I removed the retaining screws from the rotors but I can't get the sucker off. Tried banging it really hard and the thing won't budge. Tried WD-40 as well. Any ideas?

 

rears?
parking brake up? if so disengage.

 

yes rears, parking brake is not set. They are pretty rusty.

 

I remember when i helped change a members rear rotor it was stuck as well.

we released the parking brake and i dont remember if something else holds on to it????

I remember we banged the fuck outta it tho,

 

and it wouldn't matter if the parking brake is set, since the entire caliper is removed anyway...

 

You can remove the caliper and the parking brake will still be on if set. The shoes are inside the rotor hat, separate from the caliper.

Put lug nuts back on the studs to protect the threads and hit the flat hat area around the studs, never had a problem. Smashing on the outer part of the rotor isn't a great idea as I've seen people destroy the bearing from hitting the rotor too hard on the perimeter.

 

So hit the area around the lug nut studs?

 

If the TL's rear rotors are anything like the RDX's then there should be two holes (there should be 2 bolts there already) on the hub portion of the rotor where you can put in two bolts and keep threading them until the rotor pops off (put both bolts in, turn one a few times, then switch the 2nd one and keep going back and forth). Unsure on the size but there should be two screws/bolts, pop one off, go to your local hardware shop, get the same thread type but much longer version (you will need two).

If I'm totally off please ignore me. It's been sometime since I've done it on the RDX.

 

^correct

 

My car doesn't have those and those 2 bolts are not shown here either...

https://acurazine.com/forums/3g-tl-tires-wheels-suspension-97/front-rear-brake-disc-rotor-knuckle-hub-front-wheel-brg-repl-3g-garage-d-085-a-592538/

Everything that I've read says that the rotor should come off after those retaining screws are removed, but its stuck like a b$^#!

 

Step 8 is the key

 

Thank you so much! I'll give it a try..

 

BFH bro. Big Fucking hammer. Hit those suckers on the outer edges and the vibrations should knock some of that crud loose and they should slip right off. That is so long as you have those big screws/bolts that hold them on taken off. That is important.

 

Step 8 in mau108 reply will work for sure, thats how I did mine.

 

You can jack up the wheel bearing if you hit to too hard... or bend the rotor. Use the bolts and threaded holes.

 

This is true, I didn't catch if he was swapping them. When I did a full swap on my CL, I just used a sledge hammer to get them to come off. Didn't matter if I bent them as they were already warped to shit. It's too bad that thing is in perma park becasue those slotted rotors and new calipers were a big step up from OEM.

 

I'm not keeping them, btw but I'll try the screw method since the BFH didn't work!

 

It didn't???? Holy hell bro how much crud do you have caked on back there? lol! I recall getting them off of the CL was a major, major PIA. I remember me and my buddy were at it for a hot minute before he finally said F THIS pulled the hammer back and just whacked the hell out of it. There was a bunch of crud that flaked off from behind it and it just slid off after that. GOOD LUCK BRO!!!!

 

Inspect your wheel bearings before you reinstall. If you jacked 'em up, then this is a good time to replace 'em.

 

Acutron: They are very rusty, I might post pics when I get to it tomorrow. Had to quit for the day due to thunderstorms.

Jda: How would I do that? The car drives and stops like normal still.

 

dont worry about your wheel bearings, they will be fine You will know then you will have bearing problem, on my girls infiniti g53 i changed two already. If you have bad bearing you should hear buzing sound while you drive and it should increase with the speed.
I had 3 acura's. My first was 92 Legend, drove it to 200k, and i never had bad bearing. Acura knows how to make good bearings

 

They sure do until somebody beats the living daylights out of them.

 

I had the same problem when I did my rears. Basically this is what I did. I took my breaker bar and put it in between the rotor and on top of the hub spine. Just pry it out. I didn't have to do it too hard and it broke all the rust off.

 

well played.

 

I had one bad bearing on my 92 accord that I took to 400K. It failed about 5K after I beat the hell out of a rotor to get it off.

Just inspect it and compare it to the other side. If you cannot visibly see any difference, then reinstall. It is likely that any issues could crop up in miles to come.

Don't ever beat on a wheel or rotor with a hammer. There are better (and easier) ways to get them off. You can damage wheel bearings, ball joints, bend suspension parts and even knock the car out of alignment.

 

You guys are all missing the most critical step of removing the rear rotors! Making sure the parking brake shoes are fully retracted. You need to take the round rubber cover off the hub area of the rotor and push/rotate the adjustment screw all the way one way or the other, whatever way retracts the shoes. You can feel it because the rotor will start getting easier to get off and then just keep going and i'll bet you the rotor by now will all but take itself off.


If you've done this, fine, but being that no one including the op has mentioned this by now i'm guessing you have no idea you probably need to do this.

I'm sure you can find pics of this somewhere but without doing this you're just gonna keep beating it with a hammer like a fool. If you use the bolt method described earlier, you shouldn't ever have to use a hammer to get a frickin rotor off.


Give it a shot and let us know.

 

There is no need to adjust the e-brake shoes, make sure they are released, jack up car, rotate rotor a bit and it should start moving freely. Apply Step 8 in the above instructions and it should pop out very easily.

