Rear Brakes

Vehicle is a 98 Taurus, Trouble is rear brakes;
Can anybody shed some light on why the piston will not retract into the caliper?
I not familiar with these types of brakes, When I removed the caliper along with the old brakes, I noticed two grooves at opposite ends of the piston. So I went to the auto store & bought a 3/8 drive cylinder with two posts on it that align with the grooves. I have tried with no success in getting the piston to retract, by turning it counterclockwise / clockwise, although clockwise seems to harder to turn.
I have even tried unloosening the bleeder valve & then tried turning, still no luck.
Is there another tool out there for this task, because the one have seems to constantly slip off, get a 1/4 turn if that before it slips off.
Thanks

Vehicle is a 98 Taurus, Trouble is rear brakes;
Can anybody shed some light on why the piston will not retract into the caliper?
I not familiar with these types of brakes, When I removed the caliper along with the old brakes, I noticed two grooves at opposite ends of the piston. So I went to the auto store & bought a 3/8 drive cylinder with two posts on it that align with the grooves. I have tried with no success in getting the piston to retract, by turning it counterclockwise / clockwise, although clockwise seems to harder to turn.
I have even tried unloosening the bleeder valve & then tried turning, still no luck.
Is there another tool out there for this task, because the one have seems to constantly slip off, get a 1/4 turn if that before it slips off.
Thanks

You will have MUCH better luck if you rent the rear brake caliper compressor from the parts store. Most stores will loan the tool out. The kit I'm referring to is more of a screw press and will actually apply force to the caliper piston while turning the piston in a clockwise direction. Plus, you won't have a problem with the adapter slipping out of the slots in the piston (as long as you select the correct adapter). The kit should look something like this one:
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/Displayitem.taf?itemnumber=40732

-Rod

The more general-purpose tool for this job is a C-clamp coupled with a small block of wood so that you distribute the force evenly over the piston. Put the wood over the piston and clamp the whole essembly to put slow, even pressure on the piston. If you have a nearby Wal*Mart I would imagine a small C-clamp is only a couple dollars.

The more general-purpose tool for this job is a C-clamp coupled with a small block of wood so that you distribute the force evenly over the piston. Put the wood over the piston and clamp the whole essembly to put slow, even pressure on the piston. If you have a nearby Wal*Mart I would imagine a small C-clamp is only a couple dollars.

Except the rear brake caliper on the Taurus has the parking brake integrated into it. This requires the piston to be rotated in order to compress it. Your method works quite well on a front brake caliper (although I prefer an old brake pad and a large slip joint pliers) or a rear brake caliper where the parking brake is a drum setup "inside" the rotor.

-Rod

You will have MUCH better luck if you rent the rear brake caliper compressor from the parts store. Most stores will loan the tool out. The kit I'm referring to is more of a screw press and will actually apply force to the caliper piston while turning the piston in a clockwise direction. Plus, you won't have a problem with the adapter slipping out of the slots in the piston (as long as you select the correct adapter). The kit should look something like this one:
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/Displayitem.taf?itemnumber=40732

-Rod



Thanks for the info, I'll try this out..

The more general-purpose tool for this job is a C-clamp coupled with a small block of wood so that you distribute the force evenly over the piston. Put the wood over the piston and clamp the whole essembly to put slow, even pressure on the piston. If you have a nearby Wal*Mart I would imagine a small C-clamp is only a couple dollars.



Thanks for the input

Except the rear brake caliper on the Taurus has the parking brake integrated into it...
-Rod

I personally HATE that parking brake spring. Is there an easier way to install that spring than compressing with channel-locks? I dread doing my rear brakes because of it.

I personally HATE that parking brake spring. Is there an easier way to install that spring than compressing with channel-locks? I dread doing my rear brakes because of it.

Hmmm, not quite sure why you are removing the spring. You should be able to compress the caliper without removing the spring.

-Rod

The Haynes manual says to remove it. You're telling me that I can do my brakes without removing the spring!!! I never even thought to try it. The Haynes manuals have never let me down before. argh!!!!

The Haines manual says to remove it. You're telling me that I can do my brakes without removing the spring!!! I never even thought to try it. The Haines manuals have never let me down before. argh!!!!

Well, maybe I need to make sure we are talking about the same setup. The original poster was asking about a '98 Taurus with rear disc brakes. If you have rear drum brakes, then the Haynes manual is correct, you need to remove the parking brake spring to get the shoe assembly relatively easily removed from the backing plate. And yes, that spring is a pain in the arse. There is a special tool that Mac and Snap-On sell for this, but I don't really think it works that well either.

-Rod

We are talking about 1998 rear disk brakes. Just to make sure I wasn't going crazy I went back to my manual and yep, it states to remove the rear parking brake spring on the disk brake set-up. I have the brake tool for drum brakes, that is a matter of finesse. But to get back to the original thread, the best thing to get the caliper to retract is to use brake caliper compression tool.

When I do the rear disks on my 98', I take off the caliper, remove the disk and pads, then put the caliper back on so it is held in place. Now the caliper won't move as I apply inward force while turning my ratchet, 8 inch extension and cylinder piston rotator adapter to screw the piston back into the cylinder. I have to take the caliper back off again to get the new disk and pads on, but it is alot easier this way then trying to hold the caliper with one hand and screw the piston in with the other.

I tried this last night and thanks to all of you for the help. I just blindly followed the Haynes manual and became so frustrated. Now it's easier than I ever thought possible. Thanks so much guys!!