# brake caliper stuck



## joecaption (Nov 30, 2011)

Did you open up the bleeder to relieve the pressure?


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## Bondo (Dec 8, 2007)

Ayuh,.... Get a Bigger bar to pry with,....


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## nap (Dec 4, 2007)

It this has anti lock brakes do not push the piston back into the caliper without opening the bleeder first. It can cause dirt to be pushed into the abs unit which can cause it to malfunction.


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## Bigplanz (Apr 10, 2009)

I didn't want to mess with the bleeder since it looks rust frozen in place. Rotor is in terrible shape. Actually has a lip around the edge, maybe a millimeter high. It has grooves like a 78 rpm record. It has been taken off the road, until I can either fix it or replace it. No way is would pass a state inspection, if Kentucky required one.


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## Bondo (Dec 8, 2007)

Bigplanz said:


> *I didn't want to mess with the bleeder since it looks rust frozen in place. *Rotor is in terrible shape. Actually has a lip around the edge, maybe a millimeter high. It has grooves like a 78 rpm record. It has been taken off the road, until I can either fix it or replace it. No way is would pass a state inspection, if Kentucky required one.


Ayuh,.... Loosen the brake line instead,....


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## ukrkoz (Dec 31, 2010)

Take large C-clamp.
Put over caliper body somewhere solid and through the caliper hole, onto the outside brake pad. Squeeze it. Surprise. It'll squeeze fine and loosen everything. grove holds it in place.


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## nap (Dec 4, 2007)

ukrkoz said:


> Take large C-clamp.
> Put over caliper body somewhere solid and through the caliper hole, onto the outside brake pad. Squeeze it. Surprise. It'll squeeze fine and loosen everything. grove holds it in place.


Of course unless you open the bleeder or loosen the hose connection (but realize that if you do this you will still have to open the bleeder later) you can damage the abs unit if your vehicle has one.


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## Bigplanz (Apr 10, 2009)

I gave the bleeder a little turn and it released the pressure a bit. Didn't have time to pull the caliper but at least I know I can get it off.


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## nap (Dec 4, 2007)

Now you can use a junk screwdriver or pry bar. Wedge it between the rotor and one of the pads and pry it so the piston is pushed back into the caliper. Have the bleeder open when you do this. 

Don't look into the bleeder when you do it as it can give a healthy squirt if you move the piston in quickly. 


Be sure to close the bleeder when you get the piston pushed in. 

You will need to bleed the brakes when you get everything installed.


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## ukrkoz (Dec 31, 2010)

nap said:


> Of course unless you open the bleeder or loosen the hose connection (but realize that if you do this you will still have to open the bleeder later) you can damage the abs unit if your vehicle has one.


Nope. It bleeds just fine as described. i found this by pure luck, when I had doubtful honor of doing brakes on 2008 Mazfaspeed. No need to crack valve open. Ever since, I squeeze them calipers only this way. And ALL of my cars have antilocks and some have very fancy brake system, like my Camry Hybrid.


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## ukrkoz (Dec 31, 2010)

Big, think about it. So it's OK to place a large screwdriver, or pry bar, onto outside brake pad, but it's NOT OK to do same with C-clamp? Dude, I **** you not - works fine. And then you can clear worn rotor edge and flip caliper off it.
How in the world do you even get them rotors to such condition?


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## nap (Dec 4, 2007)

ukrkoz said:


> Nope. It bleeds just fine as described. i found this by pure luck, when I had doubtful honor of doing brakes on 2008 Mazfaspeed. No need to crack valve open. Ever since, I squeeze them calipers only this way. And ALL of my cars have antilocks and some have very fancy brake system, like my Camry Hybrid.


Whatever dude. I'm not going to tell somebody a method that has proven to cause probkems. It doesn't happen all the time but it can and does happen. Are you going to give the op the grand to fix the abs if he does have a problem?


My training and 40+ years of mechanic work allowed me to know the proper way to do things. It was nothing "by accident"


But you didn't even describe how to bleed the brakes so how are you claiming "it bleeds just fine". Nothing you posted even came close to bleeding the brakes. If you think so apparentky you do not understand what bleeding the brakes is.


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## nap (Dec 4, 2007)

ukrkoz said:


> Big, think about it. So it's OK to place a large screwdriver, or pry bar, onto outside brake pad, but it's NOT OK to do same with C-clamp? Dude, I **** you not - works fine. And then you can clear worn rotor edge and flip caliper off it.
> How in the world do you even get them rotors to such condition?


You can use a c clamp (but it's a big pain in the ass compared to my direction) IF you open the bleeder when you push the piston back into the bore. It wasn't the c clamp I was addressing but the pushing the dirt in the caliper back through the hydraulic system.


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## nap (Dec 4, 2007)

And it is quite normal for a ridge to develop. Given the pads rub on the rotor every time you stop but they do not cover the rotor to the outer edge you will have rotor wear where the pads ride but not on that outer edge. Between thst and the fact it rusts over the years, it is very normal to have to compress the piston into the rotor to remove the caliper.


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## Bigplanz (Apr 10, 2009)

Put a pry bar under the tire while it was off the ground. It rocked slightly and went clunk. Ball joint's bad. Put a screwdriver between the sway bar and control arm. Sway bar links moved and went click-click. They're bad too. Looks like I have my springtime maintenance agenda already full.


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## Bigplanz (Apr 10, 2009)

A few follow-up questions:

1) I understand that the brake pads are tight enough on the rotor that the caliper won?t come off. I also understand the advice of relieve the pressure through the bleeder when compressing the caliper piston. This is intended to reduce the possibility of back pressuring debris into the ABS module. Opinions vary on whether this is necessary, but it certainly makes sense to relieve the pressure as close to the caliper as possible.

