Well I've replaced both front pads, but can't get the rear disc brake pads in. I had to put the old rear pads back in because the new ones were too thick and would not clear the rotor.

The front brakes were easy to compress with a small block of wood and a C-clamp. I tried compressing the rear brakes in a similar way, but the brake piston won't budge. Any suggestions short of taking it into a shop? Is there a special tool to compress the rear brake piston?

Thanks,

Mike DIY'er in Denver

Had to quickly put the old pads back in as it started to storm. My 'outside' garage is curbside on the street in front of my house. We have a winter storm watch for Friday night and Saturday that I was trying to beat.

 

well not sure about disc brakes for the rear on a civic but other rear disc brakes they need a tool to screw them down instead of just compressing the piston. but i havent seen rear discs on a civic in person.
but the tool i have used on my dads old cutless was like a square cube that had different size nipples on it that went into endents on the piston and a simply ratchet to turn it down.

 

Thanks Action2Bass.
The piston on the front ends in the round metal ring. The piston in the back ends in a round-squarish metal peg. A picture is attached which I got from http://www.tegger.com/hondafaq/rustybrakes/brakes3.html The brake pad in the guys thumb gets turned around 180 degrees so that the pin fits in the groove.

It seems something like the square peg you described on your dad's Cutlass, maybe there is a special squarish tool kind of like the one you remembered.
Somehow there may be some kind of racheting mechanism that sets the brake pad distance because of the emergency brake, so that may be why the piston won't compress readily like the front brake piston does. There must be some kind of release somewhere that would allow the piston to compress. I had completely removed the rear brake assembly after taking off the emergency brake cable.

 

I just reread that tegger website again where I got the picture. I think it answered my question, but will have to wait until next Friday, weather permitting to test it out. It just says to use a big screwdriver set in the metal piston groove and turn it clockwise to compress the piston.

 

yep its something like that....
i think that part is really cheap at autozone. it just looks like a square block. and the block has several different sizes for different model brakes so it should work.

the large screw driver i guess would work fine but the real tool should be cheap

 

a chisel works good for turning the piston because it's like a really wide flathead screwdriver.

but yea, you just turn the piston clockwise until there's enough clearance for the pads and the disc.

 

Yep. Thanks, addiction2bass and trustdestruction. I used the claw side of a framing hammer to turn the piston clockwise to compress it. I also used my brother-in-laws garage to finish the brake job about an hour ago at 9:00pm. We're supposed to get 10"-12" of snow here in Denver tonight.