The brakes (rear right side) of my car are completely worn, and have been squealing for a good week now. I finally got some parts this week and planned on changing them last night. But the best laid plans, especially when it comes to cars or repairs, often don't go as planned.
I got everything apart fine, and was looking good to get both rear brakes done, until this one part wouldn't co-operate. The piston, which pushes the inside caliper to the brake pad would not retreat far enough for me to get the new pads in. I needed approx. 4 cm, and the best I could get was 3.5 cm... frustrating!! It took me all night and I ended up sitting out in my driveway until about 10pm with a lamp beside me so that I could see. I finally gave up at 10pm, and put all the old stuff back on then "closed it up".
Brakes, especially the back brakes, are not hard to do, but when you have an older car with rusty parts that are on the verge of having to be replaced, you can run into trouble like this.
Trying to save a few bucks, without the required tools for the job, always ends in frustration. But I'm determined. I'm going to rent that damn piston tool to get it back in. I talked to the shop manager here at work about it (he owns Honda's), and he gave me a few pointers to try - like take the caliper out that the piston is pushing on, and clean it up. If that piston had gone in like it should have, I would have been done in 2-2.5 hours last night (for both sides). Instead, I spent 3.5 hours on one side, and finished where I started, no further ahead. uggh!
Saturday I'll try again and do some better cleaning of the parts. I'll have all day and not have to fight the day light to finish. If I can't get it, I'll bite the bullet and have a mechanic do them for me with the parts I bought. Sigh...
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