OK guys, think I mighta screwed up

I replaced the rotors and pads on a '96 sentra. All was going well I thought. I bled the brakes and thought it was all good.
Well after driving it around on errands I get out and can smell brakes coming from the driver's side front wheel.

Also, I posted that they were pulling and I only replaced one side's pads cause they were still good. Ok, so I went back and replaced the other side's pads like was told to. And checked to see why I was smelling burning brakes. Well, they were slightly dragging constantly. I didnt have any idea what to do at this point so we just took the car into Firestone.

So....he just calls and said that one of the pistons is cocked a little side ways. Says that happened when I compressed the piston to put the new pads in.... And that now it will never fully release and always drag a little and that I have to replace the calipers to solve that!

Question is....is this BS or am I screwed? What happens if I just leave it and drive on it?

Thanks for any help.

 

Er I cant rightly say, there's to many unknowns there

(im assuming they're full floating calipers here.) I'd suspect that you could take the piston out fairly easily and replace the lathe cut seal, which would be one of the few things I could think of that would cause the piston to not seat properly, and that itself is a minor issue... though it really depends.

Regardless you can buy fairly cheap caliper rebuild kits, though for what its worth remaned calipers usually cost about the same, and are professionally rebuilt.

 

If the piston got cocked in the caliper bore, it probably gouged the inside of the bore walls and cannot be repaired. It is best to replace the caliper as they are fairly cheap for a rebuilt one. A good tool to use when pushing the extended piston in is a large "C" clamp.

 

if it is a brake you worked on....then yes you screwed it up!

to keep this thirdgen related:

a C clamp is always good to have around. take the cover off of the fluid resevoir. I've used a prybar in between the pad and the disc...but using the C-clamp is the 'proper' way to do it.

the pads worn on one side was a good indicator that something was wrong with that caliper, it should have been replaced in the first place. ....but yea..you still screwed it up!

since it's a Nissan, you should just grap a caliper out of the bone yard instead of buying a new one. As long as it has brake fluid in it and sells lots cheaper than the re-man, it's good to go.

 

Alright thanks guys. Well, how bad is it to leave it be in the mean time? I guess what I'll do is replace the caliper. Oh, the guy at the shop said that both need to be replaced at one time even though only one was messed up, is this BS?

 

you usually change all brake parts in pairs. calipers you can get by sometimes if only one is bad and in your case you may want to do that because it went bad from incorrect installation not wear and tear so the other is still good most likely. do change the bad caliper asap tho, you dont want to ruin your rotor and new pads. you may have done so already.