Gentlemen,

 

I've wrenched on cars for years and do my own repairs, and have done 100's of brake jobs

 

I'm about to trade up to a 2016 OBW LTD that has the newer Emergency Brake Actuators on the rear calipers, instead of the traditional brake shoes inside the disc rotors.

 

I have the FSM, but wanted to know how people have found these newer rear brake setups to repair and cleanup.

 

Gene

The main question is. Is there a motor on the caliper or does it have a cable that attached to the caliper.

 

If it has a motor. You're not supposed to do rear brakes without a scan tool.

 

If it has the cable. You have to turn the piston while pushing it in.

 

They make special kits/tools to do the job easiest. But its not 100% necessary.

golucky66,

 

Thanks for the reply. Much appreciated.

 

After several readings of the FSM it comes to light that rear brake work should not be performed without the Subaru Select Monitor. I assume that the computer, in Brake Maintenance Mode, must lock out the emergency brake motor, because the next step is to disconnect the battery negative cable (to keep the motor from moving the piston in the caliper?), and then do a normal brake removal/replace.

 

I guess the days of doing your own rear brakes are over for DIYer's, as well as brake upgrades.

When you put the parking brake in maintenance mode, it fully retracts the motor/screw that's behind the piston. So the technician can push in the caliper and wala.

 

There is a back yard mechanic way of doing it. But its really really not recommended.

there's a thread at subaruoutback.org about FreeSSM. Those guys may know if there's a DIY work-around for recent gen rear brake work.