I have 95 gxe auto. Acoording to motorvate I'm supposed to have 17mm bolt for the rotor instead I got 19mm. Am I the only one?For 8 yrs never changed the rotor and only changed pad once 2 yrs ago. My problem is loosening the 19mm rotor bolt that is too tight.Tempted to use the hammer on the wrench to loosen bolt up but I'm afraid to break the bolt. Somebody might say turn it counterclockwise!!!Go ahead ,I can accept a joke!! T I A !!

 

Is it badly rusted? Use some liquid wrench on it and try again. Even if you break the bolt it cant be too hard to find a new one.

 

i sprayed my bolt with some PB blaster, put on the larges socker wrench I had (longest) and used a rubber mallet. came loose after 2-3 swings.

 

thanks CF and Bm , going to try again next weekend

 

Which bolt are you referring to? Are you talking about the caliper mounting bracket (tourque member) bolts?

I'd hit it with some penetrating agent (WD-40/liquid wrench), let that soak for a few minutes, and atempt to use a breaker bar on it. (If you don't have a breaker-bar, put a jack handle over a socket wrench)

Oh yeah: Make sure you're turning counter-clockwise.

 

Mine is 19mm too. Before I got my impact wrench, the old rubber mallet did the trick for me. Or if you have a long torque wrench or breaker bar, that'll work too. Use whatever you will, but you won't break the bolt, especially loosening it (tightening it, you might run the risk). That bolt holds the caliper mounting bracket to the car...it won't break trying to loosen it.

 

Don't ever use a torque wrench to break a bolt free!

Uhm...no, that is incorrect. You can very easily break a bolt while attempting to loosen it. I've twisted many a head off of bolts this way. Let the penetrating agent do it's job!

If you think it's a pain in the *** getting the bolt out now, imagine getting it out with no head! EZ-out may be what it's called, but there's nothing EZ about it!

 

It is a pain getting a bolt out if it breaks...true. But, he's talking about a caliper mounting bracket bolt. I've gotten it off of several cars with a socket and a mallet. Some people don't even need that. It is true that it's possible to break a bolt off while loosening it, just not real probable, especially the bolts he's talking about. I just don't want him stressing out trying to get this bolt off.

Histo, sryth is right though. When in doubt, use penetraing oil or PB Blaster (or WD-40 if you don't have it...not the same but a decent substitute). You should have a big problem taking it off.

 

The only reason I mentioned twisting off the head is that it happened to me. Not on my Maxima, but my girlfriends Geo. The caliper mounting bracket (torque member) bolts were frozen. Twisted the head right off. Not fun. It also happened on my brother's Honda Accord. Same bolt. We ended up getting a new torque member for him, as the bolt was impossible to remove (short of drilling and tapping it).

 

i think I,m going to use both of your advise.I already sprayed wd-40 last Sat. giving it a chance to work for one week .If still too tight I'm going to use the mallet as a last resort. Thanks for both advice...histo

 

histo12: I'd use a breaker-bar / jack handle over the socket wrench before I went bangin' on the wrench with a mallet.

Always use craftsman/snap on tools (something with a lifetime warrantee)! I tried to get my axle hub nuts off a couple of days ago, and I managed to break: 1/2" extension, 1/2" socket wrench (at the shaft), 3/8" socket wrench (ratchet stripped). They were all impact-grade!!!! Finally, I borrowed my father's 3/4" breaker-bar and the nut broke free.

 

The caliper bracket bolts on my 96 are 19mm. Anyhow get a large breaker bar (or a smaller one if you don't mind possibly breaking it) and put a 3 or 4 foot piece of pipe on it to lengthen the torque arm you are using and go to town. Using a 4ft torque arm as opposed to a 1ft torque arm multiplies your torque by 4. So lets say you are pushing down on it and you are putting all your weight on it and weight 175lbs. With the 1ft breaker bar you are applying 175lb-ft of torque. With a 4 ft bar you would be able to apply 4x175lb of torque which is 700lb-ft of torque.

Also don't forget the penetrating agent. I've never heard of it happening to our caliper bracket bolts but anything's possible and you definately don't want to break that bolt head off.