Brake caliper piston stuck-help

[JonT]

I was bleeding my brake system and forgot to put the pads in the right rear caliper before I started bleeding the system. Now the piston is pushed out to the rotor. I was able to force it back (after loosening the bleeder valve) with a screwdriver about 1/4" inch but not enough to fit the pads in. Need some help here thanks.

[Bill Verburg]

first, never push on the pistons w/ a screw driver or any other hard sharp object, the tops are fairly thin and can be punctured w/ little provocation.

hopefully the piston is square in the bore, it it's cocked it won't go anywhere and will damage the piston and or the bore.

assuming that it is square open the bleeds and use either pad spreaders or if you can fit it in, a C clamp. Press on old worn out pads, not the pistons themselves.

You will probably need to remove the caliper from the car to use a C clamp

[DanS911]

I'm with Bill, if it's still stuck take the caliper off and work on it on a bench, it's not that hard to do. Do a search on caliper removal for info on tips.

[mark 74 carrera]

I would agree with everyone here, I think it would be best to remove the caliper and work on it with good light at the bench.

I am in the middle of rebuilding all four of my calipers and during the iterations of getting both pistons out, I found out how hard the piston is to move if just slightly cocked one way. I also learned how little clearance you have from piston to bore.

It is not worth ruining your caliper. Take a break, think it out and come back later when your not frustrated.