Broke part of a brake? Uh-oh?

[SRT-11]

am I up poop creek?

when I was compressing the pistons with a flathead, that one was being stubborn and I cracked a tiny shard of the outside of it off. is the piston going to shatter or am I probably ok?

 

[Django]

I never work on my own cars.......... I have way too many issues......

Someone here surely knows............

Good luck....

D

 

[2ndchance]

OUCH!! SORRY TO SEE/HEAR THAT.....WISH I COULD HELP YA OUT ON THIS ONE......GOOD LUCK!

 

[Texas Yellow Fever]

It's hard to see enough in the picture, but my take on it is, you're OK if there are no other cracks etc.

 

[VIPR PWR]

replace the piston if you can get one,,,if not replace the caliper ---better safe than sorry

 

[SRT-11]

God bless you guys, I was so scared!!!

can you take a piston out? that would be awesome if I could just replace one of them instead of dicking with the whole caliper...

 

[Silverback]

Replace it, it's not worth the risk.

When you chip something, the sharp edges become stress risers. It may be something, or it may not.

If it cracks and causes total loss of braking on that circuit, you have lost one front, and one rear brake. Depending on the conditions it could really ruin your day.

There is a nice little tool that you can buy, under $10.00 if I remember right that allows you to compress the pistons without any damage. Next time you might want to invest in one.

 

[Kevan]

There is a nice little tool that you can buy, under $10.00 if I remember right that allows you to compress the pistons without any damage. Next time you might want to invest in one.

It's called a C-Clamp.

 

[Azmotorhead]

Pistons are available from Dodge.
But it looks as though you just chipped the outer edge. No Big deal REALLY
These piston are composite over a steel shell. If it starts to seep fluid then replace it the edge you chipped just goes back to the groove to retain the seal.
I've rebuilt several of these calipers & getting that piston out is alot trickier than you think

 

[SRT-11]

Pistons are available from Dodge.
But it looks as though you just chipped the outer edge. No Big deal REALLY
These piston are composite over a steel shell. If it starts to seep fluid then replace it the edge you chipped just goes back to the groove to retain the seal.
I've rebuilt several of these calipers & getting that piston out is alot trickier than you think

can you do it without draining the caliper? cuz if not I'm taking my chances!

 

[Prof]

If it is a rear caliper leave it...if it is a front caliper, replace.

 

[sleeper]

You drive a performance vehicle. Do not take any chances. Buy a new or rebuilt caliber and have no more worries.

 

[bub180jp]

Just go to Dogde and pick up a new piston for it. They aren't that hard to replace take the clip holding the rubber seal off and shoot the bleeder valve with some high pressure air till the piston comes out all the way slide the new one in put the rubber seal back on and the clip that holds the seal on now just bleed the brakes.

 

[Azmotorhead]

shoot the bleeder valve with some high pressure air

Yeah ask the neighbor around the block how he likes his new front window I had to buy
If you havn't done this before be careful!! You'll probably have to split the caliper. Then use Low pressure shop air. clamp the good piston down so it wont come out of the bore. Point piston away from you when appying shop air.
If you're close to me I'll do it for you.

 

[bub180jp]

Yeah ask the neighbor around the block how he likes his new front window I had to buy
If you havn't done this before be careful!! You'll probably have to split the caliper. Then use Low pressure shop air. clamp the good piston down so it wont come out of the bore. Point piston away from you when appying shop air.
If you're close to me I'll do it for you.

Just wrap a towel around it loosely to act like a bag to catch it in and you should be alright.

 

[SRT-11]

how about I put some epoxy in the chip, and if keep an eye on it every day for a couple weeks?

 

[RedSrt007]

I cant even tell...its sitting on the back of the pad, which is aligned in the caliper housing anyways....No biggy. I cant tell you what to do, but I would slap that doggy back in and be done with it.

-Red

 

[RedRamRules]

You should not worry, Ive seen brakes with the pistons decimated and still working on 1-ton trucks and vans. The only time I would change is if there are leaks coming from the seal, otherwise a few dings wont hurt.

 

[SRT-11]

sweet. thanks guys!!

 

[DZeckhausen]

If you decide to tackle rebuilding the caliper, you may want to read through this procedure first, to see what you're getting into: http://www.apracing.com/roadcar/caliper/calservice1.htm

The portion of the piston you chewed up with the screwdriver is on the outside of the dust boot and won't come anywhere near the pressure seal located inside the caliper piston bore. I've seen pistons chewed up far worse than this, from trying to extract a stubborn one that won't pop out with compressed air. This is not going to result in total piston failure.

That being said, you probably want to find a different way to compress your pistons in the future, other than using a pry bar or a large screwdriver. You don't want to apply too much sideways force to the piston, causing it to gouge or score the inside walls of the caliper piston bore. If that happens, you may start to weep brake fluid past the pressure seal and then you're buying yourself an expensive new caliper.

A few folks have mentioned C-clamps. Those work OK and will help you compress pistons one at a time. There are also fancy tools, like the one pictured below, that you simply insert into the top of the caliper and squeeze (while the pads are still installed). The pads are pushed apart and they, in turn, push all the pistons back in at the same time. It's quick and easy. Worth getting if you're doing lots of brake work. For a single pad change, I would probably go with the C-clamp method. Not as sexy, but far cheaper.

Pad and piston spreader tool

Using spreader tool to change pads in my SRT8​