front brake will not open...

Ok guys, I just had the front wheel off and the brake handle got pulled while the rotors were not in the calipers. The brake pads are pressed together and will not open up. The two pistons are all the way out and will not easily push in, I do not want to force it and break it. Also the handlebars were not upright when the handle was pulled, so i am thinking that air might have gotten in and is not letting it open??? what do I need to do to fix this??
Do I need to just drain the fluid and press them out and put the wheel in then refill and bleed????

Thanks

 

I would try to pry them apart using a large flat head screw driver. It is worth a shot.

 

+1 thats a good idea, and you could also remove the pads and pry against the pistons

 

You must have "little fingers" in your house. I feel your pain!
Sounds like you have mechanical skills since you have remove the front wheel so if you feel comfortable try this:
1) Is there brake fluid leaking from the caliper pistons? If there is no fluid the pistons did not come all of the way out.
2) Open the brake fluid reservoir and check if the fluid covers the hole in the bottom. Consider the position the handle bar was in when the lever was squeezed, if the hole is not uncovered while moving the handle bars then you are in good shape!
3) If there is no fluid leaking from the caliper and the hole was not uncovered you should not have to bleed the brakes. This is my opinion, and I recommend testing the lever feel before riding the bike after the rest of this process.
4) assuming 1 and 2 are good check that the pistons look square to the pads. They should be since there is no leakage.
5) Use brake parts cleaner to clean the pistons of any grit or debris. (You do not want to get debris into your piston seals, I did once and had to rebuild the calipers. So dont skip this.) Be careful with the cleaner it is an agressive cleaner, don't get it on the painted parts.
6) Use a c-clamp to sqeeze the pistons back into the caliper. One foot of the c-clamp on the brake pad and the other on the back of the caliper. It will take some pressure to push the pistons back in but don't go to fast or crank down on it, you need to give the fluid time flow back though the master cylinder.
7) Voila! put the wheel back on!

I know it may not sound easy but I HATE bleeding brakes.

 

PRYING can easily damage brake pads; instead, open bleed screw and use a large C-clamp as cooper mentioned --or even better, one clamp over each piston-- or a large slip-joint pliers to gradually force pistons back.

If your brake fluid is more than 2-3 years old, it needs changing anyway.

 

Yep, (4) 4" C-clamps worked wonders when I was working on my front brakes and when I rebuild them soon they will help again.

 

ok guys I got it fixed... here is what I did in case anyone ever needs it...
1. Drain all the fluid from the brakes
2. take the brakes off of fork
3.take off the brake pads and all the hardware that holds them on off
4. remove the brake line
5 I then put them in a soft grip vice and pushed them back in
6. reassmble/refill with fluid and bleed the brakes.

I did this and it worked for me, taking them completely off might have been the long way around but I wanted to clean them good anyways
only thing is that it seems like there is still some air left in the system as they feel alittle spongy... I bled them like any normal vehical, is there a trick to this to get all the air out? any places it hides when fluid is completely drained???

Thanks

 

AIR bubbles collect in places higher than the 2 end-points of the system; sometimes it helps to remove the caliper from the fork, hold it UP and bleed.

 

Make sure after your test ride that the caliper is releasing and not causing brake drag. Since you couldn't compress the caliper pistons while assembled but you could once removing it from the system, it makes me wonder if the brake hose may be clogged, just my two cents.

 

Thanks for the advice!!!! While I had the front end off the ground I could easily spin the tire with the brake release(tried it after applying brakes some too). You can hear a slight scrubbing but nothing to slow down the wheel. I will probably replace the lines with new braided ones anyways for that added stiffness!!!

 

SLIGHT brake drag is NORMAL !!

 

Thanks!!!! I was hoping it was the same with road bikes as dirtbikes, I have been lucky enough to be around off road bikes most life and learn a few things along the way. Some of it transfers over to road, and some doesnt...