Rear brakes - piston wind back tool

[dan_b]

Was thinking of changing my rear brake pads rather than paying a stealer to do it. I read s2central.net and it mentions a "piston wind-back tool" is recommended?

Can I do the job without it? These are pretty expensive (at least the one's I've found on the net this morning are) and would mean I wouldn't save money by doing it myself!

What could I use instead of the wind back tool?

I've got the standard rear calipers on the S2 Coupe.

[Greg_S]

Windback tool doesnt cost much about £10. The other way to do it is to use a small plate of steel over the piston then a massive pair of adjustable pliers can close the piston in with that. Then you dont damage the caliper or piston either

[Ski]

i would like to know this too... (also if glen has this tool)

[Stick Insect]

You could always use a large 'G' clamp to do the same job, they have them at B+Q and other such places a six inch one should do!. please see picture below

http://www.lawson-his.co.uk/scripts/products.php?cat=Record%20Clamps%20G-Clamps

That's what I use.

Please be aware that you can damage some ABS systems by winding back the Caliper pistons on some cars especially Vauxhalls. I don't know abou the S2. The best thing to do is to open the bleed nipple and expel the fluid. You need to change it anyway!

[dan_b]

I know some calipers actually have a sort of ratchet mechanism in them which prevents you pressing the piston back with a clamp - hence requiring a wind-back tool which turns the rack behind the piston? On some cars this is just an allen bolt I think?

Is the rear S2 caliper one of these, or will a clamp suffice? It sounds like you guys have done it with a clamp before without any problems?

I will be changing the rear pads at the same time as replacing the whole front braking system - Porsche calipers, A8 discs and EBC Red pads; so a fluid change will be happening as well.

I thought I'd do the rears while I was at it.

[SteveH]

You'll need a windback tool or a pair of pin nose pliers to retract the rear brake pistons.

[desmo888]

They offer a unversal tool here in the states. It has different patterns to fit different pucks.

http://www.partsamerica.com/PartDetails.asp?SourceArea=SHOP&SourcePage=SEARCHRESULTS&MfrCode=PBI&MfrPartNumber=648410&CategoryCode=3479

I got one in my tool box!

[Stick Insect]

Ta 892 brakes section on http://franklin-tools.co.uk/acatalog/index.html

20 Quid or a pair of pliers

Halfords will sell something similar I would imagine

[desmo888]

Buy the tool.

The first time you pinch your skin in the pliers when they slip off you'll have wished you spent the money!

[AbsS2]

I bought one for 20 odd quid from Halfords. 1st one went ok. But on the second one the stupid thing got stuck. After smashing the crap out of it for 2 hours (at 11pm in a dark street) finally got it off. Looks totally mashed up now :mad:

[S2 Ant]

Cant you just use a pair of swan neck pliers??

Thats how i done front calipers when i done those.......

[Mikes2]

Front brakes just push in.

The Sykes Pickavant windback tool is probably the best quality but is no longer available from Halfords. For some reason they stopped selling it.

Should cost around 20 quid.

Beware though - the tool can get jammed like mine did. New caliper time if you can't get it out.

[dan_b]

well, in the end I used a big pair of plumber's adjustable molegrip pliers to wind the piston, in combination with a g-clamp to stop the piston from unwinding again when I took the molegrips off. Seemed to do the trick pretty easily.


It occured to me that the "floating" design of the rear caliper is all wrong. The small bit is clamped, and the bigger bit is the part that floats? Surely it would be more logical to move the smaller part? bah, what do I know?!