seized caliper bolts

[Oct]

Anyone had problems getting the front brake calipers off?
I was supposed to be changing my discs over yesterday but couldn't get the two calipers bolts off ,19MM ones at the rear of the caliper,
so fell at the first hurdle.Any suggestions? I am thinking about buying an air ratchet.

 

[chrisg]

Hiya

this has happened to me before, particularly with the front calipers = hexagonal allen bolts (M030). The only thing I can suggest is a lot of very pinpointed heat onto the front hub where the bolt (s) thread in. The Porsche manual recommends 62lbft torgue and use of thread lock, so if the bolts have been in for a while you'll need to 'burn off' the thread lock.

If you're DIYing and struggling to apply the heat, take the car to your local indie who can apply appropriate heat with oxy/acetylene. It's not worth wrecking the front calipers and hubs for the sake of ~ £50 cash to remove them.

Chris

 

[Oct]

Thanks Chris that explains the double hernia []

 

[chrisg]

Oct

whereabouts are you based in the UK ?

Just thinking that if you're not too far away from Huntingdon, I might be able to assist ?

Chris

 

[Oct]

I am about 12 miles east of Oxford

 

[u63af]

The previous owner of my turbo had rounded the allen key heads on one of the mo30 brembos. Had to mig weld an allen key into the bolt to get it out.

 

[chrisg]

12 miles east of Oxford, so somewhere like Bicester ?

Bit far for me, especially as I'm not going in that direction in the near future !

If you are plannning on having a go DIY, visit B & Q and buy one of the go systems:

http://www.go-system.co.uk/media/gosystem/brochures/GoSystem-Professional-and-DIY.pdf

page 4 for the fine nozzle system - it's great for getting good heat into metal bolts/ nuts etc and has a very fine tip for getting the heat in precisely the right place.

Give me a ring if you get stuck ? 07540 193874

 

[Oct]

ORIGINAL: chrisg

12 miles east of Oxford, so somewhere like Bicester ?

I am on the other East side [] near Thame, thanks for the offer though and the tips. I will try it with the air ratchet at the weekend and see if it gives, failing that it is down to the local garage for some heat application.

cheers

 

[Eldavo]

Just a tip, lefty loosey - righty tighty. But, you are undoing the bolts from the reverse side so you are turning clockwise?

 

[Oct]

Yes I thought of that at the start so double checked which way I should be turning.

 

[chrisg]

Oct

another thought/ tip for you - make sure you use a 6 sided socket if the head is starting to round off. Most socket sets have mutiple angle sockets and these are notorious at rounded off rusty heads.

I found a similar issue recently whilst removing rusty brake pipes - in the end, lots of heat and use a six sided 11m socket firmly wedged onto the offending bolt !

 

[Oct]

Will bear it in mind thanks, I am going to buy a 10 inch breaker bar (as well as the air gun) to help with the leverage.Part of the problem was the stadard ratchet being too small to get enough force onto it.No rounding issues as yet.

 

[chrisg]

Another top tip for leverage, in addition to the breaker bar = 2 or 2.5ft length of scaffold poll to go on top of the breaker bar.

If you ever have to (yourself that is...) remove the bolt on the front of the crankshaft to removethe main sprocket that drives the belts you'll certainly need it = 240ftlb !

 

[morris944s2john]

These 19mm (or allen bolts on some calipers) are hard to get off.

They are held in with loctite, so to remove them and remove the calliper, you need to :-

1) Heat as much as you can the bolt head (blow lamp will do)
2) use a breaker bar, I have an 18" bar and using a 19mm impact quality socket you can then remove the bolts with ease.

My S2 has the callipers held on with 19mm head bolts, but some use allen bolts, I believe.

 

[chrisg]

John

very apt and well described process !

Yes, the S2 and early Turbo's calipers are held on with the 19mm bolts laterally (damn site easier to remove...) whereas the late Turbo or M030 calipers are held on with radial mounted allen key bolts.

 

[Alexw]

Weird that, I had no real problem getting mine off, they were quite tough IIRC but nothing brute force didn't sort. Must have been off before...

 

[Oct]

I doubt mine have been off for a long time, I have a large breaker bar but the problem is it is too big.I will be trying again this weekend with some heat applied.Will keep you informed []

 

[Hilux]

I always use heat and then use these on tight/rusty allen bolts

They leave minimal damage and you can re-use them as necessary with allen keys

 

[colin944]

Irwins are the dogs. I use them all the time . But If your bar is too long then try turning the wheels out at the back i.e left and then you can use a big bar. If it won't come off then your either not using a big enough hammer or a big enough bar.

 

[Oct]

Got the bolts off by heating with a chefs blowtorch thingy for making the top of creme brulee crispy [] then the larger breaker bar to loosen.
Question about the disc removal though, does the wheel bearing need to come out to remove the hub and then the disc?? the manual is a bit ambiguous. MY86 Lux