Separating rear caliper piston from bracket?, Getting to the brake pins? Options

[Syaoran]

Hey guys,

I was wondering how does one go about separating the piston from the bracket? I thought it was completely normal (didn't know how the brakes worked on this car), but it seems like just "pulling" isn't going to do it, and it seems my rear calipers are seized shut.

Any pictures or guidelines on how to gain access to the pins would be nice! Thanks!

[Galcobar]

To get the caliper off the bracket, you simply remove the one visible bolt, then slide the caliper off the bracket. However, this can only be done after the caliper and bracket have been removed from the rotor.

I generally suggest loosening the visible bolt holding the caliper to the bracket first, but not removing it. Then you remove the two bolts holding the caliper bracket, which Toyota labels as the torque plate, from the backing plate. The bolt heads are accessible from the strut side of the backing plate. You can then lift the caliper and bracket off of the rotor. Finish removing the visible caliper-to-bracket bolt. At this point the only thing connecting the caliper and the bracket is the rubber pin boot. Squeeze the boot and release it from one side or the other. You may then simply slide the caliper off of the bracket. .

The caliper doesn't actually slid on pins; rather, it slides on metal bushings. One bushing is held to the caliper by a rubber dust boot -- this is the bolt you remove when releasing the caliper from the bracket. The other bushing is bolted to the caliper bracket, aka torque plate -- the bolt head is hiding under that plain cap. The pin boot -- yes Toyota identifies a pin boot but no pins -- seals the point where the caliper slides onto the bushing which is bolted to the bracket. Properly you should use soap base glycol grease to lubricate the bushings, boot and the piston seal; at a minimum use a non-petroleum lubricant to avoid damaging the rubber components.

This post has been edited by Galcobar: Jun 24, 2012 - 9:37 PM

[Syaoran]

Thanks for the detailed response, however I missed something. How exactly do you separate that other side? (The one side of mine that seems to be stuck on)

This is how my calipers looked like to me when I took them out a long time ago:



As you can see, I never seemed to noticed they were "stuck" or anything.

This post has been edited by Syaoran: Jun 25, 2012 - 12:51 AM

[Galcobar]

That photo corresponds to the second-to-last sentence in my second paragraph. The caliper is now held to the caliper bracket soley by the pin boot. Release that from the caliper, or from the caliper bracket, and the two parts slide apart.

If you pop the plain metal cap off (pair of pliers is sufficient to grip it), you'll see a bolt -- there should be a rubber disk under the cap, to seal in the grease. That bolt holds the metal sleeve bushing to the bracket. It's possible, but quite difficult, to remove that bolt while the caliper is still on the bushing. It's much easier to slide the caliper off the bushing, then unbolt the bushing from the bracket.

Separating the caliper and the bracket can take some force if things aren't well lubricated. Should you find yourself unable to pull them apart by hand, remove the metal cap and rubber disk, and put the caliper in a vice. Then use a punch on the now-visible bolt head to hammer the bracket out of the caliper.

[Syaoran]

Thank you.

So its probably bonded on there... already tried taking it out by hand, and hitting it somewhat hard. Both failed attempts.