05 Rear Hawk Pads don't fit - Expertize needed.
 

Hi Everyone,

I drive an 05 coupe with sports tuned suspension. I also have Stoptech rotorts sa part of a Stage 2 upgrade. I had bought some HPS Hawk brake pads and i tried installing them. They are:

Front: HB387F-547
Rear: HB370F-559

As far as i can tell, every website recommends these for my model.

Now the front were fine. But the rears ended up being to thick. What I mean is that they fit just fine as far as shape is concerned but they were so thick that I could not put the top of the caliper back on.

Inside the rear top of the caliper, on the inside, there is a "ring" piston that is getting in the way.

Is there a way to get the caliper to slide back by pushing that piston in (but will that mean that I'll be braking all the time) or do I just need different thickness pads?

Thanks in advance for you help.

are you 100% sure the caliper piston is completely fully back? To get the PISTON in you have to screw it in. the fronts you just COMPRESS it straight but almost all rear pistons require screwing with needle nose or screw driver. they have a tool actually a couple of designs one is a dice like object.

Thanks Turtle,

I didn't do anything to the caliper piston. Just to be sure we are talking about the same thing, here is a pic of what I'm talking about (borrowed from Jay.Diem's DIY thread).

Basically, the piece in the yellow area is stiking out. I thought of compressing it with a C Clamp, moving the caliper back (like they do on this video from another thread: http://www.infinitihelp.com/diy/gsed..._procedure.htm at the 4 minutes & 45 seconds mark) but then I thought it would press against the pads constantly and "brake" all the time after I realse the C-Clamp. Haven't listened to the video because my computer speakers are busted.

If I understand what you are saying, there is a screw that would allow me to push it back in not not run into problems down the road? Where is that screw located?

Thanks man
Ollie

What you circled in the that pic is the caliper piston. You just need to compress it back so the new pads can fit in there. The piston isn't going to be constantly pressing on the pads because the piston won't compress further until you step on the brake pedal.

You don't need to turn the piston a special way to get it back in. And there's no special screw that you mess with or anything like that. Just take the cap off of the brake fluid resevoir in your engine bay and use your C-clamp and a piece of wood or your old brake pad in between the clamp and the piston to compress the piston evenly.

If the piston doesn't go down, you're either not strong enough or you have a stuck piston.

Yes, the rear caliper doesn't screw back in like other cars. Other cars have the P-brake built into the caliper. Our cars use a drum brake inside the rotor for the P-brake. So our rear caliper pistons retract just like the fronts.

^ whoops my bads on telling you to screw it back in. So used to doing brakes that just normally screw in. Yea the brake fluid cap is probaly your problem, with it closed it can have a good enough force to keep you from retracting the piston.

I had the same problem except for all 4 brakes, dealership told me I have a late model 05 so I need parts from 06, im like ok? aren't 05-06 identical? still confused about it, but finally got the right parts,

if they gave you parts for a 05x then it would be diffrent then a RWD 05-06

I love this site. Thanks guys.

- LMFOA :icon17::icon17:

I actually had my brake reservoir off but the piston was a little stuck with rust. I'll def try the C-clamp method. I think that will do the trick.

LEON NYC -- I know exactly what you went thru. Same here. Late model 05 as well and it took me 6 months to get the parts.

FOLLOW UP QUESTION: My brake pedal has been a little spongy for about a year or so. I brake fine but I have to push it pretty good for it to grip. Will changing my rear with thicker pads (OEM only have 2 mm left and the new ones have about 5mm) solve the problem?

In an old car I had, there was a pedal cable that would get weak and the pedal would feel spongy. Had the dealership "tighten" the cable and it was fine. Is this the same deal?

Thanks
Ollie

From what you're describing I don't think the new pads alone will solve the problem. My first guess would be that you have moisture in your brake fluid. How many miles do you have on that car? I would consider bleeding or even doing a brake fluid flush to try fix the problem first. And then after that go hit the bench or something you weakling. :p

Bert039 -- :icon17: :icon17: I just had the dealership do a complete brake fluid flush ($$$) last weekend hoping that it would take care of the problem since I suspected a bubble of air somewhere in the system but it didn't solve the problem.