Front Brake Caliper Repair Problem.

JUSTIN FREED

MEMBER
SUBARU

A friend gave my son a car - one that had been sitting out on the south 40 for the last 2-3 years. As part of the cleanup efforts we took off the front discs and had them turned.

The problem is now trying to put the caliper back on after installing new pads. It does NOT fit.

And, I have tried like crazy to retract the piston but it just won't go. At first, I thought maybe there was corrosion or something preventing it from recessing all the way so, I went over to the other side but SAME THING!

This car is an 83 GL coupe, FWD, 1.8L, nonturbo. Seems like the Emergency Brake mechanism works thru the front brakes on this.

I've never worked on Subarus and don't currently have any tech manuals etc. So it's just guess work for me right now.

Any Ideas? Thanks in advance.

3 Replies

MERLIN2021

MECHANIC
17,250 POSTS

83 Subaru? You must remove the pads, and using a special caliper tool that has the right size adapter for the piston, screw the piston in until the pads fit! And you must align the notches on the piston with the tab on the pads... You also want to watch that the dust boot does not twist and tear! gently pull it to position it!