Okay, put the Hawk HP+ pads in place, now trying to push piston in to fit it back over the pads, but the piston won't budge. Do I need to relieve some pressure to allow the piston to move or something? The thing is rock solid, I push and push on it but it won't budge. Help!

 

use a C clamp for the front and you'll need a cube looking tool to twist the piston in the rear.

oh, if you're MC is filled to the top, becareful. Some of it will spill out when the pistons are pushed in.

yoshi - whose gonna make it short day to go for a drive

 

front or rear brakes? teh rear brakes you turn conter clockwise with a screwdrvier between the X in the center, and the fronts you use a special tool to push it back in. are you gonan race your car on sunday chris?

 

Chris, is the MC cap open? You should leave it open when you push the piston in. Otherwise the pressure inside would make the piston hard to be pushed in.

And if it's the rear piston, as b20bastard said, you have to turn it. Don't push it.

 

Okay, I have SpeedBleeders, so I opened the speedbleeder up and then the piston pushed in fine. I imagine this is okay since I will be bleeding the brakes anyways. Is there any problem with doing it this way guys?

Thanks!

 

i've never seen or heard of it being done that way, but as long as you bleed the fluid of any air it should be okay.

 

It is the same idea as opening up the MC cap ---- release the internal pressure. But opening the MC cap won't have as much risk of air going into the brake system as loosing the nipples.

 

The MC cap is the gray cap on the top of the brake fluid reservoir. It's pretty easy to spot under the hood.

Just loosen it, don't remove it (less exposure to the elements). And put a shop rag around the outside of it just in case the fluid overflows while you're pushing the piston in.

Oh, and don't add brake fluid (up to the "MAX" line on the reservoir) until after you've changed the pads. When the new pads are on, with their increased thickness, it leaves less space in the system for the fluid. (That's the reason for the difference between the "MIN" line and the "MAX" line).

This should be S.O.P. I would try it this way (not undoing the speed bleeders to get the piston to go in) to make sure there isn't some kind of blockage in the system.