brake piston opped out!

[LiU]

OK OK I've spent an hour reading all the former posts about brakes and I feel ym situation is unique so here we go:

I was doing my rear brake pads and even w/ the special tool, my piston won't go in, and if it won't go in, then my nww pads won't fit. So I decided to bleed the system; and anyway we bled the system wrong (we didn't attach the caliper back onto the rotor) so basically the piston popped out COMPLETELY OUT(yea we're dumb, I just graduated high school and he's a senior soon). After like 30 mintues of trying to put it back on w/ the seal in proper place, we easily pushed the piston back in and installed the new pads.OK onto the next rear brake, first of all we bled this one too, but when I tried to screw the piston in, it was still next to impossible. BTW I had my bleeder screw closed when I was doing this, so (1) should it have been open? Anyway I gave up cuz it was near the end of daylight. So I went to see if the other side w/ the new pads worked AND NO! no pressure at all. So I kept pumping the pedal w/ the engine running and kept topping off the fluid (oh BTW, I took the little plastic cap off from inside the reseorvoir at first because I thought it was a 2nd cap, don't know if this let air in or what?)and the more I did this, the more quicker the pedal gained pressure. But as soon as I stop pumping, the pressure all goes away. i'm REALLY frustrated I worry that my caliper might be ****ed cuz of the reinstalled piston/seal... (2)Anyway to confirm this or is there something else wrong? Please all you brake gurus out there gimme some help.

BTW I'm just glad my parents weren't mad, they were pretty understanding and offered to take the car to a shop but I don't wanna quit I wanna give it 1 last try, and I'm hoping its not a piston problem in which case I have to get another caliper.

Thanks alot!

[LiU]

Ok I suppose I didn't summarize my questions... my question is, when the piston popped out we spent a long time trying to put it back in so no doubt, ALOT of air have gotten into the system, so should I just bleed the system again w/o getting a new caliper?you guys think that w/ the symptoms I was describing, could it just be excess air in the system and NOT a faulty seal?? OR could it be that my seal's leaking and just get a new caliper which means I hafta bleed again after the new caliper.

Again thanks

[Touchdown038]

Once the piston pops out, a hell of a lot of air gets in, so try attaching it to the rotor and bleeding it again, there's probably air in there. If that doesn't work, you might want to check for leaks all along the brake lines and caliper.

So wait, how come you decided to bleed the brakes? Just because the piston wouldn't go back in?

[Touchdown038]

Oh and you do know the engine should be off when you're bleeding the brakes right?

[SmithSR]

:Werd on the car being off when bleeding brakes. Touchdown, are you a local auto tech?

[theronin]

:Werd on the car being off when bleeding brakes. Touchdown, are you a local auto tech?

What.... car off? holy christ i have been doing it wrong all this time!:thinker

[Touchdown038]

Nope, just your local friendly AutoZone worker lol

[SmithSR]

:bearchug Touchdown at least you found a 240 in the northwest.

[Touchdown038]

Yeah but I did kinda get the shaft when I got it... I paid $3000 for one up in Bellingham with 142k on it last June. Since then, I have replaced (by myself) the timing chain, battery, brake pads and rotors, O2 sensor, plugs, wires, air cleaner, and the clutch. I hate how something decides to go out within a month of fixing something else oh well it's worth it.... just need some new shocks and bushings all around.

[theronin]

Nope, just your local friendly AutoZone worker lol

LoL you arent gonna tell em about my "core swap" are you?

[LiU]

ok I've been informed that IF the piston comes out, it almost definitley will be hte seal that's leaking...BUT you guys are saying it could just be the fact that excess air got into the system when the piston came off. right?

If so, how can I go about seeing if the piston/seal is leaking? is there a way to tell?

and should I just get one of those quick bleed kits and keep bleeding the system and if there's excess air, air will come out until all the air's out and fluid starts coming out, correctoh caroff while bleeding? sorry to ask but can some1 give me bleeding directions? I'mkinda new at this..

THanks alot for your help!

[theronin]

first get yourself some russell speed bleeders. i got mine off ebay for about 15 bucks shipped for all 4. then you want to start at the passenger side rear of the car make sure all the other bleeder screws are closed. open the first one and (making sure you dont starve your master cylinder) pump the brake pedal until you only see fluid coming out of the tube you have attached! then close the bleeder screw and then move onto the driver side rear... then driver front then passenger front! be sure to keep toping off your reservoir as you dont want to have to start all over again! keep in mind that when i did my Z brakes i bled my brakes upwards of 12 times! the more air you can get out of the system the better! speed bleeders are a great time saver but stilli had my roomie help me... together we bled my car 12 times in under 45 min! hope that helps!

[LiU]

ok thanks...should the engine be one while I'm bleeding?why do I need 4 bleeders? and does it have to be russel speed bleeders?

but what if the piston seal's messed up...then wouldn't all that bleeding be a waste? is there anyway to confirm that the seal isn't messed up?

[trpower7]

1) No, engine off. 2) 4 bleeder screws, 4 bleeders. Makes the process go faster. No, it doesn't just makes the job one-man-do-able3) Yes, if the seals are f-ed up bleeding would be a waste. No real way to check it, except to do a few laps around the block, take it off and see if you see brake fluid oozing out from around the caliper seal. Or if you notice a loss of fluid in the master cylinder.

[droll]

You can peel back the boot to see if the seal is leaking brake fluid. But you might as well buy a new caliper since it sounds like you don't really understand how they go together and its not worth the risk of playing around with. Get a new one or take it to a brake shop and see if they will rebuild it for you.

If you and your buddy are bleeding the brakes by hand, make sure you are closing off the bleeder screw before taking your foot off the peddle. Otherwise, you will suck in more air.

If it takes you 45 minutes to bleed your brakes you are doing something wrong. Unless you are including time to jack up and remove wheels. If the wheels are off two people should be able to bleed the entire car in less then 10 minutes.