihood of a bad consequence all you want, I get that but strange stuff happens everyday.
Do you find it comforting to think that the guy traveling behind or next to you has the ability to stop in a straight line in a reasonable distance?

[drewusmaximus]

I appreciate all the input. There is no emergency. I had the weekend to work on it. Since I knew I wouldn't be able to obtain a reman before Monday, I was hoping for a temporary (safe) solution until a replacement arrives. Although there really isn't a safe solution besides replacing the defective part, the information submitted on this topic is valuable for future reference. I'm sure someone else will come across this issue and hopefully bump into this thread and make the appropriate decision. I definitely learned more from this!

With that said, I pulled off the caliper and pumped the brakes until the piston was pushed out as far as it can go without it completely coming off, pushed it back into the cylinder, pumped the brakes again, pushed in the piston, pumped the brakes, pushed in the piston and the piston finally pushed in normally. I pumped the brakes again and pushed the piston back in with ease two more times. I put everything back on, took it for a test drive and it's working great. I do have a reman on the way.

I think what happened was, when the caliper got loose a while back, while pressing the brakes, the caliper wasn't aligned and possibly shifted the piston a bit for it to get stuck. It's just an assumption but, the caliper was functioning properly prior to the caliper getting loose. I could be wrong.. I appreciate everyone's responses..

- - - Updated - - -

Oh.. I forgot to mention. No hacks! Just elbow grease.

[moroza]

Do you find it comforting to think that the guy traveling behind or next to you has the ability to stop in a straight line in a reasonable distance?

Actually, I'd rather drive in front of someone who knew full well their brakes were at 75% and drove accordingly, than in front of the average complacent Smartphone Content Consumer Who Happens to be Driving, who has no idea when the fluid was last flushed ("you mean I have to change brake oil too?") or how much life left in the pads ("wonder what that scraping noise is? Ah who cares, the car still stops.")

Speed doesn't cause accidents. Mechanical failure is an uncommon cause. By far the biggest factor is driver incompetence, mostly a failure to pay the right kind of attention to where you are, what you're doing, how far you can see, aso.

[drewusmaximus]

Actually, I'd rather drive in front of someone who knew full well their brakes were at 75% and drove accordingly, than in front of the average complacent Smartphone Content Consumer Who Happens to be Driving, who has no idea when the fluid was last flushed ("you mean I have to change brake oil too?") or how much life left in the pads ("wonder what that scraping noise is? Ah who cares, the car still stops.")

Speed doesn't cause accidents. Mechanical failure is an uncommon cause. By far the biggest factor is driver incompetence, mostly a failure to pay the right kind of attention to where you are, what you're doing, how far you can see, aso.

Can't argue with that.. You had me at 75%

[whiskychaser]

you can probably live without the rear brakes for a short while.

Just how long is probably what has given this thread legs

[moroza]

On cars with front disks and rear drums, it's not uncommon for the rear brakes to be set up incorrectly (or occasionally designed wrong), such that they don't activate at all with light pressure, meaning the fronts are doing all the work until medium or stronger braking is called for. Drive such a car gently and you'd never notice until years later, when you might wonder why the original shoes have outlived several sets of pads.

[drewusmaximus]

Agreed.



New here but since I contributed I will comment. No offence meant to anyone.

None of the hacks here were absurd. They demonstrated understanding of the underlying equipment and some out of the box thinking. The hack mindset is important to nourish because the same hack here can apply in another situation. The way to properly live within the hacked solution is also important to understand. It would have been a very bad idea to deactivate only one calliper, for instance.

Shogun's method of a direct suckup of transmission oil to change out all the oil including torque convertor is a brilliant hack. No workshop I've been to suggested anything so simple, elegant and easily done together with a standard filter and gasket change. And they are the professionals who do this every day. Shogun wasn't born knowing how to think like this. He developed it as a skill and keeps it in tune by regularly thinking that way I bet.

The OP is clearly in a very bad financial situation if not he would be taking cabs 60 miles both ways or getting a workshop to rebuild his calliper since its such a straightforward job. Since we don't know the details about that I wouldn't judge. Finally about 95% of car accidents major or minor are due to speed and carelessness, and not due to mechanical failure. So it is a thinkable thing overall for a few days if you really need to. And someone reading this who finds himself stuck in a desert situation would have something to call in off the top of his head, because hacks were discussed.

Thanks Alan. I appreciate your response. There's no financial hardship. Just like shogun, people improvise with hacks, end up successful and share the wealth. Many of us have been in similar situations, where we need a temporary fix because we still need to use the vehicle, hence the forums. It's fascinating to observe such idiosyncrasies, given the era we are in but, unfortunately I guess we still need those theatrics to balance out the abase and the self-effacing. I enjoy being flamed. It's theater and it's lugubrious to see people's lack of self-awareness and growth. But, I was able to fix it without a hack. Just patience and elbow grease..