I'm trying to install all 4 of my rotors today, I have half of the front caliper off but the rotor doesnt seem to wanna move. Can someone please give me some advice!!!

 

Did you remove the two screws that hold the rotor on?

 

Even with the screws removed, a bit of corrosion might get em stuck. If so, just lightly tap it with a rubber mallet. If you aren't going to be using the rotors, then just tap em with a regular hammer, but once the screws are off, there is no reason for them to not come off

 

I went through the same thing about a month ago, I just got fed up and drilled out the damn screws and took a rubber mallet to the rotors. Even then I had to give them a good hard hit to knock them loose, who knows how old they were. Good luck..

Matt

 

I got the 2 screws off, but the damn rotor just dosent wanna budge. So should I just hit it with a mallet since I have new rotors anyways?

Mike

 

Yeah, and don't worry about damaging them with a rubber mallet.. they will be fine. A normal carpenter's hammer would do damage though. Just lie on your side and get a good angle to swing from under the car to knock that thing loose.. I had to swing pretty hard.

Matt

 

Smack that mother with a mallet dude!!!
It'll come off.

 

what i did was took a long screw driver and put it between the caliper and the rotor from the top and pry away from the rotor. I was having the same problem you were and this worked just fine for me on all 4 wheels.

 

Guys...there is a really really easy (and correct!) way to do this.

You see that hole in your rotor that wasn't being used by screws to hold it in? Find a bolt or flat ended screw that fits in there (yes, the hole is threaded). turn it in, and it will pop right off. it's incredibly easy. Take your new rotor down to the hardware store and figure out what size you need, if you don't have tons of spare screws/bolts lying around to try like I do.

 

Wow... That's gonna help!!!

 

OK I have the brakes on now thanx for all the help. Now I have a new problem, the car wont start. Heres what I did that possibly might be causing it not to start. First, it hasnt been started in about a week an a half, and I have a hawker battery. Second I did take off my manifold, and I lost one screw so I have to go get a replacement, coud that be doing it? And finally I installed a Greddy elbow, but how come there is a hose that goes onto the OEM elbow and not onto the Greddy one. Theres not even a hole for it one the Greddy elbow. I just plugged the hose for now. So right now I am just charging the battery, no accessory lights turn on either, but the car does turn over it just doesnt start.

Mike

 

sounds like a dead battery. I don't think those other problems would cause the car not to start. charge the battery and work from there. next time you let your car sit, you should disconnect the battery cables. I learned this the hard way also.

 

So did I hurt the battery by letting it sit, nothing charging cant fix right? If it is just a dead battery why does it turn over then, just not quite enough juice to start maybe? thanx for quick response too!!!

Mike

 

Charge it up mike! Your battery's fine.

 

OK I just let it charge for about an hour and the damn thing wont start still. The accessory lights dont even come on. Should I let it charge longer????

Mike

 

Ah I was going to say just wait until you come down to Florida and I'd help you get them on, but you got them going. I just changed my rotors and pads today too (just the fronts, rears are tomorrow). I put on Brembo cross-drilled/slotted rotors (for street only, have others for track), and N-Tech's Lap Day pads. Holy freakin crap are these pads awesome! Brake like Hawk blues, but don't have to warm up before they work, and don't eat the rotors like the blues would. Totally streetable, and fully track worthy.

About the battery, I'm pretty sure with the Hawkers that when they die, they're dead for good, you can't recharge them. Someone else might have more on this, but I'm about 90% sure about this.

 

Damnit I hope i didnt kill the thing, but if I did it wouldnt even turn over, and it does. Im gonna go down an give it a whirl. With the greddy elbow what happens to that hose that used to connect to the OEM elbow, could that be causing my no start problem?

Mike

 

The hose I believe is for the AWS. If you have a PFC, then that is already deactivated. Remember when you cranked the car with the stock ECU and it revved to 3000rpms (or tried to)? Yeah thats what that is, which as you know isn't there with the PFC. That wouldn't keep your lights and everything from turning on though. Check all the connections to the battery, maybe something came loose or something. If all else fails, take it to AutoZone or someplace and have them test it, they usually do that stuff for free.

 

Oh wait, it DOES turn over? Hhmm, well then it's not completely dead I guess. You could always try push starting it, might be worth a shot.

 

Yea I just went out and tried to start it, same thing, it turns over but doesnt start and no accessory's turn on either. I'm thinking I might need new spark plugs but that wouldnt affect the accessorys. Oh heres another thing too, a few days ago the positive terminal came off my battery. So my car was dead. I replaced it a bolt to hold it down until I could get another terminal for the hawker. It seemed to work OK, but now since its been sitting in the garage for a week an a half it doesnt start. You think it could be the terminals? It doesnt really make sense to me though since it worked before with the bolt in. Anyway right now the battery is disconnect and I'm gonna look at it tomorrow. I also checked my fuses and they all seem to look good. What the hell could it be?

Mike

 

check the main fuse in the fuse box right of the battery and the one about a foot up from it right of the A.C.

 

All the fuses looked good to me. I should be looking to see if they look burnt, right? Any other ideas what this could be? I dont get my teminals until Friday which sucks because I am supposed to be bringing my car in to the body shop tomorrow, an now I cant. Then after its out of the shop I will get to drive it for maybe a week then its getting shipped down to FL. Well atleast in FL I will have some friends to come over and see what the hell is going on with my car. Hopefully by then nothing will be wrong =-)

Mike

 

well not so much burnt but just the little metal piece isnt connecting from one side to the other.

 

I just PMed you Luke, so the metal pieces will not be connected. I could just look for differences in them and if one looks like its not connected compared to the others it probably shot, right? Where do you get new fuses also?

Mike

 

Some more tips on brake rotor removal:

- I think the threads for the PITA screws are the same as the threaded hole you can use to pop the rotor loose.

- Put anti-sieze on the hub or back of the rotor to make them easier to remove the next time. I use it on the back of the wheels, too, to keep them from sticking to the rotor. It also helps to coat the threads and the back of the heads of the little screws to make them easier to remove in the future.

- If you can't get the screws loose with an impact driver (the one you hit with a hammer), you can drill the heads out or even just drill part way. The heads will pop off when you pop the rotor loose with the threaded hole trick.

- The screws are just a convenience during assembly, and are not absolutely necessary. You can get a little pack of them from the auto parts store if you want to replace them. I got a bunch in one of those HELP! brand packs.

-Max