I was trying to do the front rotors on my wife's 03 Forester. while trying to take off the bolts from the caliper bracket, I managed to snap off the bolt head from the bottom bolt. As you can see in the photo, the shiny piece is what remains, I need to get that bolt out so I can replace the rotors. Anyone got any pointers for helping me get this out and how? Thanks.
Gonna have to drill it out very carefully. Start with a small bit and work your way to a larger one. Just don't use a bit large enough to take out the threads. Good luck man. I know how much that sucks.
Take punch and mark the center. Start with a small drill bit and step your way up. Should drive through with the drill after you relive some of the tension.
I love (not really) that I knew which bolt before I even clicked the link. Drill it out using the instructions above and then helicoil it.
Personally....I wouldn't bother. About $50 will buy you a used knuckle. I've never had very good luck extracting broken bolts.
Thanks Terry, I'll give that a go and see if I can get at it. And thanks everyone for the helpful advice.
I'm not sure if the Forester has the same setup as my 03 Outback, but the hole in the knuckle isn't threaded -- the caliper bracket is threaded. I broke the exact same bolt a couple years ago. The top one unthreaded fine. I used a hammer and a spare bolt and pounded the bolt out of the knuckle, walking the rotor off with the caliper bracket. Then I welded a 6" bolt or something to what was left of that broken bolt, applied some heat to the bracket, and slowly worked it out. Chased it with a tap, replaced both bolts and used plenty of anti-seize. Both bolts came out just fine earlier this year. Or, just pound that bracket out and find yourself a caliper with bracket from a parts store.
Jay has the solution that I would try first. The knuckle is not threaded and applying some heat to that area should allow you to hammer/punch it through and deal with the broken bolt with the brake bracket out of the car.
It's like $30-50 for a new pad carrier (minus the caliper piston) compared to spending a few hours heating, drilling out, and potentially helicoiling the one you have. As mentioned, get the caliper assembly off the hub first. Then take the pad carrier portion to the parts store for the core refund.
Oh yea, I completely spaced that the threads are in the caliper bracket. Probably going to be a bitch getting it out of the knuckle, but probably doable. If you can get the top bolt out, you can probably use the bracket as leverage to rotate the bolt in the knuckle to break it free. Then, definitely a remanufactured caliper bracket. I know Autozone lists calipers and brackets separately. Subaru part number for it is 26225AG090, and retails for $77.75. Not a terrible option, especially since I think Morries Minnetonka gives a 20% discount from that.
