Hydraulic Brake Caliper Problem

[Jordan300]

After my recent crash which ruined by rear wheel, my rear brake was depressed at some point because I noticed the calipers are now too close to get the disc in. Any one know the way to fix this?

[nd456]

uhh i'm not sure on a bike however on a car you need to take the pads out and put a c clamp on it to push the fluid back then slide in the disk that is on a car basically you have to push the fluid back

[xerxes]

Bicycle disc brakes are sort of self adjusting. Undo the mounting bolts so that the calipers are loose and able to move about freely, then spin the wheel and squeeze the brake lever, this should centre the caliper on the disk. Keep the lever squeezed and re-tighten the mounting bolts. You might have to do this a couple of times to get it just right.

[dave_sd]

There are special tools to spread the pads back apart, but a flat headed screw driver works in a pinch. You just stick it between the pads and carefully pry them apart. Be careful you don't gouge the pads too much, but you can smooth them back out with sandpaper

[JonB]

^Beat me to it!

This is the only real way to do it unfortunately, but it's not too hard. If you can't even get a screwdriver in there then you should be able to get the pads out (unless they're Avids or Hayes) and then use a soft-headed bar to push the pistons back in (taking care not to let the other one pop out in the process.

If they're Avids or Hayes you can't get the pads out as there's a little lump that fits in the back of the pad and stops them moving. Best solution is to try and use any parts of the pad backing you can to prise them apart enough to get a screwdriver in and do the above.

[Jordan300]

Alright. Thanks guys. I'm going to give this a try tomorrow and see how it works. I've only dealt a small amount with hydraulics. I'll need to learn eventually though.