I am in the midst of replacing the rear rotors and pads on my 2005 Honda Odyssey. The left rear changed out as per the Helm manual. The right rear, on the other hand, ran into trouble. When I used bolts to pop the rotor loose from the hub (again, per the instructions in the Helm manual), I found that when the rotor popped loose the hub locked up and I could not remove the rotor all the way from the hub.

After checking things out, I discovered that I somehow sheared off both parking brake tension pins. I'm guessing the parking brake pads are now pressed against the inside of the rotor. I cannot access the manual parking brake adjustment because the rotor is in the wrong position and will not rotate. I have confirmed that the parking brake is not set.

How do I get the parking brake to release so I can remove the rotor without doing any further damage? Any advice would be welcome, though I'd much prefer advice of the helpful variety.

I have not seen any other discussions here that touch on this subject (though a posting on a previous gen Ody parking brake came close-ish). If there is another article out here I've missed, no need to track it down for me. A simple RTFM will let me know I need to dig a little harder, and no offense will be taken if that's the case.

Thanks in advance!

 

You may be able to use a breaker bar to turn the rotor into position. Wrap it with a shirt so it won't damage threads and stick it between the wheel studs. Just a suggestion. I have no idea if this would work.

 

Update: still no useful progress. I tried 94eg!'s suggestion, but with one modification: I sprayed PB Blaster on the inside of the rotor in an effort to encourage the parking brake pads to fail. I then wrapped a shop towel around a breaker bar and used it to rotate the hub and rotor. Unfortunately, the parking brake remained fixed in its locked position within the hub and now spins with the rotor, meaning I still cannot access the adjustment gear. The next step will be to call up a Honda dealership and see if their maintenance staff have any ideas.

 

have you tried putting the rotor back into place to see if the parking brake will release? it sounds like it got caught and put in a bind when you were taking the rotor off.
if that doesn't work, you will need to take the hub/parking brake assembly off and then take them apart. since you already broke the "nails" that hold the shoes on, this should not be too difficult. there are 4 bolts holding the hub and 2 nuts at the top of the dust shield.

hope thi helps. if not I work in a Honda dealership and can actually tear one down and get you pics if you need...

 

No need to go through the trouble to take pics, though I much appreciate the offer. I will follow your advice and re-seat the rotors and see if that lets anything loose. If not, I'll have the Odyssey towed to a shop (the nearest one is less than a mile away) and have them complete the disassembly. Clearly, this kind of brake assembly is a bit trickier than other types, and I'll need to be careful should I ever attempt it again - though I'm guessing that these will be the last rotors the rear end of this minivan will ever need.

Thanks again for the response!

 

glad I could offer some advice. hope it helped and good luck...

 

Wrap-up: it took a torch to free the rotor from the parking brake. All is well now and the Ody is good to go.