Well, it seems the brake job I did for a friend is coming back around again. I don't recall any issues with pushing the pistons back in, but one caliper decided to give up the ghost and ate the pads. I cracked open the bleeder and tried to push the piston back in, and no go--it seems quite stuck.
Now I did the brakes about 3 months ago. The pads were shot then, metal on metal. Maybe while pushing the pistons back in, any crud that had been in there got sideways and is causing the piston to now stick? Maybe it's just a random failure? It's a phenolic piston, and a quick look seems to indicate that they fail more often.
Anyhow, I'll probably just mailorder a Raybestos but my question is, should I just shotgun the other side while I'm at it? I'm going to pull the other wheel and make sure it's not showing excessive pad wear. I'd like to order everything in one shot and knock the job out; I couldn't find a caliper locally, not on a Sunday.
I think I will reuse the rotor, mine usually look way worse. Bummed that we didn't diagnose a noise it had faster, I suspect the caliper failed right after I did the job.