hi all,
I'm replacing the front rotors and pads and during the process I'm stuck at removing the rotor.
I removed all the screws, brake bracket and caliper but the rotor won't budge.
I look up direction for the 2008 and noticed that there are two screws are needed in order to remove the rotors.
Two screws are installed in but the rotor still won't come off (see the picture below)



What else do I have to do besides whacking like crazy with the hammer?
Even when I hit it with the hammer, it will not come off...

 

Are you reusing the rotor? I'm guessing it is rusted in place, from the back.

not sure what those two screws you installed are for. I'm wondering if you tighten them down, if they push against the mounting surface, until the rotor pops off. I'd read more into those screws. I'm almost certain that's what they're for, as I can't imagine what other function they'd serve.

if you aren't reusing the rotors- what I did- I took a 8lb sledge hammer with a short handle, and gave the rotor a fairly mild knock from the back, and voila, they popped off. It needs to be a big/heavy object though, otherwise you won't get the force needed to pop it off. I tried using a 20oz hammer to do the same, and the rotor wouldn't budge, no matter how hard I whacked it- I literally put dents in the rotor and it wouldn't move (hey, I was throwing them out, so I didn't care). With the sledge, it was no effort at all.

Kind of a ghetto, backyard mechanic way of doing it... But it worked. Like I said, look into these two screws more...

 

Did you impact those screws??? They should push them right away from the hub and come off

 

I follow the instruction and the 8x1.25mm screws are used to push the rotor away from the hub if it stuck (which is my case)






I hit the rotor with the hammer so hard it created a dent on the rotor but still .. the freaking bastard won't budge..

 

Needs more torque on screws.. Also sounds like your rotors are toast now so just grab a hammer and go to town, doesn't matter anymore

 

I torque the hell out of the screw to the point that the rotor cracked but the freaking thing still won't move...

 

Keep going, dammit!!

 

Seriously, find a big fucking stone and smash it against the back. A hammer is too light to be able to knock it free. I literally covered my entire rotor with hammer marks and the rotor wouldn't budge. Using something bigger, and it was effortless.

 

Oh, and I hope you are torquing each screw evenly...

 

try spraying some PB Blaster all around(front and back of rotor) and letting it sit for 15-30 minutes - then take a larger hammer and hit it from the front and back if you can at different places like 12,3,6,9 on a clock - should come off - I was doing a brake job for a friend with an 06 Corolla and had the same issue - this worked for me

 

I spray WD-40 on both rotors and wait for 25 minutes after that beat the living hell out of them for 30 minutes each. Finally I got both of them out. To my surprise, the original Honda Brake pads are still decent after 54k miles. At least there is one thing Honda did that has good quality.


The rotors look like they went 10 round with Mike Tyson. They are beaten up so bad that one of the corners was deformed and mangled.
In the end, I'm happy i got them replace. Hopefully, I won't have to do this again for another 50k miles.
Thanks everyone for their help.

 

I'd put some anti seize on the backside of the new rotors before installation...

 

^ Great idea

 

Mine didn't even get that beat up

But like I said, I switched to the 8lb hammer and the suckers came off easily.... after putting 50 dents on each one with a 20oz hammer.

 

That's a good idea. I applied a little bit of anti seize on the slot itself not the rotor but it's the same method.

 

It was hard labor for me. I changed lots of rotors on Honda Accord and Toyota Camry but this was the first time I ran into something like this. The Jack Ass neighbor was asking if I need help destroying the car..

 

By the way WD40 doesn't really break up rust, use PB blaster next time.

 

That is the worse case of rusted-on-rotor I've ever seen.

 

OP, I had the same issue with mine. Used the screws, and the rotors cracked and I had to pound it off with a hammer. What the pain in the ... I don't think I ever swore so much in my life.

 

That is one gnarly looking rotor. It would have been funny if you used the ball peen side to get it out. I'm not sure if you've seen them, but you can get dead blow hammers that would be great for this situation. The head is filled with lead so that when you swing against the rotor, the lead prevents the rebound, allowing you to get a heavier hit.

 

You did it.
This is an extreme case but it is not really unusual.
It's called galvanic action - two different metals welding themselves together.
The antiseize is a must when you install the new rotors.
This is why I remove my rotors every two years and service the brakes every year.
I had a similar situation with a Ford F150 I bought with just over two years old. I destroyed the rotors with a sledge hammer getting them off.
A mechanic friend of mine says he sometimes has to use the torch to literally cut rotors off in pieces.

 

I'll try that next time.. hopefully, it won't be this bad..

 

You know it.. It's the first for me as well.

 

My arm was sore and I had blisters on my fingers.. but I was so happy after everything was done..

 

Thanks for the info. I just hope I don't have run into the same situation again on the rear brakes.. keeping my fingers cross..

 

My last resort was the torch but the rotors came up so i didn't use it.
I don't replace my brake every two years but I do flush the brake fluid every 15k miles and for some reason the 4g TL seems to have dirty brake fluid more often than the Accord.