2002 Accent rotor removal

I just replaced the rotors on my Elantra this weekend, which is similar to your Accent. The rotors are not pressed on, but they tend to rust in place. Generally, the only way to get them off is to cut them down to the hub in two places and split them, which is not as difficult as it sounds. I made hacksaw cuts that lined up with the holes for the rotor retaining screws and split them by driving a screwdriver into the saw cuts. It took ~10 minutes per cut with a hacksaw and a sharp 18 TPI blade. Even after splitting them, it still took some "persuasion" with a mallet to get them off, due to rust around the periphery of the hub. I cleaned that up with a file once the old rotors were off and the new ones slid right into place.

BTW, the heads of the rotor retaining screws will almost invariably shear off when you try to remove them. It doesn't matter as they're not structural, simply an assembly convenience. The wheels hold the rotors tight to the hubs and the studs and hubs position them properly, so the screws aren't necessary.

Wow, so you are actually sawing through the rotor and more or less breaking it off the hub? I suppose this would be less traumatic than pounding away with a hammer to break them free.

Brian Nystrom wrote:

This is what i did. Heat them up with a torch and a few light taps with a mallet and they were off.

Just my 0.02 $ Finn

Exactly. It sounds rather draconian, but it's a lot gentler than wailing on them with a sledge hammer.

There's no way I would ever have gotten them off without cutting them, as they're were rusted to the hub at it's periphery. I did try using a

3# hand sledge carefully to free them, but they wouldn't budge. Rather than wailing on them and risking trashing the bearings, I cut them off. I had seen this same thing recommended by several people on the Elantra Club website and it works well.

Perhaps if you have access to an oxy-acetylene torch (I don't), you might be able to heat them enough to break them free, but I think you'd be hard-pressed to heat something as large as a rotor enough with a propane torch. Keep in mind that heating can also cook the grease in the hub and/or damage the bearings. The key is to heat the rotor very quickly, causing it to expand away from the hub, then remove it before the hub gets too hot. That requires a lot of heat.

The hacksaw is total committment to the job, that is for sure. :)

I >nobody wrote:

Exactly. Whether you cut them or beat them, they're trashed either way. The question then becomes how much damage do you do to yourself and the rest of the car. Cutting them off minimizes both.

I'm going to pick up pads and rotors for the weekend. Looks like a couple of hacksaw blades as well.

So how many cuts are you mak>nobody wrote:

If you have a compressor ( or know somone who does), an air chissel works great. Most of them come with differrent bits and are cheep. Putting it on the back of the rotor, it will push it off with minimum dammage to anything including the rotor (depends on how carful you are) and no chance of a hammer slipping out of your hand and hitting a fender or smashing something (hand). A lot of shops use this method. Bill

Correct, two cuts on opposite sides of the rotor. I made the cuts in line with the retaining screw holes, but that leaves two studs in each half. In retrospect, I wonder if it might have been smarter to make the cuts in line with the studs, which would leave only one stud in each half.