The passenger-side rear brake piston will not retract. I bought the special cube tool and none of the sides fit the holes in the piston. Putting needlenose pliers into the holes spins the piston but I can't get it to retract, no matter how hard I push. So I just biked out to the hardware store and bought an 8" swivel-foot C-clamp to try Randy's trick. It still doesn't want to budge. I shouldn't need a breaker bar to tighten down the clamp, should I? The piston does NOT spin when I tighten the clamp.

What else can I try?????

 

Sorry, I can't answer directly, but I know there is a specific tool made (probably a call around to a couple of higher-quality autoparts stores could tell you) to do the job of retracting calipers. It's sort of like a C clamp, but in a different shape, and I can't explain it exactly, but I saw a guy using one last week on some Audi brakes that were very similar in setup to ours. Anyone know what the tool is called or some other trick?

 

*bounce*

I know that this was a quick bounce, but c'mon, people! Exbat's not able to drive his (or her?) MINI until this gets fixed! Nobody out there knows how to fix this??

 

Ok, here is a cheap way of doing this if you have access to a welder. take a 1/2 x 6" bolt with thick threads(less threads per inch). Cut a piece of flat steel to fit in the caliper. Drill a hole just slightly bigger than the bolt and weld a 1/2" nut on the inside of it. Screw the bolt into the nut, don't foget or else you cant put it together. Weld a of flat round piece of steel the size of the piston to the end of the bolt. Weld pins to the flat circle on the bolt to match the slots on the piston and your ready to go. This is a crude piece and can't fit many other cars, but who cares, you own a MINI. It doesn't take that long to make either. Hope this will help you to motor again soon!

 

OK, I got it. No, I don't have access to a welder, but thanks for thinking outside the Camry. What I did was to clamp the C-clamp down with moderate pressure, then turn the piston using a pair of pliers, then tighten the clamp some more, turn with pliers, etc. The piston did sometimes spin a bit using just the C-clamp, but not enough to rely on it alone :smile:

Thanks again for the tips! If anyone in the Portland area wants a hand, and/or needs tools or anti-squeal compound, just let me know!