lwsplking

I am attempting to remove the rear rotors on my 2003 Acura TL and have had zero luck with the information I have found so far.

Recommendations followed from this site so far:
- Removed wheel, caliper and caliper bracket
- Removed two Phillips screws in the front of the rotor
- Could not find emergency brake adjuster, looked through hole in rotor with flashlight, there was no cowboy spur like devise to turn at bottom dead center or anywhere, I looked for quite a while. I saw springs! but no adjustment looking device.
- Grabbed 8mm bolts to screw into 6mm holes, bolts are not even close to trying to thread, I also tried getting 7mm bolts thinking maybe they would fit....no dice.
- Tried hitting with rubber mallet evenly on the rotor, that did not break anything loose. I did not use much force as I read that this was a bad idea.

Please, for those of you that have successfully removed more rotors that you care to admit, what do you suggest?

Thank you for your time

01tl4tl

Is the park brake OFF ?
Shoot the center area of the rotor with wd40 or similar
If you are replacing the rear rotors beat them as needed with real hammer
just keep at it- had to get vicious with an 05 recently- rust happens

lwsplking

I guess a little confidence that I was not going to destroy something is all I needed.

Thanks for the reply 01TL4TL

For anyone researching DIY rear rotor removal for a 2003 Acura TL, the 8MM bolt technique does not work, I would hope there is a techinique for removing the rotor with a little more finess but I just soaked the rotor center with WD40 and let it soak in then gave the center a few good smacks with a hammer and it broke lose.

After it broke lose I tapped the back of the rotor evenly (kept turning the rotor as I tapped it) and with some patience it eventually came off.

Even after the rotor is off, I still cannot see the emergency brake adjuster. I can only hope that my new rotor will go on smoothly.

fsttyms1

even with it off you cant see the adjuster

Look in the lower right of the pic above the spring. Brake shoe adjuster

bibledriver

you did have the e brake off, right?

lwsplking

I did have the e brake off.

After seeing the exploded view of the rear brake and rotor assembly I did not have a problem spotting the e brake adjustment. I am embarassed and feel pretty dumb.

I have the rear rotors and brakes switched out. I cleaned up and lubed up the caliper pins really well, but notice that the brakes still rub a little.

My driver's side rear wheel is difficult to turn and I can hear a strong rubbing when turning the wheel.

When originally changing out the brake pads, I did just that, just went around and changed the pads out. About two weeks later, I started hearing the brakes squeeling and rubbing. I checked out the situation and the outside brake pad on the right rear had completely worn down. I checked all of the other brake pads, they all show virtually no wear as does the back pad on the right rear wheel.

I have been told that this may be from a caliper pin sticking or an collapsed brake line that appears fine from the outside but does not allow the brake fluid to retract through the line.

Now that I have lubed up the caliper pins I am hoping to take my car out and see if I can get the rubbing to go away.

Anyone have any suggestions as to what my issue may be with the rubbing? Is this normal?

Oh, I thought perhaps since I put new rotors on the e brake may need adjusted. I adjusted it all the way down, but I still hear the rubbing noise.

Thank you to all that read through this and have offered their assistance. I am definately going to pay someone else to do this next time, hopefully I will not need to do this again for this car.

01tl4tl

You have to adjust the park brake as you put the rotor on, sliding the assembly on and off, then install the bracket and turn the rotor- this is when the screws in the rotor are helpful to keep it tight but not required- keep turning to listen for drag- adjust with screwdriver thru hole in rotor, slight drag is all you want- then install the pads and torque the bolts

The caliper bolts- is that what you call pins- have an unthreaded part at the top- just use caliper grease there. On the pads- the back of each where it contacts the caliper arms or the caliper piston, and the pad end tabs, then look at the bracket - see the metal rail top and bottem?- the caliper sits right on these- clean till shiny and grease- the caliper slides on them
New pads- did they come with shims on the back- if not transfer the original ones or buy a kit at parts store- they are required

Worn pad on one side-crooked wear on one pad ....
what happens is when you compress the caliper to put the new pads in- there was crud-rust inside the brake fluid system, it gets backwashed, the caliper gets disturbed-and soon after...... it fails- happened to my car too.
Now I know to bleed the brakes-flush all the old fluid out BEFORE doing ANY TL brake job
lesson learned- calipers are cheap at the zone

flush brake fluid every year- cheap insurarance

fsttyms1

Sounds like a caliper is hanging.

bibledriver

also, when compressing calipers, you should crack the bleeder valve so that the junk doesn't backwash. Of course followed by bleeding them. Better for the system.

01tl4tl

Thats why I am now using the flush first method

For me- probable oily mess on floor as I hold the caliper in hand while turning the compression tool and open the bleeder valve and with my 3rd hand reset the oil minder light while reaching thru the steering wheel.....

Your way may work better~ I am doing what I can !!