Help!! Rear caliper piston retraction.

[Barry]

In an effort to get a shiny new MoT for the weekend, I'm trying to get some rear handbrake action. N/S is all sorted courtesy of removing the handbrake cable, freeing it and the hanbrake lever: fine.

The O/S is less simple. Again the cable wasn't very good, so that's now sorted, the pads are now free in the caliper. The problem I've got, is that the piston won't retract properly. I realise there's meant to be a 4mm allen screw that is meant to adjusted to set the pad clearance, but this and the 'plug' it must mount in appear to be missing (all that's there is a fine female thread roughly 8mm across ).

So have I got a slightly different caliper, or is it simply missing the adjuster? If that's the case, why doesn't the piston retract?

Any thoughts?

[Gilbert '71 T]

Hi Barry,
The caliper could have been adjusted already, and without a cap over the end (that 8mm female thread) the adjuster could have popped out, this happened to me whilst i was faffing around with my 914 rear calipers, the adjuster is a splined piece is 10-15mm long with 13 splines and fits inside that 8mm hole a bit further in from the thread, if you've got a 8mm 13 splines tool you could retract the caliper with that???
Hope this helps, if not I have an adjusting bit here, i left you a phone message

[Robster]

Hi Barry,

Darren is spot on. Do check that you are turning the adjuster the correct way - I believe one of the calipers has a 'reverse' thread, so it may be you are turning the adjuster the wrong way. If the adjuster was missing, you would have lost all your brake fluid!

there is a good article on the pelican parts website about adjusting the rear brakes.

Key thing is to adjust the 'venting' clearance (pad to disc clearance) with the hand brake cables disconnected. When you have done that then connect the hanbrake cables and adjust the cable so that the levers on the calipers just start to move off their stops.

Best of luck,
Robster

[Barry]

Thanks Rob and Darren.

Darren, you were bang on: after taking the caliper off again after talking to you, and upon Rob's advice, checking out Pelican, the adjuster really was missing. It was only when I really rummaged through all of the muck ( ) I could just see the edge of whatever the adjuster engages with.

I ground a flat screwdriver so that it would just fit, and wound the piston back a fraction. It seems to have done the trick: with the cables freed off nicely at last, and all adjusted, I seem to have a reliable (for now) hand and foot brake that releases well on both sides. Lets hope the MoT man agrees .

Thanks again, chaps, very much appreciate your help: I was lost on this one, so without the firm evidence of what should have been there, I would have been in trouble .