2004 Hyundai Elantra GT - Piston in Caliper for rear brakes will not compress

I own a 2004 Hyundai Elantra GT. I was changing my rear brake pads
and could not get the piston to compress. I tried using a C-Clamp and
it would'nt budge. Do I need a special tool, is there a trick, what
am I missing?

 

wrote in 57g2000hsv.googlegroups.com:

I'm speaking from experience on other cars, but I believe the rear calipers
have pistons that need to be screwed in. There may or may not be a special
tool to do this on the Elantra. I'm sure HT will be along at some point to
give the exact answer.

Eric

 

You're exactly correct, Eric. There's a special tool to screw in the
caliper pistion. See the post by Deck below.

 

The below is HT's reply to an 03 Elantra posted on 7-19

"You won't need a special tool for the front.

The calipers that need to have the piston screwed back in are the ones
that have the parking brake assembly as part of the caliper. If you have
rear disc, you'll find such calipers on the rear of your car. I've heard
of people screwing them in without a special tool, but trust me, you'll be
much happier with the tool. There are a couple different types. Your
local Sears or parts supplier should be able to show you at least one type
of tool for this."

 

ARGH ! I'm too slow

 

Hi there, so last night I had to replace rear brake pads on my eleantra 1.8. I also did not know about screwing the piston back... With the sun setting on me I made a call to remove calliper and drive the piston back with a timber block and hammer... It was tough but they retracted... Could I have damaged them? How do I know?

Thanks...