2000 lesabre brakes

Changing rotors on a 2000 lesabre, and cant get the brake piston to compress to allow for the new rotor between the pads.

my dad is an old hand at working on cars, but we cant get the piston to compress, does anyone have any tips, or suggestions about doing that on this particular car?

thanks for any input.

Front or rear brakes?

Changing rotors on a 2000 lesabre, and cant get the brake piston to compress to allow for the new rotor between the pads.

my dad is an old hand at working on cars, but we cant get the piston to compress, does anyone have any tips, or suggestions about doing that on this particular car?

thanks for any input.

The front should press back in with ease unless severely rusted or damaged. The pistons in the rear have to be turned clockwise and threaded back to the seating position. You can try needle nosed pliers but there is a cheap tool you can get which make it much easier. When you are finished threading back, make sure the notch in the piston is perpendicular to the caliper.

On front disc brakes I use a small piece of wood inside the piston and a large C-clamp to squeeze the piston back. Also open the bleeder screw so that you push the fluid out that rather than back through the antilock brake system. It may prevent problems with ABS attributed to pushing dirty fluid back through it when compressing the piston.

thanks polarzak. i knew it had to be something new that my Dad didnt know about since he couldnt figure it out. We are working on the rear brakes for now.

after i 'screw' the pistons back into the chamber, will they reset themselves after everything is put back together?

Yes, make sure you push inward as you trurn the caliper piston, there is a tool made for this purpose, also make sure the slide pins are free, clean em up and use special non corrosive high temp grease designed for this purpose.