So decided to do my brakes with a friend. Turns out is was a lot harder than we thought. For starts we thought you had to use a c-clamp to press the piston down turns out u just twist it with a wrench. Second There is a black spring that we took out which was the biggest mistake of all because now we cannot get it back on. Third, we mistakenly took all the wires and what not off the caliper not knowing that they were part of the ABS system now i have air in my system and have to bleed it out. Fourth, Its overall been a shitty project. This is for the rear. Anyone who can help at all would be nice.

 

The spring is a bitch. I took it off when I had to install my rlca since I needed to disconnect the parking brake cable and that made the install go from 4pm-11pm ans still, the one spring couldn't go back on so I had to take it to a dealer. Basically, you need massive Channel-Locks to compress it enough to put them back on. As for the piston, you need a tool that fits into the notches and then you hook it up to a socket wrench and just turn until it's compressed. And what wires on the calipers? There's only the brake hoses. Are you refering to those? If so, don't worry and just bleed the brakes. Get a bleeder kit from Sears to make your life easier and less messy and bleed until the bubbles are gone. It's also a good time to flush the old brake fluid out w/ new stuff since the bleeding process basically does it.

 

so none of the hoses is part of the abs? Also It says to not unplug the banjo bolt unless you plan on replacing the calipers.

 

Also for the piston i just used a wrench and it loosened and if you hit it with air somehow magically the piston pop outs even though it has threads. I was amazed by that.

 

Well, the ABS system is part of the brake system but you didn't really mess w/ it unless you let your master cylinder drain dry. Also, the way you reset the caliper is probably more difficult than using the tool I talked about so for next time, do yourself a favor and buy one, they're cheap so there's no excuses. For next time, make sure you read up before you attempt something so that something like this doesn't happen again.

 

Lol the master cylinder was empty when i looked at it.

 

put this in the "lesson learned" folder. fill the master cylinder up and let it gravity bleed, then bleed it a ton. might as well go to autozone and get a quart or two of their cheapie brake fluid. i cant be much help with the spring because i havnt done the rear disk to my fox yet. if it was connected before, it needs to be connected now. ford pay to put things on a million cars they dont need too.

 

The spring is there to release the parking brake so it needs to be there. Also, since the MC was empty, you are now in a world of hurt. Bench bleed it (you'll see bleeder screws on the MC) and then bleed it at the calipers. You better hope that air didn't get into the ABS solenoids otherwise you'll need a mechanic to bleed them.

 

first thing first.. don't panic.

now, the little black spring is for the ebrake. It's a bitch, no way around that. Proper application of pliers and screwdrivers and bloody knuckles will get it where it belongs. Make sure you deactivate the parking brake or it's impossible to get the cable back on.

the rear piston should be compressed with a little 3 dollar tool. You can get it at your local auto parts crap box. It's about 1 cubic inch, cube shaped and has a bunch of little spuds sticking out of the corners in various shapes. You'll probably have to take a file to it to get it to work as they're poorly cast. You use it in concert with a ratchet. Keep the caliper connected to the bracket and push and turn clockwise. This usually bloodies a couple knuckes too.

If your master cylinder is empty there's air front to back. So starting at the MC, bleed it. Pump the brakes until you stop getting air from the bleeder screws on the inside of the MC. Now move to the passenger side rear and bleed that one, driver side rear, passenger side front, driver side front.

Because you're bleeding the whole system (you should spend a little extra fluid on the caliper bleeds) the ABS should have no bubbles in it. It's always worked for me.