Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Troubleshooting Finally removed frozen rotor

Many thanks to the people who suggested solutions to my frozen rotor on my '98 SE. It is original with 66K on it.

Nothing worked however, until I cut the rotor across the face with an abrasive wheel. It took about an hour, but I had wasted 2 days already. It certainly was easier on the front end parts and bearings than getting an even bigger hammer.

Autopsy photos can be seen here:

http://www.geocities.com/hughdavey/rotor.html

Thanks to all.

I've dealt with frozen rotors before on another car. Basically you have to crack them off with a sledge and a chisle. It takes some muscle and some patience.

nice work, glad to hear you got it off. use anti-seize on the hub this time...

Well, I spent 9 hours over at the garage at school today trying to replace my brakes. The front left rotor didn't want to come off, so I went out and bought a small propane torch. Just as I was about to give up, it started to move. The front right fell right off. Now the right rear is stuck and I am out of energy. I heated the rotor for about 15 minutes and it was smoking, but not moving no matter how much I hit it. I blew half a can of WD-40 in there and am going to leave it for the night. After seeing this post, I'll be looking for a cutting wheel tomorrow.

What sucks the most is that it is difficult to get enough clearance to give a good swing of a large hand hammer. And there isn't a sledge over at school. Is there such a thing as a brake rotor puller, like a gear or pulley puller?

I expected some trouble on the right rear - it's original (98k). Fronts are about 40k and the left rear is about 85k.

Oh, and to add insult to injury, the SS lines that BAT sent me for the fronts have the wrong fitting on them. On top of sending me E1 pads at that. I am going to be VERY unpleasant on the phone with them tomorrow.

I feel for ya' brother, went through it myself a month ago.

Me and my buddy sorta saw this too so I "spun" the rotor while he kept wailing on it, therefore all the impact force wasn't going on one point of the disk, which might get it slightly crooked and cause it to catch on the hub. Not likely but a slight possibility.

I would've liked to paint my calipers but they were a pita to get off so they can stay the color they are, I ain't taking them off again !!

If anyone is going to try to cut them off as I did, I used a Dremel tool, with several fiberglass reinforced cut-off wheels from Sears.

Buy at least 2 packs, as they only last 5 minutes each. The wheels are about 1 1/4 inch in diameter, and wear down quickly. I kept them wet with WD40. Don't even bother with the small lightweight wheels.

As they get smaller, use them to cut into the curve nearer the brake surface. You'll need a smaller diameter there to avoid cutting into the hub also. CHECK THE DEPTH FREQUENTLY.

Looks like you had to replace a couple of studs there too, huh?

I had a hell of a time with my rear drums. One of them wouldn't come off easily at all, and then, when we got the new shoes on, it didn't want to go back ON! Figured out there was an adjuster that we had to remove, clean, and reset the spring on it, and it worked fine.

Hardest brake job I ever did...took us 2 days for one drum!! So I feel your pain man, I really do!

Well, this thread is certainly well timed for me. I did get the last 2 rotors off today. The one I left behind soaking in WD-40 took some more torch time and hammer bashing at first. I was spinning the rotor (with the claw of the hammer) and hitting it front and back to make sure it wouldn't get cocked. Then, in a fit of aggression, I hit the rotor square on top from above and it popped loose! When I went to the other rear, I gave it a good dose of WD-40 and then gave it a shot from above and it came loose, too. Didn't have to torch it or hit it from behind at all.

The whole time I was thinking that I should have paid to have all this done. But there is no feeling like knowing you got a job done against all odds. And I made sure to use sufficient anti-sieze on the backs of the rotors, so the next time I do this it will be easy.

I do have a question: Anyone have a good trick for getting the parking brake cable back into the lever? I somehow managed to get the last wheel done without removing it (putting the caliper back on sure was tricky), but I couldn't manage to get the other one back in no matter how hard I tried. The car has to get inspected in the next few weeks, so I might just leave it go and ask my mechanic to do it while its in.

When I did rear brakes on our '95 SE, I had a hell of a time geting the parking brake cable back on. As I understand it, the early cables allowed water in and rusted.
I was able to grip the inner cablewith a vise-grip and pull hard. This exposed more of the cable, making it easier to install.
maybe your cable is stuck also.

Good luck.