Saturn rear brakes problem

[Ron]

Have a 2007 Saturn Vue 2.4. Mechanic told me that he could not get the rear drums off due to excessive rusting. Observed him trying to hammer them off unsuccessfully. He said if he continues hammering them we may end up with a real problem. I live in Pensacola Florida and no salt on the roads here but bought the car used so could have lived up north before I got it.
Question is how to best proceed? Concerned that this might be a safety issue.
Thanks, Ron

Topic

[college man]

see if this helps. clean the rust from the hub.soak
it with penetrating oil hit the drum straight on to
break the rust free. you may need to adjust the the
auto adjustment wheel in to retract the shoes.

[Jameson]

Ive seen some bad rust before, but always been able to get the drums off eventually.

This is the way I would proceed:

1. Make sure the e-brake is off
2. Spray the drum (where the drum meets the hub) with PB Blaster or equiv and let it soak
3. Hammer the face of the drum with a BFH (be careful not to hit the studs)

if this does not work then…

The wheel cylinder may be seized, or you may have a broken return spring, or other hardware problem. Are the rear brakes dragging? That might be a clue to a hardware prob or seized wheel cylinder

As long as it is only rust holding the drum on, then repeat steps 2 and 3 until the drum pops out.

[Jameson]

[quote=”college man” post=65292] you may need to adjust the the
auto adjustment wheel in to retract the shoes.[/quote]

You can only adjust the shoes outward from the outside of the backing plate. This would push the shoes out and make it harder to get the drum off

[mike ross]

Definitely back the drums off. Worked for me. I had not taken the drums off in 100, 000 miles

[dave]

bring the star wheel adjusters in with a spoon.

if that don’t work…

worst case scenario you could always cut the hold down pins.

[Ron]

Thanks… lot of good information. Neither one of the two mechanics I took it to tried doing these things… only beat the tar out of them with a BFH.
One a really long shot, do any of you know of a good mechanic in the Pensacola, Florida area that might be willing to tackle this? Thanks, Ron

[college man]

keep us posted on your progress. 🙂

[Author]

Replies