Hello all, I am a long-time reader, second time poster with a mechanical question. I am installing a pair of front rotors and pads on my Integra. Unfortunately, the wonderful dealer who last serviced my car torqued the two 17mm Caliper bolts on so tight that we were bending wrenches before we were moving the bolts. Is there anything I can do, short of air tools, that can possibly get these bolts off?? Im a mechanical novice to stuff like this but would like to learn so I figured this was an easier thing to attempt.

If I can get a hold of air tools, what are the chances that the bolt is on so tight that I break it trying to get it off? Are these bolts standard bolts or can they only be purchased at a dealer (aka do the project early on a Saturday when the dealer parts dept. is open).

Thanks for any help or advice you may have


[Modified by CAL_GSR, 8:47 AM 8/19/2001]

 

You lube it before you tried. WD40...

 

Did you try using a breaker bar? I also sometimes use this rubber mallet and bang at the wrench (but don't use the open part or you can strip the bolt). Also, just in case, since those bolts face the other way, are you making sure you're unbolting them, not tightening? You know, counterclockwise to unscrew, but from the outside of the rim it looks like clockwise. Where in Burbank are you located? I may be near by. Send me an e-mail.


[Modified by Vitt1, 6:52 PM 8/12/2001]

 

Thanks folks.... someone told me about WD40 or liquid wrench or similar to get it off -- that the bolt may have frozen due to heat/rust/etc. And yes, I was "left loosey" but thanks for reminding because did turn it the wrong way at first! It's hard to get leverage under there -- we tried using another wrench as a lever on the socket wrench but it still didn't work..... Well, I'll be putting it on hold until next weekend. If the lube doesn't work my friend has an air compressor and another has the wrench fitting so I hope to get it with those.

 

I used a rubber mallet when i needed to unfreezed a bolt. use either a wrench or breaker bar and hit it with the rubber mallet...if that doesn't work, go buy yourself a compressor and some air tools and see if you can get it off that way. i also had these at my disposal too, but didn't have to use them so i can't tell you how they work on it. good luck.

 

WD-40 works really well. Also a ratchet with a short 17mm socket and no extention along with a 3ft breaker will definately do the trick. Another option would be to hit the bolt straight on with a hammer a couple times, because that sometimes breaks the rust a little.

And last but not least is use a torch to heat up the bolt. It will definately come off if you use all of those procedures.

 

1/2" drive ratchet and socket.
hit it with a hammer, forget that rubber mallet stuff its too soft.
Its the next best thing to an impact gun you can get to.

 

There is actually an easier way than removing the 17mm bolts. there are 14mm (If I remember right) bolts that go into the slider pins. If you take the bottom onle ONLY out you can spin the caliper up, replace the pads and spin down the caliper that easily.

Remember you need a C-clamp or brake clamp to press in the caliper piston.

 

Oh yeah, I forgot the idea of an impact driver...that might work very well.

 

Try getting the disc out with the caliper bracket still on.

 

Impact wrench "shocks" the bolt with hundreds of impacts that you simply can not achieve reasonably with a hand tool. Some of the shops use 450 ft-lb impact wrench (on reverse), so you can see how difficult it would be to try to achieve that by hand.

It's probably easier to find a shop, give the mechanic $20 for him to loosen the bolts for you and then hand snugg the bolts on to factory spec so you can do the parts replacement at home later.

 

KL -

That's what I think happened. I've tried banging it, leveraging it, etc, and the bolt will not move. I hope my friend's air compressor can handle it, else I'm taking it to my local mechanic and let him deal with it!! Assuming we don't do something drastic like snap the bolt off!

To all else -- thanks for the extensive list of suggestions! It'll be nice to get these Brembo OE disks and new pads on here finally!

 

That's the way some shops put on your wheel lug nuts too

 

UPDATE -- Well, I know it's not the saga of the week, but just wanted to thank everyone for their advice regarding my brakes, especially the C-clamp and the guy on the other post re: the $19.86 special for the impact screwdriverat Home Depot! After securing the use of an impact wrench and air compressor, I successfully installed my Brembo OE's and new pads. Result, no more brake shimmy, better stopping power with the upgraded pads, and nothing broke, stripped, melted, or caught fire! And we needed some pretty high PSI AND the liquid wrench to get that bolt off, but it came off with no strippage. Oh, and I had to make a run to the dealer for replacement rotor screws (are those even necessary?) cause we chewed them up last week trying to get them off with an electric screwdriver.

So thanks for the tips, although the first wheel took us awhile, by the end we were flying, and everything was torqued to spec. It's not as intimidating as you'd think!

 

the impact screwdriver usually messes up those rotor screws.. but the integra uses hub-less brakes so you don't really need them.. the wheel holds them down when you tighten the lug nuts. i usually keep at least 1 screw for each rotor