Tips on removing stuck/seized disc/rotor

[Roady]

Hi guys

I'm after some general advice on how to remove stuck/seized discs/rotors from a/any car.

My car in question is MK7 fiesta Zetec S ('61 plate) but I have a feeling the technique and method are the same regardless of model/make.

Had an advisory on my MOT to replace discs and pads. Bought pads (EBC greenstuff) and discs (Eicher) and then had to wait 5 weeks for a replacement locking wheelnut after the last garage to change tires had damaged the existing one with an impact wrench (I'm guessing) so I couldn't get enough traction (by hand) to get one of the wheels off. Now I can't get the damn rotors off!

Both front Discs/rotor seems totally stuck. Have checked everywhere for a retaining clip/bolt and can't see any sign of one and all the guides online just say to remove the pad carrier and the rotor should just come off. There's no holes to screw a bolt in to 'push' them from the hub.

I've tried shocking it, including running it in gear and slamming the brakes on (without wheels). Levering it with a piece of 2x4 and as a last resort bought a club hammer from B&Q and even after a good 20/30 minutes hammering all around the outside (front & rear of disc) I still can't get either off. Spoken to a couple of local garages and none of them have suggested anything else except maybe even getting a bigger sledge hammer to get them off (but have read online you can damage hub bearings doing this). This is also a way to break the rotor to get it off. I've also read but I don't have a blowtorch to try heating it. Have sprayed GT85/WD40 around the internal surfaces and left to soak for 12 hours before trying again. Still no joy.

Is there some other technique I'm not aware of? Some knack for those 'in the know'? Do I just man up and smash the hell out of them with a bigger hammer (I need to buy), buy a blowtorch to heat them, buy an angle grinder to cut them off or give up completely? Two local garages have quoted me £35 & £45 for an hours labour to get them off (I have replacement discs/rotors) but neither can do it this week/next.

The car has only done 68k miles so I'm guessing these have been on there since 'new' dealer/factory 5-6 years ago. Annoying garages scrimp on copper grease/anti seize!

 

[Roady]

Yeah but the only 'heat' I have is the other halfs hairdrier, a lighter or maybe a soldering iron at best lol

I've tried to 'keep pushing' but this is more of a 'keep pulling' kinda job!

 

[Roady]

On a side note, I warped my eicher discs within around 500 miles on a light car, MX5. I usually say discs are discs, but I think there's a reason they're so cheap haha.

Meh, bit late now! Doesn't matter anyway, car is very light mileage (3800 last year) and I wouldn't say I really hammer it much these days... Possibly even less now baby is here!

haha.. keep hammering?

get one of these -;

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Campingaz-...F8&qid=1509468781&sr=8-16&keywords=blow+torch

had mine for ages and has come in handy many times. Still has gas in it.

Luls

May do this but equally it doesn't get the rotor/disc off the car, is just another thing to try when hammering it! Would the £25 be better spent on a heavy duty long handled sledge?!

 

[Roady]

You could use a puller, if need be.

Thanks, I hadn't thought to look for a specific tool!

Disks on my car were rusted on even after removing the locking screw they still wouldn't budge.
Got a mate to hammer one side while i hit the other and they eventually came off.

How much hammering did they take? The concerns I have are that if I hammer these hard enough they crack or are so badly dinged yet I still can't get them off, then I can't drive it to a garage to get it done for me lol

I can see no evidence of locking screws or holes in the disc to aid removal

Make sure you have any disc retaining screws out, many discs have two. If they're not keen on coming out then just drill the heads off. Make sure you have your caliper well out of the way and secured so you've no risk of stretching the hose and get both the carrier and caliper cleaned up theres that much corrosion on there. The same for the hub when you finally get the discs off.

I've generally balanced/hooked the caliper above the axle on the shock but before really going to town with a hammer I'll probably cable tie them up there so there's no chance of it dropping.

There's really no danger of this not getting super cleaned and coated in anti-seize when the new ones go on, don't worry!

I know it won't help much but I had this on my old 7 Series BMW front discs and spent hours smashing them with a lump hammer. Luckily I lived close enough to a someone with a proper man-tool cave that I could borrow his acetylene torch and within 5 minutes each side and bit more hammering they were off.

How much heat did you use and for how long?

As well as a big hammer some penetrating oil would probably help.

If they have rusted on you're going to need a decent wirebrush to clean up the mating faces before the new discs go on.

Got wire brushes no worries! Penetrating oil and some long threaded bars/bolts might be my weekend project...

Step I hadn't thought of - long threaded bars/bolts into the caliper mounting points to push the rotor from that side! Might even find the existing caliper mounting bolts are long enough?! Failing that buy some with nuts & washers...

Failing that I've got my eye on a puller, but not sure if a 6" is large/strong enough: https://www.screwfix.com/p/hilka-pro-craft-reversible-gear-puller-6/6696g

 

[Roady]

It took me and the brother about 2 mins of hammering and that broke the seal of rust and the disk fell off.

