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Hi all! My little Honda has VERY seized and rusted brake caliper bolts on the rear of the car. It needs new pads and rotors and maybe even calipers on both sides, however the bolts are so rusted on that they will not come off no matter what I do. I’ve tried hitting the calipers with a hammer to break the bolts loose, I’ve used both WD-40 and PB Blaster, I’ve tried a punch, I even bought one of those Bolt Out kits with the sockets that twist and grab onto the bolt and remove it. I purchased a new Vise Grip and earlier I was outside messing with it some more. The bolts are now rounded off and even the vice grips can’t get a good enough grip on it. I have a propane torch that I tried on it but I don’t think it did any good at all. I can’t really get in there well enough to cut the bolt heads off so I was wondering if it’s feasible to pull back the bushing and just cut the pin that the bolt goes through to get the caliper off? Obviously I would have to replace them but I’m not worried about that. I found a picture that I edited and used to explain where I would like to cut it at. Is this doable? And what are the repercussions of doing so? My only other option would be to take it to a shop and have them do it. Thanks in advance!
P.S. The caliper in the pic is not mine!
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Spoke to a mechanic about my spongy brake pedal issue and based on what I told him he confirmed that the problem is in fact because my caliper isn’t working. Nonworking caliper = unable to bleed properly = spongy brake pedal. So I’m going to have to remove it from the car and either service it or replace it. Right back at square 1; different wheel but same issue.
Ordered a new caliper a few days ago and it just arrived today. Decided to get a new one rather than try to fix the one I had. Installed the new one on the car, bled the brake system annnnnndddd……SUCCESS!! HURRAY!! Turns out the slide pins weren’t moving properly and needed some “persuasion” in order to get them out. Seems they had gotten gummed up somehow and stopped working. I think the piston was OK but didn’t want to take that chance. The caliper was only $25 with a $35 core charge so I said why not replace the whole thing and be done with it? Not gonna go into every detail but here’s a tip for anyone who may be dealing with a spongy brake pedal: check to make sure your caliper is working properly and that the slide pins are able to move like they should; my experience in this situation seems to indicate that this can cause that issue.
My brakes have never worked so well before! Now onto the next project of this rust bucket of mine.
Thanks everyone!That’s quite an ordeal you went through there. A couple of things to add.
You can sometimes remove stuck slide pins with a Honda fuel fitting socket.
YA8980
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Blue-Point-YA8980-3-8-drive-socket-for-banjo-fittings-XLNT-/262024597031
Usually a couple of hits with the impact will free them from the caliper. I then take a pair of pliers and push the pin out as I’m spinning it with the impact. After that I wire wheel the pin till it’s clean and reinstall with fresh silicone paste.
If you have eliminated all other issues with the brakes and you still have a spongy pedal.
Additional info here.
http://www.ericthecarguy.com/faq/solving-brake-problems
Thanks for keeping us updated and for using the ETCG forum.
Wow… A response from EricTheCarGuy himself! I feel so honored right now! 🙂
I was able to get the slide pins out of my old caliper but I had to take off the bracket assembly as well in order to do it by spraying some PB Blaster down into the opening and spinning the pins around with a pair of vice grips while pulling on it. I recently bought an impact but have yet to learn how to use it so no help there. But when I factored in the cost of a caliper reman vs the issues the old one had (torn bushings, missing shims, broken bleeder valve, potential for piston failure) I felt it would be a better option to just replace the whole thing at once for a few $$$ more. Faster, easier, and less headaches involved, because honestly, by the end of this project I was tired of doing it and just wanted it done; I’ve got a plethora of other problems to attend to on this car, can’t be spending all my time fixing just the brakes. And the sponginess is gone too!
P.S. Love the forum and the videos!
“Stay Dirty!”
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