When you install the new rotors you will have to adjust the e-brake accordingly, for instructions on that look here https://acurazine.com/forums/3g-tl-2004-2008-93/brakes-caliper-o-h-pad-repl-hoses-bleed-disc-specs-park-brake-adj-3g-garage-d-041-a-578017/

 

Should I take the hubcap off, or are you talking about that rubber boot with the line on it?

 

No no no, it's a round rubber boot/cap on the rotor itself right by the lug studs. It can be pry'd out with a screw driver and behind it you'll see a weird looking nut with a bunch of tines sticking out of it. Use a flat head screwdriver and push the tines away from you. It tightens one way and loosens the other so you just have to try it one way and if you tightened it, the rotor will have more drag on it or might not spin at all. In that case, just push in on the opposite side you were and it will retract the shoes completely.

How many miles are on the car and to your knowledge have the shoes ever been replaced? Most likely they haven't.

 

There is some validity in this statement, but I was under the assumption that the rotor hasn't been able to come loose from the hub because of rust. I also assumed that if the rotor is able to be moved slightly, one would realize that the "e" brake shoes are inhibiting the rotor’s removal. However, after some thought, this is an incorrect assumption for some; especially if they believe the "e" brake to be part of the caliper and don't realize that the shoes are actually under the hat behind the rotor as did the OP.

Certainly can't hurt to adjust the shoes down if unsure.

 

Incorrect. If the pads and drum are really worn and have been self adjusting their entire life, they will have adjusted the shoes out far enough that they might catch on the inside of the rotor and snag it from coming off. I speak from experience. I never sat there with a fucking hammer and just beat the hell of the rotor but anyone who has had drums in the past will tell you this makes the job a heck of a lot easier.


To the OP, wouldn't you rather try this that just sit there and beat it with a hammer? Your TL is an 07, after that long would they really be THAT rusted on there? doubtful.

It's your car, but it's worth looking into is all I'm saying.

 

"e" Brake adjustment:
https://acurazine.com/forums/3g-tl-problems-fixes-114/e-brake-tightening-796787/

 

So if I remove the boot and loosen up the screw the rotor should come off right? The car has 104,000 on it and I'm not sure if the shoes have been replaced. This is for the parking brake right? The parking brake works fine. Its just my rotors and pads are pretty bad.

Incorrect. If the pads and drum are really worn and have been self adjusting their entire life, they will have adjusted the shoes out far enough that they might catch on the inside of the rotor and snag it from coming off. I speak from experience. I never sat there with a fucking hammer and just beat the hell of the rotor but anyone who has had drums in the past will tell you this makes the job a heck of a lot easier.


To the OP, wouldn't you rather try this that just sit there and beat it with a hammer? Your TL is an 07, after that long would they really be THAT rusted on there? doubtful.

It's your car, but it's worth looking into is all I'm saying.

As far as the schematic I looked at, and some other DIY's I saw on the web, all I had to do was removed the retaining screws and caliper and the rotor should just yank right off. Didn't see anything about taking that rubber boot off. I was afraid to because I wasn't sure if it would puncture and cause a brake fluid leak or something.

 

Along with the above buy a can of PB Blaster! Spray liberally around the hub center and in all exposed lug holes.. let soak for 10 minutes then use your BFH (Big you know hammer) Like mentioned above you still want to be mindfull of the bearings, but this stuff is majic and replaced my WD 40 long ago for loosening rusty stuff.... GL

 

I think you're still not getting what I'm talking about. All this adjuster does is manually and mechanically adjust how far out or in the parking brake shoes are. It's completely separate from the brake caliper and pads. Hell you won't even see it really until the rotor is off the hub. Get this brake fluid leak stuff out of your head. At no time on a standard brake job should you ever have to worry about brake fluid at all. This rubber plug is on the ROTOR, it's just a dust cover really and you really can't fuck it up. I'll bet you that you're just a flat head screw driver and about 10 mins away from getting the rotors off. Sure a little PB blaster goes a long way but I can't see how a 4 year old rotor would be this rusted on there. Hell my TL is an 04 and was in Minnesota forever and I've never had this much trouble with any brake job I ever done.

Are we clear now?



No offense but it doesn't help that the OP doesn't seem to know his way around a car very much....

 

If the ebrake is off and the hub will turn, then you should at least be able to wiggle the rotor. If not, then it is rusted on. Get out your 8x1.25mm bolts and break it free. If it will move, but not come off, then the shoes are holding it in place. I have never personally had to loosen the ebrake shoes to get a rotor off - I have had to tighten them when done (another process for another thread).

When you finally get this thing off, then be sure and use some anti-seize when you put the new one on.

 

 

Ok so we all know this, has the OP tried it? lol

 

obviously not.

 

Doesn't anyone use the Garage anymore???

https://acurazine.com/forums/3g-tl-2004-2008-93/d-094-diy-complete-brake-job-pics-624404/

Use the bolts as per the SM procedure. Don't bang. If that doesn't work, then try the spoke wheel to retract the pads. You'll be retracting them later on anyhow....