2) Q: can the pressure be relieved by taking the cap off the brake fluid reservoir? This is the procedure in the factory repair manual for relieving pressure when replacing the brake pads. That manual makes no mention of relieving pressure through the bleeder. It says,?Open the brake reservoir, draw out a few ounces of brake fluid, remove outer brake pad, compress caliper piston with a ?suitable tool? (C-clamp, specialized piston compressor, large channel locks, whatever) pressing on the inner brake pad. Once the piston is compressed, remove inner brake pad.? I assume the reservoir is before the ABS module, so any pressure surge would be relieved through the reservoir and never make it to the ABS module. (I guess that?s a question too.)

3) I don?t understand how you can compress a caliper piston with the caliper still on the van. The brake pads and rotor are in the way. There seems nothing available to push the piston against effectively. It makes more sense to pry between the inner pad and the rotor, thus pushing the piston in enough to create a gap big enough to slide the caliper off the rotor. Q: won?t this prying damage or destroy the brake pad and/or the rotor? They don?t seem designed to be pried on too much.

4) Here?s what I think is the procedure based on what I?ve read here: either crack the bleeder or somehow relieve the pressure on the brake system, pry with a screw driver, either between the inner pad and rotor, or between the caliper piston and brake pad (I am leery of this, as it seems a screwdriver would damage the piston boot or piston itself), then when there is a big enough gap between the rotor and the brake pads, slide the caliper to remove it. Is this right? Is that the procedure?

5) The reason I am doing all this in the first place is because I have a broken lug stud and I need to take the rotor off to replace it.

Thanks again for all your help.


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## nap (Dec 4, 2007)

What manual did you find that in? 

It isn't reliefing the pressure as there is none. You are simply Pushing fluid back through the system if you do not open s bleeder and carrying debris with it. 
You take the cap off and remove some fluid so it doesn't overflow and spill

Now I will say I have done it on my own vehicles without opening a bleeder but guess what, if I screw up the abs unit I fix it. I surely would not want to tell s customer he needs a new abs because I didn't want to do it right.


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## nap (Dec 4, 2007)

No, the abs module is between the calipers and the master cylinder (the reservoir is on top of the master cylinder)


Yes, prying between the inner brake pad and the rotor to compress the caliper piston. You won't hurt the rotor and presumably you are replacing the pads so it doesn't matter about the pad


Do not pry direct on the caliper piston. You will likely damage the dust boot on the caliper and would have to rebuke or replace the caliper


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## Bigplanz (Apr 10, 2009)

The manual is the Nissan Quest factory repair manual, published by Nissan. I found it on-line a couple of years ago. 1000 pages!

The manual is long on detail but assumes the reader is a professional mechanic so it doesn?t explain how to do a lot of routine tasks. Maybe that?s why it doesn?t mention opening the bleeder to remove the stuck caliper or while changing brake pads. I also have a Haynes manual (maddening in its lack of detail). It is good for a basic understanding of the car, and it has useful information about torque settings, etc. Not much in the way of explanation on work-arounds for common problems though.

I hadn?t really planned on replacing the brake pads, having other agenda items to contend with first (worn out suspension, for one). I guess I can replace them if needed, but had hoped to wait to do the pads and replace the rotors sometime in late spring. I assume it will require quite a bit of force to pry apart the pads to move the piston so it is likely the pad will need to be replaced. That?s fine. I?ll just deal with it. God only know what shape the rear drums are in. Brakes work, though, no noise, no pull, so I have been letting them alone for now. Got to replace the lug stud though. Four studs aren?t really safe and all that.

I have a heavy stiff plastic pry tool I use for popping off door panels. I?ll give that a try on the caliper piston first. Can?t hurt, and it might be enough to crack the caliper open enough to get it off. My van does have ABS by the way, so I don?t want to damage it. Thanks for all the advice everyone. I will let you know how it goes and post a Youtube video if I can get my wife to let me use her cell phone video camera.


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## nap (Dec 4, 2007)

well, ya got me on that one. I checked the manual myself and sure enough, there is no mention of taking precaution to not cause backflow through the ABS modulator.

You do it however you want. I'll stick with not pushing the crud I have seen in calipers back and into the ABS modulator. I can find other reputable sources that see it the same as I but I'm not going to argue with a factory manual. 

but anyway; you aren't relieving pressure by opening the bleeder or removing some fluid from the MC reservoir. With the bleeder you are preventing the old dirty fluid from being pushed backwards through the system. When removing some fluid from the reservoir you are simply giving room for the fluid that is pushed back through the system so you don't spill it by making the reservoir overflow. 

as to not wanting to damage the pads; If you are careful you can avoid damaging the pad. just don't be overly forceful.


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## ron45 (Feb 25, 2014)

This is how I do it, but as nap said, it's up to you...
I never try to loosen/collapse the caliper before removing it, I simply pry between the edge of the rotor and caliper to slide it off. Once it's off I remove the cap on the reservoir and use prybar and C clamp to collapse the caliper. 9 out 10 times you don't have to bleed the brakes this way, just pump them a couple of times.


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## Bigplanz (Apr 10, 2009)

Thanks everyone. Come the weekend I'll give it a try.


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## JD367 (Apr 6, 2015)

Some years ago,I worked at a brake shop.
We had "fast Joe",..a guy that would zip through the brakes,and do it the fastest way he could.
On one Toyota van,he just popped the calipers up ,and squeezed them back,and put on the new pads.
Imagine his surprise,and the owner's ANGER,when he discovered it had the brake fluid reservoir in the LEFT DASH PANEL,and he had sprayed fluid all over the interior !
Haste,makes waste. DO IT RIGHT!


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