Hey, I have a 2000 Mystique LS, V6, ~45K miles. The front pads got worn out, so I'm changing them, and I got new rotors too. Turns out that the rotor is so darn rusted tight that I can't get it to budge. I definitely took out the two 15mm bolts holding it in, and applied a large helping of penetrant. Anyone have tips on tools/techniques for safely (i.e. w/o breaking anything) getting the rotor loose? Thanks

BFH sometimes you end up braking the rotor but it will usually get it off.

just beat the crap out of it with a hammer. Works for me every time.

And so you won't have that problem again, wire brush clean the rotor face of the hub and apply some anti-sieze between the hub and rotor.

goto your local hareware store and buy the cheapest grinder you can find. Grind around the rotor so you can separate the face of the rotor from the part that the pads use. Be careful not to grind that deep(you don't want to hurt the hub!!!) Sould take about 5 to 7 minutes and the rotor will slide right off

Alvise

After soaking and pounding I found that cutting is fast and easy. Maybe you can borrow a 4" angle grinder (like a Dewalt) with a thin (~1/8") metal cutting disc. Cut a circumferential groove around the hat at about the plane of the hub and you'll have it off in less than 5 minutes.

Okay, it's all done! Thanks for the help, everyone. But in fact, my method for taking it off ended up being a bit aberrant. One of my dad's co-workers used a welding torch to heat the rotor up until it got cherry-red hot, and then finally we were able to hammer it off (whew!). The rotor is all busted, and the corrosion is quite a sight.

If someone could tell me how to post pics on here, I'll show you what made this so difficult. It seems to me that there was a galvanic reaction between the rotor and the hub (facilitated by the salt put on the roads in the winter here in Michigan). It is unusual. This is the first time I changed the rotor on the Mystique. On other cars the rotor would basically pop out into my hand after removing the bolts. IMO the tolerances on the interference fit are probably too tight. Bad engineering for ya...

Shouldn't happen again, because I wire-brushed it clean and applied Never-Seeze.

If you have a web-host type thing, upload them and post it as an image using the button below the text reply box. If you don't ahve any webspace, drop me a PM and I can host them and post them for you.

Sounds interesting, I want to see the carnage!

Okay, when I put the images in the forum they are huge, so you can just click these links to view them on my Univ. of Michigan webspace. I'll take the pics at a lower resolution next time.

http://www-personal.umich.edu/~sfelahi/DSCN2017.JPG
http://www-personal.umich.edu/~sfelahi/DSCN2019.JPG
http://www-personal.umich.edu/~sfelahi/DSCN2020.JPG

Hey Sakib, it's Neil from Ann Arbor! Hah, what a small world! Not too long ago, I was heading to North campus and could have sworn I saw you in a Mystique.

Anyways, good to see you on the forums. When I read Sakib, I thought wouldn't it be funny if it was him. Then I read your location, and saw your links w/your unique name! Anyways, stick on this website, there's a great bunch of guys/gals on here w/a ton of information for our vehicle.