How to compress piston on 2008 Ford Taurus

Read this conversation from one of the user at out store :--------------

The rear disc brakes on my 2008 ford taurus use a caliper where the piston has to be turned as it is compressed to allow space for the new pads.

I tried doing it by hand with a needle nose pliers, but could not get enough leverage to turn and push in the piston at the same time. The notches in the piston that are used for leverage to turn it are not very big.

I bought a universal tool at the parts store that looks like a little cube with nubs on its. The nubs are supposed to fit the notches in the piston, and you use a 3/8" socket extension to push and turn it. However, I'm not sure the cheap tool will get a good grip on the notches in the piston, and I will need three hands to hold the caliper, turn the piston, and compress the piston all at the same time.

Is this the right method, or have I missed something? A standard C-clamp will not work, because there is no way to turn the piston as it is compressed.

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Answer:---

Yep Bruce, That's how you do it place the nubs in the holes and push done by hand while turning the piston in. Don't know if the tool you have can handle it or not but give it your best shot and don't get mad at it just take your time applying pressure and turning it will work. If not i have done it other ways but you try what you have first. Oh they do make a wrench with the nubs also.

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Second question :---

b4 I had the tool, I could do it with 1 person holding the caliper and 2 screw drivers.. tool does work and makes it faster, but still requires that second person.

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I bought the little cube tool with the nubs on it, and had to make some modifications. The surface with the right spacing had four nubs and I only needed two, so I ground off one diagonal pair. After that it could get a good grip on the two slots in the piston.

I then proceeded to break the piston loose and turn it with the tool - many times, and it did not seem to go in. I finally went back to the standard C-clamp, and found that as I turned the clamp screw it got a grip on the (now loose) piston face, and rotated the piston and pushed it in at the same time.

I think the best tool would be a C-clamp with the nub tool on the face of it so that it got a very good grip on the piston. This would allow you to turn the piston and put pressure on it at the same time. However, even the Ford tool shown in my shop manual seems to rely on hand pressure to push in the piston.

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Problem solved comment :---

I just finished my first brake job on my 2008 Mustang GT. I chose to purchase a special tool to rotate and push the rear caliper pistons on both the left and right rear calipers. The tool kit worked very well and is well worth the $45 from harbor freight. I did not know if the left side caliper (drivers side) would require a left hand thread. It did not. The tool kit includes both left and right hand threads. For $29 a right hand thread is all that is needed. I first purchased the little cube. This proved way too akward and required a third hand. (i tried duct tape to hold the caliper still). the tool kit from harbor freight sure made the brake job a lot easier. snap on wants over $200 for their kit and it doesn't include a left hand thread.

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