So the rear brake pads on my wife’s 2017 Ford Escape SE needs new brake pads. I watched a few videos on youtube to see if there are any secrets that I needed to know and I see them done in 2 ways. The first way is to just change the pads and then use the brake caliper reset tool to turn/compress the pistons and the second is to put the vehicle in service mode to have the car retract/rewind the pistons for service. Now, on the second option, if the car does that for you, am I correct in the idea of you will not need the caliper tool since the car is doing the work for you or will I still need to spin/push the caliper back in? Thanks for the help.
Tester
Maintenance mode doesn’t retract the pistons so you can install new pads. You still need to manually compress the pistons.
Thanks for the response. The videos suggested the mode rewinds the pistons, but I wasn’t sure after watching the video. The person didn’t quite seem to have it all together.
Just a friendly comment… I get wanting to do this kind of work yourself, saving money, and all that.
But if you have any doubts at all about replacing the brake pads, etc. - take it to a mechanic. You don’t want to mess up your brakes.
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nevermind.
I don’t have doubts. I have been doing my own repairs/maintenance for the past 35+ years since my uncle and grandfather were both mechanics. I have done multiple brake jobs and have learned over the years that as these smart engineers make “improvements in technology,” there are also design changes or slight differences in how things work/are assembled. Case in point, these calipers with the rewind pistons. That’s why I decided to search the web to make sure there wasn’t anything different/special needed for this job. One of the videos suggested when you put the E brake in service mode, it rewound the piston. I don’t mean to sound like I am bashing you, and appreciate what you said, I just wanted you to see why some people ask questions. I haven’t kept up with things over the years, so I was just getting a “tech bulletin update”. Again, thanks for the concern, I just didn’t want anyone concerned about not feeling qualifed/comfortable in doing brakes.
diyer here, w/no escape experience, but from what I can see it is necessary to first set service mode (which I think only affects the electric parking brakes) then it is possible to position the caliper out of the way. It may require a special tool and some manual rotation of the pistons to retract them fully in order to make room for the new pads.
Due to the complexities & safety issues involved, suggest to not attempt this job yourself without either an experienced assistant who has done it before to show you the way, or alternatively, the full Ford recommended written service procedure you can carefully follow step by step.
The parking brake motor retracts the mechanism to apply the brakes, it does not actually retract the pistons. You still must push the pistons back. Be sure and crack the bleed screw when you push the piston back…makes it easier.
So, after doing the job and re-reading your post, if I understand correct, if you don’t set the service mode, you need to tool to retract the mechanism but still need to push the pistons, because I didn’t see where the tool helped other than to push the pistons back because the mechanism didn’t turn any
Yes you donset service mode, thats how you retract the apply mechanism. But there is nothing to pull the piston back so you may have to push it to get full retraction for the new pads.
Just to clarify, after you put it in service mode to retract the parking brake apply mechanism, THEN you need to use the proper tool to turn, while pushing, the hydraulic piston in so the pads will fit, if you just push the piston back in you will be buying new calipers anyway…
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