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2011 kia optima caliper won't retract
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Parker1801
New User
Apr 28, 2014, 1:47 PM
Post #1 of 8
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2011 kia optima caliper won't retract
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This weekend my buddy brought his 2011 Kia Optima 4 cyl over to put some new pads on the Front brakes. We have never done brakes before but after a lot of online research thought we would give it a try.
Jacked up car, took off wheel, removed caliper, inserted new pads...everything was going great until we tried retracting the caliper.
Took off brake fluid cap. Used brake caliper retracting tool, and it wouldn't budge. Tried c clamp and it wouldn't move.. Opened bleeder and caliper still wouldn't move. We gave up. We thought a new caliper was needed.
We put the old pads back on and he took the car to a local garage. The mechanic said that some cars need to be hooked up to a computer
to unlock the brakes. He was very vague, but whatever he did the calipers opened.
Do we need a computer to unlock the front calipers? That doesn't sound right but I thought I would throw it to you guys to see if there was anything else we could have done.
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Hammer Time
Ultimate Carjunky
/ Moderator
Apr 28, 2014, 2:10 PM
Post #2 of 8
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Re: 2011 kia optima caliper won't retract
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There are some Volkswagon rear calipers that the parking brake portion is retracted electronically but not on this car and not on the front. Make sure you didn't have the caliper hanging, causing the hose to kink. That would prevent you from pushing the piston in.
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We offer help in answering questions, clarifying things or giving advice but we are not a substitute for an on-site inspection by a professional.
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Discretesignals
Ultimate Carjunky
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Apr 28, 2014, 2:10 PM
Post #3 of 8
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Re: 2011 kia optima caliper won't retract
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Must be that mechanic's first day on the job. The front calipers don't need to be unlocked using a scan tool or any of that. The caliper is obviously frozen and needs to be replaced. In fact both front calipers should be replaced.
Since we volunteer our time and knowledge, we ask for you to please follow up when a problem is resolved.
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Hammer Time
Ultimate Carjunky
/ Moderator
Apr 28, 2014, 2:48 PM
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Re: 2011 kia optima caliper won't retract
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I think you just need to leave the brake jobs to the professionals next time. There was nothing special about this brake job.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
We offer help in answering questions, clarifying things or giving advice but we are not a substitute for an on-site inspection by a professional.
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Discretesignals
Ultimate Carjunky
/ Moderator
Apr 28, 2014, 2:51 PM
Post #7 of 8
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Re: 2011 kia optima caliper won't retract
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How did the old pads look? Did they have uneven wear or did you have a brake pull? If you couldn't get the caliper's piston to retract using a C clamp, either it was froze up or your method of retraction was done improperly. Was it only one caliper that you couldn't get to retract?
As for leaving the ignition in ACC, that isn't necessary unless you want to unlock the steering wheel so you can turn the steering to get better access to the caliper.
Since we volunteer our time and knowledge, we ask for you to please follow up when a problem is resolved.
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Parker1801
New User
Apr 29, 2014, 8:27 AM
Post #8 of 8
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Re: 2011 kia optima caliper won't retract
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Hammertime, thank you for your opinion
Discretesignals, the old pads were worn all the way down. We couldn't get the one caliper retracted so never got to the other wheel. Not sure why that thing wouldn't retract. We must have been doing something wrong.
Thanks for everyone's feedback,
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