Well, thanks to me trolling the internet we figured out how to change out the rear pads on an 01 Elantra, disc brakes. Especially the 'twist the piston' part to get the pistons to back off, first time I ran across that.

However, after doing this it seems as if the rear brakes are not working nearly as well...the pedal is somewhat mushy. At no time were the bleeders opened or an nor an opportunity for air to work its way into the system occured. The pedal seems to do the classic 'pump and it gets better' symptom...the first application of the brakes goes about 1/2 to 3/4 way to the floor, but let up and push back down again and they have tightened up. Fluid level checks fine.

We have worked the ebrake lever several times in order to try and get the caliper piston to readjust, but that has not made a difference in the lack of stopping power. Seems as if only the fronts are working (which were replaced about 6 months ago)

My question is...is it possible to have backed off the piston so much that we should disassemble the calipers again and manually adjust them back out? Or, is there some wierd step that I am missing? I have a feeling we will need to disassemble everything again to see if the rear pistons are frozen...is this common?

I also noticed that the pads fit in awfully tight, unlike any other braking system I have worked on. And yes, they were the correct pads and a tiny bit of brake lube was applied to the ears.

 

I think that's your answer right there. I haven't changed my rears myself yet, but I've heard that sometimes the tabs are a little too big for the guides and they kind of bind up. You may need to take it all back apart an file the tabs just a little bit.

 

Sounds like a plan, hadn't thought of breaking out the file.

 

This is actually an interesting subject because I also ran into this problem!
I had never seen either, the type of piston adjusting as on the rear brake calipers of my Elantra. If out too much you can't fit the caliper back over the rotor (disk) again, and if too loose you end up with a mushy pedal. Could it be that there is a special tool provided to reach the piston while the caliper is installed on the rotor, allowing for adjustment of pads clearance? Yes the tabs were filed down and the pads are moving freely in the caliper.

Someone wrote on one of the forums that "Hyundai dealers sucks". I had my dealerinsisting on changing my brake pas after 15,000 miles while I went for another 15,000 before removing the original to notice they were yet only half worned out! This was unough to convince me I had to go back doing my own mechanical maintenance.

ger