Car guys/Mechanics...I need help

[sworn_enemy]

I was putting new brake pads on my wifes car today and I ran into a little problem. One of the bolts on the driver side caliper will not move at all. It's hard to get much leverage because of the position it's in but I was cranking on it. It's a big 17mm bolt and I tried everything at my disposal. I tried some WD40 to lube it up and that didn't work. I was using a 16 inch breaker bar and practically standing on it and still nothing. Any suggestions?

[mrsung]

that happend when i tried to replace the pads in my brothers car. be careful, because after a few hours of wrenching, it finally came loose. and by "came loose" i mean that the head twisted right off the bolt. find someone with an impact wrench.

[MBreinin]

Yep, a nice constant application of force with an impact wrench will do the trickl.

Mike

[Thrust]

Try PB Blaster and let it set for a few hours. If that doesn't work you can use an impact gun and that should bring it loose. Heat (as in torch) will 99% of the time break rusty bolts loose but I wouldn't use it on a brake caliper.

[TreeFitty]

What he said^ That PB Blaster is good stuff.

[jinx]

It's a little late but if you flip the wrench around where the round side is on the head you can take another preferably big wrench and hook it in and the longer length with give you ALOT more power.

[Tashtego]

I usually can get stubborn bolts loose with liquid wrench and by tapping / banging on the bolt. Give the liquid wrench time to work in. It took me years to finally have the discipline to spray a bolt down, tap a while, do something else for while, repeat...

[Ozz666]

I've done many brake jobs in our garage, and that PB Blaster is good stuff. Anyways, we have a selection of a few bars/pipes in different lengths and inner diameters that I use to slide over the socket wrench and just get a ton of torque on to break those bolts loose. One of the most useful we have is a metal hollow handle bar that is meant to be used with your std. conduit pipe benders...it works great!

- Joel

[Cleveland Metal]

PBBlaster is something we use a TON of. Let it sit and get in there to work well. That and torches, but I wouldn't use a torch on the cailper as mentioned earlier.

THEN, use a strong hard hitting impact gun with good air pressure. Don't manhandle it with a hand ratchet/breaker bar. You'll prolly just break it. The impact will slowly jar it loose.

[Rsmacker]

Aside from the good advice given above (Impact driver, WD or equiv - letting it seep in, tap it with hammer etc), perhaps try to do the bolt up. Yep, that's right, try to turn it clockwise, just a fraction. It might be all that's needed to free it up, then you can undo it.

In fact, thinking about it, there are some cars (well, Transit vans anyway)which actually have left hand threads on brake and wheel components on the LHS of the vehicle ie. turning it anticlockwise actually tightens the thing up! Might be worth checking yours isn't one of these infernal vehicles sent to try the patience of Dads and mates the world over.

Anyway, take it easy, patience, tap, lube, tap etc, or you'll end up with a rounded or snapped bolt. It WILL come out eventually, probably without a great creak or groan, it will just shift for no apparent reason when you are using the same pressure as you have been using for the past hour (or four).

And make sure you smear a little copper grease on the bolt (or it's shiny new replacement) when you put it all back together - it'll make it a hell of a lot easier to get off in future, even if you are thinking of punting it on : you never know how long you will have it for!

Good luck

[sworn_enemy]

Well, I went out this morning and figured I'd give it one more try before heading to the store to get some liquid wrench/pb blaster and a torch. That thing came off so easy I couldn't believe it. I guess sitting all night with all that WD40 on it did the trick. Thanks for all the help guys.