ElectroMotive

Hello All,

Forgive my ignorance, out of frustration and anger I am here begging for some assistance regarding my brakes. I read up on the brakes in the manual, and I watched videos on YT, so I felt confident in changing my the rear brake pads on my 2017 F150 (FX4 2.7EB) equipped with EPB. Well, I screwed up. I figured this was like changing the pads on my 02 F150, no big deal.

I struggled to get the caliper off when I realized the EPB was on. So I disabled it. Caliper came off, old pads and brackets came off, new pads and brackets went on. But it all went down hill when I tried to compress the piston. It wouldnt go in at all. That's when I realized I had missed the step about putting the EPB in service mode.

I hopped back in and did EXACTLY how its described in various videos, now for lack of a better term, the piston is fully erect, and brake fluid is leaking around the rubber booty. When I put my C-clamp on, brake fluid squirts. I am at a loss. I dont know what to do at this point. So I am asking for assistance from any and every one.

Oh how I yearn for the days of the pulley PB....

tvsjr

You're supposed to enable the EPB service mode prior to service. You didn't, which means it forced the piston out. The service manual actually warns that attempting the removal procedure without putting it in service mode can result in serious personal injury when the EPB extends itself (crushing your fingers).

Unfortunately, I have no clue how to fix it. The service manual doesn't address that, short of replacing the entire EPB motor. That might be the first step... remove the motor itself, see if that frees the caliper up.

D2Abbott

The caliper piston has extended beyond its limit. In some cases it is possible to reassemble but at this point it sounds like you are going to need to replace the caliper as damage may have already occurred.

The caliper and electronic motor portion are sold separately.

ElectroMotive

Thanks for pretty much confirming what I had figured. On the brightside, it isnt an expensive OEM part. RockAuto has it in stock for $141 with a $50 core rebate, and I bet I can find a coupon code. I needed to replace the rotor too, some foreign debris on Dallas highways got between the pad and rotor and carved it up pretty good while I was doing some Uber work, so I might was well fix that too (outside rotor and pad are torn up, but all the other pads were I just figured I'd replace them all at once).

Helluva a way to learn a lesson, but I suppose it could be worse. My confidence and pride are taking an *** kicking right now, but worse hasnt come to worst.

ElectroMotive

Gee I wish my little '02 F150 FX4 ran....

Now I gotta use the RAV4, and there are few things more sad than a fat man in a small vehicle

tvsjr

On the plus side, you can replace the caliper and it'll still be cheaper than having a dealership do the brakes...

Napalm

word. and the motor removal I don't think is that difficult other than it uses those torx bits if you have them.

Sorry it happened but glad you didn't hurt yourself. It's still easy to get it back to working - oh and of course bleed your brakes again.

ElectroMotive

OK folks, an update. I got an OEM caliper from the local dealership, and it was a couple bucks more than RA, + tax. I installed it, everything went back together, that is until I put the brake line in. No bueno. I took it back, and a tech looked it over, noted the hole was way to shallow. So they ordered me another, and it came in today. They met me at the counter with a smile and told me why it was shallow. They forgot to tell me there was a hex head bolt down in the hole. Ah well, they gave me the new part anyways.

So I installed the newest caliper. I first attached the motor with a T30 head on my ratchet. Then I bolted on the whole caliber assembly. I pulled the hex bolt from the brake line port, and quickly attached the brake line. Then I tried to bleed the brakes. There was an issue. I had a good leak from the brake line bolt. I was using the two copper rings that came on my truck. I requested two new ones when I bought the caliper, which they happily supplied, but I noted they were much thicker than the ones that came on my truck. I quickly loosened the brake line bolt and put the new ones on, no more leaks while bleeding the brakes a second time.

Brake pedal feels pretty good. Piston is out and making contact with the interior pad. The truck stops quite well, and no grinding noises. Is good.


But there's a little something that is bugging me. During the last bleeding, I thought I heard plastic pop. I did. The EPB motor casing has separated a bit. Dont know why. Also, I cannot get the parking brake malfunction alert on the message board to go away. I am also getting another message saying to release parking brake. I have tried, but nothings doing.

Any advice?

D2Abbott

Assuming you didn't break something during the install, and it sounds like you might have.....

ElectroMotive

Thanks @D2Abbott , worked like a charm!