Rear break caliper retraction problem, both sides.

Sam, Thanks a lot for responding to my question. Yep, the dust boot was intact and in perfect condition. After a couple hours of internet searching and finding out nothing new, I went back to try and figure it out. I too thought that opening a bleeder may cure the problem but it did not. Of course it let air in the line which I had to bleed out at the end. My rear calipers have a mechanical, spring return device on the back side which mechanically pushes the piston out to activate the emergency break. I disconnected the cable and manually operated the mechanism with a pair of channel locks. I could see that the piston would move out and back in about 3/16 of an inch when I did this. After doing that I tried the "C" clamp again. Much to my surprise the piston started to retract slowly into the caliper, but here's the catch... As I tightened the clamp the piston turned as it retracted, as if it was screwing back in. The other side did the same thing, but only after I manually worked the parking brake gizmo on that side too. I'm presuming that a turning motion during retraction is required to retract the piston, at least on the rear calipers anyway? The fronts did not do this at all! I'm not a pro but I do like to do minor to medium sized repairs on cars for family and friends and have done quite a few brake jobs on a variety of cars, but I have never come across a situation like this. Just glad it was on my own car and not somebody else's! Anyway, thanks again for the reply and advice!!! Rick Savin "rgsavin@gmail.com"