Why do my pistons need screwing?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Deleted member 33931
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Isitreally said:
I give up.

Please never do brake on anybody's vehicle.
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Don't be a kn#b. You said the handbrake adjusts the pistons. If that were the case you would use it to adjust the pistons after a refit. The hydraulics is a closed system so any retraction or expansion of the pistons would cause the fluid to move accordingly. I've said that I'll check at the garage when I get back which I will do but in the meantime your comment about me working on my cars is unwarranted and rude. Oh, I still haven't found a ratchet in a piston. Genuinely happy to be shown otherwise and want to learn more as I've also said so you don't need to be offensive about it.
 
WillyEckerslike said:
Don't be a kn#b. You said the handbrake adjusts the pistons. If that were the case you would use it to adjust the pistons after a refit. The hydraulics is a closed system so any retraction or expansion of the pistons would cause the fluid to move accordingly. I've said that I'll check at the garage when I get back which I will do but in the meantime your comment about me working on my cars is unwarranted and rude. Oh, I still haven't found a ratchet in a piston. Genuinely happy to be shown otherwise and want to learn more as I've also said so you don't need to be offensive about it.
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Sorry unwarranted remark by myself.

Have a read of this, American I know but the same principle.

http://techtalk.mpbrakes.com/how-to-series/rear-brake-caliper-adjustment
 
Isitreally said:
Also on that vid he even says the handbrake adjusts on the pin.

The piston doesn't turn in its operation so what turns the pin?? yes the handbrake movement.
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That's another point I wondered about, and I'm sure you are right - the piston doesn't rotate even in teeny tiny increments in normal use. It doesn't make sense to me for it to be rotating against the back of the pad in use.
 
Isitreally said:
The only adjustment needed is to the handbrake the hydraulics are just that, there's no adjustment to the foot brake on a system where the handbrake is independent.

It's the same on drum brakes, the wheel cylinder pushes the shoes out to the drum, the handbrake adjusts them so they stay close to the drum, so when the handbrake is applied there's not lots of free play.
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Not the case on my Cortina (kit) - it's the footbrake that moves the auto-adjuster. The hand brake just levers the shoes a bit closer when parked.

I think that, even on modern systems, it's the foot brake that constantly adjusts to compensate for wear - the piston O rings have that amount of springiness in them to do this. But, in the case of 'our' parking callipers, the piston also pulls that insert out with it, and the insert spirals out on the threaded rod each time to maintain the correct spacing.

The hand brake on the Citroen doesn't need 'adjusting' as such - yes it needs to be set at the right length so that it pulls on the calliper lever without any slack, but that's it. All it does from then on is to pull that calliper lever a quarter-turn (or so) to give that threaded rod that wee part-turn to push the piston out the necessary amount.

As far as I understand, that threaded rod itself does not ever fully rotate, but 'oscillates' in these quarter-turn parking movements.

Ergo, I think it's the foot brake that adjusts the brakes, and 'sets' them with newly fitted pads.
 
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