Hydraulic brake pad replacement, bike

JonJ678 · 1 Oct 2009 at 20:02

I've done something pretty stupid and am now at a loss. Took wheel off, took pads out. Discovered they weren't worn out after all, and just needed aligning. I realise now that I didn't need to remove them to discover this.

However I squeezed the lever while the pads were out, and the jaws of the device have closed by about 4mm. I now can't get the pads back on, or separate the jaws. Do I really need to drain the damned thing, or should I just be rougher with a screwdriver/pliers?

Cheers

(avid juicy 3, for difference this makes)

ichabod crane · 1 Oct 2009 at 20:06

have you got the red spacers that come with the brakes? You can just push that in to separate the pads. Or get a thin piece of wood and use that

JonJ678 · 1 Oct 2009 at 20:08

Can't find any spacers, the brakes came attached to a bike so it's not that surprising to have accessories missing. I take it that means I can force it then

Shall find some wood, cheers

ichabod crane · 1 Oct 2009 at 20:16

you could use the screw driver but need to be careful not to mark anything.

SDK^ · 1 Oct 2009 at 21:15

Just get a large flathead screwdriver and push the pistons back in.

lee32uk · 2 Oct 2009 at 02:45

JonJ678 said:
I've done something pretty stupid and am now at a loss. Took wheel off, took pads out. Discovered they weren't worn out after all, and just needed aligning. I realise now that I didn't need to remove them to discover this.

However I squeezed the lever while the pads were out, and the jaws of the device have closed by about 4mm. I now can't get the pads back on, or separate the jaws. Do I really need to drain the damned thing, or should I just be rougher with a screwdriver/pliers?

Cheers

(avid juicy 3, for difference this makes)

Possibly the worst brakes in the world

I have them on my MTB and I hate the damn things.

Burned_Alive · 2 Oct 2009 at 10:41

Just make sure you apply even pressure to the face of the piston so as not to rotate it (and jam it).