89 Buick century master cylynder problem

hi, i'm having a problem. when i went to replace the front brakes on this car, the poor pads were down to metal almost, i couldnt push the master cylinder back far enough to allow room for the new brake pads. i tried opening the bleed valve a bit to maybe releive some system pressure, but i still couldnt move the cylinder back all the way. any help would be much appreciated. oh and the car is the 3.3l with the j1 brake system if that helps any. thanks a lot.

Are you reffering to the master cylinder or the wheel cylinder? The wheel cylinder is in the brake caliper. From the sounds it's the part thats sticking. It's easier to just replace the caliper with another.

Look at the brake fluid reservoir. It will rise when you push in the caliper piston. Maybe you have reached the top of the reservior and causing a hydraulic lock. Remove the cap and take out some fluid if the level is too high. I had to do that when I did my brakes last night.

already had the cap off on the brake fluid reseviour. and i'm referring to the cylinder on the caliper, it's stuck. ive tryed pressing it back in with a c-clamp( okie, i know). still no luck

For what it's worth just replace the caliper. It's generally not worth the hassle of rebuilding the cylinder. Well before I tell you for sure to replace the caliper, I was just reminded to tryopening the bleeder valve, if it goes back then you might need to replace the flex hose instead. But 9 times out of ten the wheel cylinder is the culprit.