swhockey98

I am following Doug's write-up here:

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/es3...or-change.html

I have a '99 ES with 52K miles and I'm trying to replace the rotors and pads. I haven't purchased the parts yet because I wanted to see how difficult it'd be to loosen the assembly first since it's pretty rusted.

First I sprayed the 17mm bolt with PB Blaster in 15 minute intervals and let it sit for about an hour before starting. I connected my 17mm socket to my breaker bar and then also connected the breaker bar to a metal pipe for the maximum leverage and I got the bolt to do a half turn and that was about it. I tried hitting the metal pipe with a hammer to see if it'd break up the rust but didn't see any difference. The 14mm caliper pin is also on there really tight and won't budge one bit.



Any other suggestions?

speedkar9

Make sure your turning it the right way. Usually the caliper pins don't seize up so badly, but the caliper bracket bolts do. They take all the sheer force of braking and are open to the elements and prone to rust.

In fact, this past weekend I was opening my rear brakes to diagnose a sticky parking brake, and the caliper bracket bolts (14mm on the rear) stripped right out. Even after using bolt extractors and a rotary tool to engrave the bolt, it would still slip.

I ended up grinding off the bolt head and twisting out the remains from the caliper bracket. I'll pickup new bolts from the dealer tomorrow. Read more in this thread:

http://www.toyotanation.com/forum/10...ound-bolt.html

I hope your brake job doesn't come down to this.

artbuc

If it turned that much it should come out easily. Hope someone didn't cross thread it. Do you have an impact wrench?

BDSL

Make sure you are turning the bolt counter-clockwise.
Sometimes, for stubborn fasteners, I have to do counter-clockwise, spray more WD40, go clockwise a little bit, and counter-clockwise....repeat if necessary.

swhockey98

Unfortunately I don't have access to an impact tool. I did some researching yesterday evening and found that heating the bracket bolt may work. Would a propane torch have sufficient heat if I heated the bracket bolts for a couple minutes?

So far I've been trying to turn the bracket bolts counter-clockwise (lefty loosey) and luckily they haven't stripped yet. I can't get any leverage on the bottom 17mm bolt because my breaker bar hits the garage floor.

speedkar9

When you say counter-clockwise, I hope you mean CCW for the bolt, i.e. clockwise in your picture with the way you've got the breaker bar setup.

Since your working on the front wheel, you can turn the wheel outward to get you more clearance to swing your breaker bar. The rear caliper bracket bolts will be trickier, but the car is higher in the back so I was able to get mine to break free with a 3 foot pipe on my ratchet.

swhockey98

Oh wow maybe I'm turning it wrong. >.< Based on my picture in the original post, I'm supposed to push the breaker bar to the right (towards the back of the car)? Yesterday I was pushing the bar left (towards the front of the car).

Hayk

iTrader: (1)

Definitely sounds like you spent some time over tightening your caliper bolts.

BDSL

%$^%@#$#.....you don't qualify to work on your car....you better get someone to show you the way.
Safety first!!

swhockey98

Ugh. I'll have to try again this weekend.

artbuc

Seriously, no disrespect intended, but if you really did not know which way to turn a bolt, please do not trust yourself to install brakes.

swhockey98

No disrespect intended either, but I am sure you had your share of mishaps also when you were first learning to repair cars. Life is a learning process.

BDSL

You should have someone helping you.
You don't want to mess with your brakes especially when you can't even remove a bolt.....
You can kill yourself or someone on the road.

artbuc

Yes, the best learning experiences come from harmless mistakes. That is the essence of an apprenticeship. You learn certain basics by working on things that do not have life and death consequences. One of the most important things to learn is your own limitations. Good- luck.

swhockey98

I was able to remove the front and rear caliper bolts finally turning them in the correct direction! >.<

Is there a special tool needed to compress the rear caliper piston? Does the rear piston have to be rotated back in or can I use a C-clamp?