Problem with Big Red rear caliper kit Piston (missing wind back threads)??

[MrCube182]

I recently refurbished my rear caliper using a Big Red kit which got the sliders moving perfectly.
After the refurbishment, the handbrake cable doesn't fully lock the wheel on that side...
I left the handbrake cable attached whilst installing the Big Red kit because it was stuck in there.

Looking at the replacement piston, it appeared to lack the threaded mechanism that the original ones have which enables them to be wound back.
Is this anything to do with the handbrake not engaging on that caliper??

 

[Iain89]

You have any joy with this I've just used the bigg red kit on mine but haven't refitted to car yet

 

[Dr HMS Derv Destroyer]

Did you pump the brake pedal first and bleed before trying the handbrake ?

 

[MrCube182]

You have any joy with this I've just used the bigg red kit on mine but haven't refitted to car yet

I've used the big red kit on a front caliper (182 cup) and it works perfectly, nothing to suspect the kit isn't perfectly good there. Only trouble I've had is with the rear calipers - the original piston has a sort of thread in the centre which goes with a threaded stub in the caliper which lets you wind the piston back in. You DEFINITELY lose the ability to wind the piston back with the big red kit on the rears, and the only option is to push it back in. Still to find out whether handbrake has been affected...not heard anyone have the same complaint so I might have a seized handbrake mechanism in the caliper.

 

[Iain89]

I did notice tht when I fitted mine keep us updated dnt wanna go fit to car to strip it down again lol

 

[MrCube182]

Did you pump the brake pedal first and bleed before trying the handbrake ?

Yup bled the brakes and pumped the pedal...thinking a new caliper might solve it...I'll let you know!

 

[Dr HMS Derv Destroyer]

Have had a similar problem with this before , same caliper is used on a few Peugeots , but slight differnt handbrake mechs

If the old Pistons weren't that bad on the skirts ( side that contact with the seal) I usually clean them up with some emery cloth and use the new seal kit. Not had a problem yet.

 

[MrCube182]

Have had a similar problem with this before , same caliper is used on a few Peugeots , but slight differnt handbrake mechs

If the old Pistons weren't that bad on the skirts ( side that contact with the seal) I usually clean them up with some emery cloth and use the new seal kit. Not had a problem yet.

The original piston was fine below the seal as well...I should have compared the parts and kept the old piston and just changed the seals ...derp. Hoping that a new rear caliper will solve it (second hand...will probably need to be refurbed AGAIN :/

 

[Iain89]

Turns out ur meant to remove the circlip and mechanism out ur old piston and put it in the new one which is handy because I threw the old one out lol

 

[MrCube182]

Ahh that makes sense. They definitely need to put a note in the kits because I had not heard this anywhere! The brake pedal doesn't fully stop the wheel either without the mechanism in place (assuming I don't have an issue in the lines or elsewhere). When I get the new caliper I'll just pop out the piston and put it in the old caliper since everything else in there is brand new. Hopefully this gets it going again!

 

[MrCube182]

Just an update - I got hold of a second hand caliper and took the piston out of it which had the threaded mechanism in and popped it into my otherwise nicely refurbished caliper and problem solved. Interesting that the handbrake AND hydraulic brake stop working without that bit inside the piston. To anyone using a big red kit on the rear calipers, don't forget to swap over the bits inside the piston to the new one otherwise the caliper won't work at all.
Cheers for the help on this