I Broke my Caliper Bolt

I would buy a new caliper -- you can get a "fully loaded" caliper complete with pads for not much more than the pads themselves. (You will need to bring in the old caliper or pay a $30 core charge) Sounds like something is not right -- the bolts should not be that tight. Typically they should only be torqued at between 25 - 30 Ft Lbs. (I just did a front brake job two days ago) - calipers, pads and rotors -- parts cost about $300.

Tom, thanks for the mail....yeah i kind of wondered why they were so tight .... a mechanic told me that the combination of ice and rusting may have stuck them.....I wasn't expecting it to be so tight....

basically, which would be cheaper:

• taking it to a mechanic who can manage and carefully drill out the broken bolt - this i understand can take time

or

• replacing a caliper - if i go by this route can i change the caliper on only one side

• after changing the caliper, do i have to bleed....

cheers , Noela

it may help to know what bolts broke,

The bolts that hold the caliper to the torque member or the bolts that hold the torque member to the spindle

NissTech - it is the bolts that hold the caliper to the torque member (the torque member is called caliper bracket, right?).

The broken piece is embedded in the little rubber boot (pin boot) that attaches to the torque member. In otherwords, the caliper itself is ok....

Will I have to replace the pin boot or the torque member to resolve the problem....me thinks...

thanks - N

if all that is broken are the slide pin bolts , all you really need to replace are the pins and bolts, you can get them from the dealership

Good, I will visit the dealership tomorrow and get:

- Boot,

- Boot Pins

- Bolts

Thanks -- Noela

NissTech wrote:

and be sure to stop by the auto parts store and pick up some grease for the new pins

you mean synthetic grease, as mentioned in the Hayne's manual...

how much do you think the bolts and boot pins would cost?

Finally, I am concerned about the remaining bolts on the torque member, and the right caliper bolts? i sprayed them this afternoon with Liquid Rench, hoping that they would soften a bit if Iget to work on them tomorrow...

do you know of any other solution for handling these stubborn bolts?

cheers - N

I'm really not sure of the caliper pin bolts and pins , I don't think they would be much over 25 bucks.

The torque member bolts (the bolts that secure the torque member to the spindle) , if those are rusted/frozen in place you may need to get new torque members and bolts.

You may want to try a product called B-Laster (like it sounds... Blaster), it is the BEST penetrating oil on the market !!

and synthetic grease is really not needed for the caliper pins, just get a good quality high temp grease and all will be fine.

Nisstech - is B-Laster different from PB Blaster? I've always used PB Blaster, but would love to find something that works even better... here is a link to PB Blaster:

I was trying to remove the plastic shields under the engine bay and all those 10mm bolts are shearing... what do you guys do in the shop for these types of situations?

Nirav

96 Max GLE, 120k

My bad, It is PB Blaster.

What the heck was I thinking, It been a long day at the shop.

A product called "enforce" By BG products is even better but hard to find unless you have an account with them like a shop would.

NissTech, I want to be clear on this point:

"The torque member bolts (the bolts that secure the torque member to the spindle) , if those are rusted/frozen in place you may need to get new torque members and bolts. " - do you mean one should give up on removing rusted/frozen torque member bolts and just get a new torque member....or you mean one should get a new one if the bolt gets broken?

Would it be better for me to take it to a shop and let them remove it for me before doing the brake installs.... - or would it be better (cheaper) to let the shop do all the brake work (front rotors & pads), dealing with the stubborn screws at the same time? - I really want to learn how to do the brakes myself though, but the stubborn screws are discouraging.... cheers - Noela

Noela - not sure how you intend to drive the car to a shop (you could get towed I suppose) with the caliper broken off...

If you damage the torque member bolts while forcing them off, then you might need new bolts. If you end up having to cut/torch the bolts off, you might end up weakening/damaging the torque member, in which case you would want to replace the torque member as well as the bolts.

If you are able to break the bolts free using penetrant and a long breaker bar with a pipe or something for extra leverage, you should be able to reuse all your existing hardware.

Keep at it - you are almost there...

The other option you have is to rent an electric impact wrench and sockets. You should be able to get the bolts undone with that.

Cheers, Nirav

Nirav, thanks for the tip....I intend to get a long breaker bar for better leverage...currently, I am using a very small 6" wrench, and it is getting to a point where I might end up bending it...

I will follow your suggestion and get a long breaker bar....if all else fails, I might get an electric impact wrench (that is similar to what mechanics use, right ?)

cheers, Noela