Caliper Piston Retracting - Lateral-g Forums

1Bad68Cat · #1 12-02-2020, 01:44 PM

Hi everyone,

Need some insight/recommendations. My setup: 66 c10 with 2012 CTS-V brakes front and rear, hydroboost from an Astro Van, and Corvette 1-1/8" bore master. I was doing some maintenance/suspension work and noticed that the caliper pistons/pads have retracted from the rotor approximately 1/8" on each side of each rotor. I pump the brakes to reseat, but later in the evening I saw that the pistons/pads had retracted again. This may explain the not so great pedal first thing in the morning when leaving the house for work. This has been going on for some time but didn't think much of it because brakes always felt good after pumping them in the morning. Does anyone know if the cast iron corvette masters come with residual valves? Would it be a good idea to install 2lb residual valves to prevent the pistons from retracting? What other parts should I look at to prevent this? Appreciate any help I could get.

**Hydratech®** · #2 03-27-2021, 12:53 AM

I apologize for the late response, as I saw this post a while back and meant to reply... I have seen this before in various caliper designs, especially the late model designs with square cut caliper piston seals. These are indeed actually designed to grip the caliper piston enough to purposely retract the pistons after brake apply to increase fuel economy. Obviously they are not designed to retract the pistons as much as you are describing. Your case seems to be a scenario where the pistons are too dry on the outside of the seals, causing the seals to not allow the pistons to slide as freely as they should. The easiest solution would be to remove your wheels and then force the caliper pistons back into the calipers as far as they will go. Be careful to only do one wheel at a time, as you will likely overflow the MC reservoirs if you do all at one time. Pushing the pistons back in as far as they will go will get the pistons wet with brake fluid in the areas that are currently too dry. Once you pump the pedal back up, the pistons will push back out to where they previously were against the brake pads. Doing this procedure will ever so lightly lubricate the pistons and the seals just enough to prevent them from over retracting as much as you are describing. This should take care of it.

I did have one stubborn case (never fails), which was so crabby that I had to very carefully extend the pistons outward (with the calipers removed from the rotor) with a helper listening very carefully to my instruction as to how much to VERY SLOWLY AND CAREFULLY apply the brakes - emphasis on not wanting to blow a caliper piston out of its bore. I estimated how much I dared to extend the pistons outward (brake pads removed), using an appropriately sized piece of wood to act as an estimated piston stop (this will vary from caliper to caliper so be careful). I managed to get the pistons out pretty far without actually popping them out of their bores, then used a pick to pull back the dust boots and then inserted the tip of a silicone spray can straw in there and shot in the smallest squirt I could muster. I repeated that procedure with every caliper piston to be sure, front and rear, and then was greeted with perfect results after re-assembly. The results were spot on, as the caliper pistons slid right back in almost by hand! I was initially a little concerned about the propellant of the silicone spray possibly acting upon the dust boots to cause swelling, but it did not affect them one bit, even after rechecking a week later (had the customer stop back in for a double check to be sure). He reported back that his condition, same as yours, was completely cured, brakes being rock solid at all times no matter how long or short the car sat.

If you have already done something to correct your problem, let us know what you did and how it may have worked out for you. If you haven't solved the problem yet, give my methods a try and report back as to how it goes. There should be no reason to have to plumb in residual pressure valves...

1Bad68Cat · #3 04-15-2021, 01:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hydratech®

I apologize for the late response, as I saw this post a while back and meant to reply... I have seen this before in various caliper designs, especially the late model designs with square cut caliper piston seals. These are indeed actually designed to grip the caliper piston enough to purposely retract the pistons after brake apply to increase fuel economy. Obviously they are not designed to retract the pistons as much as you are describing. Your case seems to be a scenario where the pistons are too dry on the outside of the seals, causing the seals to not allow the pistons to slide as freely as they should. The easiest solution would be to remove your wheels and then force the caliper pistons back into the calipers as far as they will go. Be careful to only do one wheel at a time, as you will likely overflow the MC reservoirs if you do all at one time. Pushing the pistons back in as far as they will go will get the pistons wet with brake fluid in the areas that are currently too dry. Once you pump the pedal back up, the pistons will push back out to where they previously were against the brake pads. Doing this procedure will ever so lightly lubricate the pistons and the seals just enough to prevent them from over retracting as much as you are describing. This should take care of it.

I did have one stubborn case (never fails), which was so crabby that I had to very carefully extend the pistons outward (with the calipers removed from the rotor) with a helper listening very carefully to my instruction as to how much to VERY SLOWLY AND CAREFULLY apply the brakes - emphasis on not wanting to blow a caliper piston out of its bore. I estimated how much I dared to extend the pistons outward (brake pads removed), using an appropriately sized piece of wood to act as an estimated piston stop (this will vary from caliper to caliper so be careful). I managed to get the pistons out pretty far without actually popping them out of their bores, then used a pick to pull back the dust boots and then inserted the tip of a silicone spray can straw in there and shot in the smallest squirt I could muster. I repeated that procedure with every caliper piston to be sure, front and rear, and then was greeted with perfect results after re-assembly. The results were spot on, as the caliper pistons slid right back in almost by hand! I was initially a little concerned about the propellant of the silicone spray possibly acting upon the dust boots to cause swelling, but it did not affect them one bit, even after rechecking a week later (had the customer stop back in for a double check to be sure). He reported back that his condition, same as yours, was completely cured, brakes being rock solid at all times no matter how long or short the car sat.

If you have already done something to correct your problem, let us know what you did and how it may have worked out for you. If you haven't solved the problem yet, give my methods a try and report back as to how it goes. There should be no reason to have to plumb in residual pressure valves...

Thanks Paul. I'll give your suggestion a shot when I get the truck back from my brother. It may not be retracting anymore because he replaced the brakes while he has it.

**Hydratech®** · #4 04-27-2021, 10:38 PM

If your brother did the brakes while he had it, the caliper pistons had to be pushed back in to accommodate the fresh pads, which has exposed them to brake fluid (pistons lubricated with brake fluid while pushed in). I'll bet the problem has cleared up now as a result. Let us know at some point to satisfy our curiosities.