I'm changing out my brakes and the slug/piston looking thing on the front brake vibration damper broke off in the caliper. Any suggestions or better yet tricks on how to get it out?

 

No tricks...just use a putty knife and wedge it in there working it back and forth to separate the sticky backing.

 

a squirt of wd 40 might do some help or any other penetrating oil

 

Just use a simple thin metal drywall putty knife. $2 at your local hardware store if you don't have one. Once you separate the damper from the pad, remove the pad, then reach in and pull the damper out of the piston holes.

Some folks will reuse the dampers, some will get new ones every time. Some just don't use them at all after a pad change. That is your call really to decide. Once you've done a brake job, you can see how easy it is and you can decide to change the setup (old dampers, new, or none) if you think you want to.

Some also tie up the brake pad wear sensors out of the way so that they don't need to be dealt with in future brake jobs. Just check your pad depth often if you do this as there will be no dashboard warning for thin pads.

 

use a knife. i did that when changing pads on my 997.

 

they come off really easy. just pull on the cylinder... gives you a good grip on something to pull on. if it doesn't come off easily. pry on the edge a little with a knife while pulling on the cylinder. it'll peal right off.

 

i think he's saying the puck broke off in the piston. i've seen some who try to thread a screw into the bottom of the puck (and those holes actually look threaded, probably for just this reason) in order to then yank it out. but i'm not sure what is underneath/at the bottom of piston so be careful not to score or poke a hole in anything else.