Will bear that in mind if the caliper bracket trick doesn't work.

That nut/bolt/washer method worked absolutely brilliantly for me when I did my brakes.

Good to hear! Not quite sure why I didn't think of it, I'd contemplated how to get a G clamp (or my caliper wind back) between them and the rotor...

Most cars have a threaded hole in the disc. This is to put a bolt in to pop off the discs. If not the bolt through the caliper brackets works a treat.

Seemingly not mk7 Fiestas! Quite surprising really, Ford are usually good for design features like that. Unless of course someone before me fitted different discs.

 

[Roady]

Haha yeah, finally sorted them yesterday after checking I still had my man card in my wallet.

Bought some M10 long bolts, nuts & washers (pack of 100 ffs @Screwfix!) which I didn't end up using. Speaking to brother in law on saturday he gave me a few tips (runs his own garage/VAG dealership) - get the car higher up on the axle stands, secure it more with blocks, get behind the discs and drive them off, not little taps. Use a block of wood to spread the blow and not jar hammer/arm so much. Also take the car out for a rag first to warm the discs! Got them a little too warm and burnt a finger!

Some of the advice here was great, but I think before by hammering the central part of the disc face to 'break' the rust seal didn't really do very much for me as the interface was so tight for clearance & so corroded/rusted. Driving them off from behind it was clear the rotor\disc needed to move 1/2" or more to really break free of the rust. Hitting the edges from the face wouldn't provide enough power/leverage.

 

[Roady]

Any recommendations on a good quality socket set & spanners I can request for xmas? Say <£150.

I bought a £30 3/8" ratchet from B&Q that didn't live through this job. Felt quality but obviously cheap inside. Replaced it with one from Screwfix for £17 and it feels more solid but the mechanism is rough as hell and I can see it causing me issues and jamming in future. Spanners I have are all imperial handmedowns (wtf!) and the adjustables I have are all quite small. My only 6" one is obviously quite cheap as mechanism now quite bent and the faces very marked.

My sockets are otherwise all 1/4" but nothing larger than 15cm (cycling orientated). I'd quite like larger sockets for this kinda job and others in future, should I go up to 1/2" for this?

 

[Roady]

Although you have already done this, the easiest way by far is to make a cut in the disc with an angle grinder and then split it with a hammer and big chisel.

Takes seconds and minimal effort.

I'd have needed to buy an angle grinder... Also wheel studs are hub mounted, I'd have needed to split the rotor/disc in 3-4 places and still also risk damaging them.

Seconding this.

Have a look at their black friday/cyber monday deals. They seem to always without fail have a 50% off sale on their pro kits.
<snip>
Worth buying now ready for christmas!

Good shout & thanks. We all think the Halfords 'Advanced' kit is good enough quality?

Hammering discs off runs the real risk of Brinelling the hub bearings. What often works is a variation of the spin the hubs up off the ground with the wheels off trick cited earlier. Leave the car ON the ground, loosen the front hub nuts or bolts about two turns, then drive the car about 20 MPH and hit the foot brake hard. The inertia of the vehicle puts a LOT more torque into the disc / hub interface than it does with no wheels on and no vehicle mass to retard. It usually breaks the rust bond without risking bruising the tracks of the hub bearings.

Although a good idea in principle I'd rather not drive the car at 20mph with loose wheel nuts around the street!

I did try it with the wheels in the air on axle stands but figured the wheel hub rattling on the outside of the disk wasn't doing more than me smashing the face of it with my hammer.

I've had a wheel work itself loose when moving on a van before now, didn't come off but caused quite a bit of damage to the studs!

 

[Roady]

I had to cut a front disc from my sons mondeo a few weekends ago, no amount of hammering was freeing it.

Yeah, I understand the concept and would've just paid a garage to do it for me rather than buying an angle grinder & risking damaging the hub & studs! Did you break the disc at the 2 o'clock position trying to hammer it off? How did you avoid damaging the studs, or just not worry?

My discs look similar to yours, maybe a little less rust on the centre but much more rust and marking around the edges, with quite a distinct lip on them not evident on yours...

I would buy some copper slip too

Sorted! Already had some suitable (bike maintenance).

And the trick of jacking them off using the brake calliper mounting risks bending the mountings if they are really tight, so it has to be carried out with care.

Of course in an ideal world the manufacturers would think about this sort of thing and produce vehicle designs that were actually capable of being maintained, but hey ho, .... :/

Yup, I had intended on adding some pressure to them using the caliper mounts and then jarring them with a hammer. Thankfully didn't need to!

The cheap(ish) replacement discs/rotors (Eicher) I've fitted have screw holes in the face you can use to aid removal. Whatever discs it came with (I'm guessing as low mileage) have nothing like it, which I'm quite surprised about being a Ford... In my experience Ford have always previously been fairly good/easy to service and is one of the reasons I chopped the Audi in for it 4 years ago!