How to? rear brake calipers?

[Thedeester1]

Was trying to change the pads today but couldnt for the life of me get the pistons to wind back in. I wound them till I was sick but they wouldnt retract. Any tips anyone. Do you have to push them at the same time as winding. if so how do you manage this. I made a tool to wind the caliper but it makes it impossible then to get a G clamp on the press the piston. Thanks In advance!

[martin1810]

Make sure you are winding the right way. Buy a proper rewind tool that pushes and turns. They are not expensive.

[Thedeester1]

I had a feeling that was it. The tool I have found is £30 quid any links to these would be appreciated! Edit: The Haynes manual just tells you to wind them with circlip pliers.....Grrrr wasted an hour and a half getting nowhere. Looks like im off to Halfords tommorow.

[producedapples]

I tried and failed...miserably about 8 weeks ago, i even bought a draper expert caliper wind back cube... dont bother, you still have to try and push back and twist the ratchet at the same time, even removed the caliper to try and ease the winding back...no chance.

Get the proper tool, as im a mechanic, i was very reluctant to pay some1 to do it fo rme, nor was i very willing to pay £40 odd quid for the kit and may not need it for another 100k miles!!

Or somebody on here might do it if they got the tool????

so advised a local garage that i am qualified, and if i slipt £10 his way, could i borrow his caliper wind back tool, nice fella, even lent me his 2 post ramp, copper slip and a wire brush...!!

http://starturl.com/ratys is the link for what you are after

[Thedeester1]

Bought the tool but the job went bad. When winding back fluid started leaking from the bleed nipple..No problem i thought. Put some freeway on the nipple and set about loosening it to bleed the brakes. It didnt loosen as it should so i decided to take it out for an inspection. It was so seized it pulled the thread on the way out. Set about checking the other side and give that a freeway too but that did exactly the same. I know over tightning can strip them but have never had them strip on the way out. Anyway 2 new calipers fitted then had a lot of trouble bleeding. Even after hose clamping and a plastic bag over the header I still lost a lot of fluid and was towing to bleed properly. I dont have a garage so was doing this on my Mothers driveway since its the best offroad I had access to. Anyway the local garage are picking it up tommorow for a pressure bleed. How do the bleed nipples get so seized? Never had this problem before? Is this a VW thing. Ive bled brakes loads of times before. Had a metro (lol) that used go through piston seals for fun many years ago, an escort which was much the same. Then my last car which was a Scooby and I fitted new hoses and calipers because that car was more a hobby than anything else.

Oh that nice chap who leant you his 2 post lift...I need someone like that my knees are killing me tonight! Because of the slope of the driveway I darent put all 4 corners on axle stands at once. I must have jacked the car 10 times today.

[vwcabriolet1971]

Most brake nipples are overtightened both by DIY owners & garages . They only need a torque of about 3 ft.lbs (4Nm) which is easy to exceed with even the smallest spanner . If you havn't a low torque wrench in this range then a screwdriver type driver with a deep socket is much safer to nip the bleed screws up. If they are removed they should be lubricated with brake fluid on assembly.
A sharp rap with a small hammer on the nipple end helps to break any thread corrosion seizure before attempting nipple removal.
Steel Nipples ( even if zinc plated) will corrode quite readily in Aluminium castings over time.
I always apply bleeding kit ( one way valve type) to nipples and then open about 1 to 2 turns before pushing/winding back pistons. This prevents seal reversal or overflow in master cylinder. This reversal happened to me once many years ago , never again ! It's a simple matter to then bleed the brakes or as I prefer , to change the brake fluid when all brake work is completed with pressure type kit. DIY pressure kits are available from Halfords for less than £20.
Hose clamping is frowned on by VW dealers . They say the hoses are not designed for clamping and may be damaged.
A "Laser" wind back tool suitable for all non electric VW calipers is available from GSF for about £12.

[Thedeester1]

Ill remember that tap with a hammer tip for next time. Im a multi skilled engineer in a galss works but Im electrical biased. This is the first time Ive undertaken this type of work on this car and as you said I think the nipples may have been overtight in the fist place. I usually use a small spanner and 1 fingure pressure to tighten them. The ones I was trying to get out needed a long spanner to to crack them open. I didnt know you could get a pressure bleeder so cheap but as im working 12 hour shifts for the next 7 days that would mean I couldnt get to work on the car and im having to scrounge lifts to and from work at inconvenient times. Cheers for the tips though. Hopefully when this is sorted properly (I trust the guys at the garage) the car will be much easier to work on in future!