Removing rotors on CX-9

J

jediwebdude

Member
The 2 screws that keep the rotor attached are seemingly impossible to loosen. I have tried heating up the rotor, but no luck. Broken 2 philips heads in the process, and am starting to damage the screw. Anyone care to share a tip on how they got them loose?

Thanks,
-PJ
 
http://www.mazdas247.com/forum/showthread.php?123803198-Pictures-of-my-brake-job

DSC08035.jpg
 
Wow. Yeah with the drill bit I had, I drilled out the heads and then I took the rotors off, then unscrewed the rest of the screw by hand or pliers out of the hub. The heads drilled out very very easily, like 1 second for each one.
 
helbigtw said:
Wow. Yeah with the drill bit I had, I drilled out the heads and then I took the rotors off, then unscrewed the rest of the screw by hand or pliers out of the hub. The heads drilled out very very easily, like 1 second for each one.
Click to expand...

Nice tip, thanks!
 
Front rotors finally came off. While popping the heads worked on 3 screws, I had one screw that was melded into the threads. That required a trip to Lowes to buy titanium drill bits, and then another hour of drilling through the screw/rotor. Grrr. Not happy with Mazda right now.

New rotors are on.

One thing that amazes is me is how fast my wife goes through brake pads. The CX-9 is at 92,000 miles and I just put on the 4th set of pads tonight. I think maybe Mazda went too small on the brakes. My 4Runner pads are quite large in comparison to the CX-9 pads.
 
To get my screws off I used PB Blaster on them and then a few taps with a hammer on an impact driver, and they came off without any issue.
 
I sprayed ours with PB blaster after removing the wheels, worked on the calipers while letting it soak. I then used an impact driver ($20 from Home Depot) and a few hits with a hammer, the screw budged. It was effortless after that. I re-used the screws but put anti-seize on it. BTW, I used Centric rotors and Hawk HPS from Tirerack.
 
PB Blaster didn't work. The large philips head bit that came with the brand new impact screwdriver set from O'Reilly Automotive broke on the 3rd hammer strike. Drilling ended up being the only solution.
 
Sometimes you get lucky and they come out with one or 2 strikes on the impact screwdriver. Othertimes, drilling is the only way. I've removed them on 3 hondas and 1 cx-9 so far and have had to drill out at least a pair from each vehicle. Thankfully, the screws are really soft and does not take much to drill them out so much so that if it doesn't come out with 2 strikes, i just forgo the PB Blaster and just drill em suckers out.
 
I used PB blaster and the manual impact driver and did not realize tthe screws were lose until I tried to use a a 1/2" breaker bar with a large Phillips head and ended up slamming my breaker bar on the garage floor, as the screws were already loose LOL!
 
I use PB Blaster and an impact driver, when they are real stuck I use the impact driver in both directions...that usually breaks it free.
 
Ive encountered these on way too many vehicles. And i do what everyone else has said, 1st i try out my impact driver. And if that fails, out comes the drill. The screws really are a very soft metal and drilling them out takes no time at all.
 
I use a screwdriver bit on a 3/8" drive socket. It has a good profile that sets into the screw head very well. Also as mentioned a few hits with a manual impact screwdriver does the trick.
 
I think I may pull my wheels/tires off now while we only have 45,000 miles on it and remove the screws before they get any worse!
 
Just got a 2015, would putting anti-seize on them now help me when I need to unscrew later, or should I just remove the screws now?
 
Couple things to add.

1. Try heat next time. Anytime you're dealing with corroded metal stuck together heat helps. Basic physics... different metals expand at different rates when heated and the expansion helps snap the corrosion bonding the two parts. Once they're good and hot I'll often hit them with a blast of penetrating oil. This serves a couple purposes. First the heat helps wick the oil in and second the oil comes out of the can cold and causes the metal to cool and contract quickly, further helping break up the bond. If you don't have a good torch home depot sells MAPP gas handhelds that work great for shade tree mechanics. MAAP burns hotter than propane.

2. Unless the car uses wheel bolts instead of lug studs I never bother putting the screws back on. NE salt makes them more trouble than they're worth. If all of your lug nuts have loosened to the point that the rotor is coming off while driving you have much bigger problems than a loose rotor. On cars with wheel bolts not having the rotors locked in place makes installing the wheels a huge PITA since the holes in the rotor must line up with the holes in the hub face. You put the rim up and as you turn it trying to locate the threaded holes in the hub the rotor ends up turning and hiding the holes. Made that mistake once helping a buddy with his Volvo and never again.
 
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Sadly Mapp has been outlawed for about 4 years now in the US. The only thing available now is Mapp/Propane mix. But thats still a vast improvement over straight Propane. Which in all truth is pretty much useless for heating up automotive bolts as it doesnt get hot enough.

Personally, i use a Impact hammer. Gets the job done most every time without much time wasted.
 
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