brakes-rotor removal

rotor removal probs on the 850
thanks to Jack for this email sent Oct 2003

Just a note on some considerable difficulty I encountered when trying to remove the rotors on my 1996 850 Turbo. The instructions on this site and
elsewhere indicate you may need a hammer to 'tap' the rotors off. Not true in my case, they were frozen on even when using a 5 pound mallet
(carefully!). The local Volvo repair shop was perplexed as was IPD, but IPD suggested using some PB Blaster instead of the WD40 I had used.
After an hour of soaking with the PB Blaster, I finally was able to hammer the rotors off. These were the original rotors, 71,000 miles, seven years
old. Lots of salt on the roads in the winter around here, therefore a nasty rust buildup between the hub and the rotors. So in case you encounter a
similar problem, the procedure:

put the car in neutral so you can rotate the hub by hand
spray PB Blaster into the holes on the face of the hub and down the ventilation slots between front and backside rotor surfaces--this is critical
so that the fluid gets into the horizontal surface between hub and rotor. Look at your new rotor and you will see why
rotate the hub so you can spray down ventilation slots on opposite sides of the rotor
let sit for 30 minutes to 1 hour
using a heavy mallet (not a light ball peen hammer), tap the rotor around the hub help loosen the rust bond, then from the backside rap the
rotor on the little outer rim left after the rotor wore down (just so you don't damage the pad contact surface in case this doesn't work)
rotate the rotor between raps--you can only hit the backside of the rotor in one area to the front due to the shield over the rest of the rotor
don't get discouraged, this may take a bit of trying and then suddenly, hopefully, the rotor pops off

You might alternatively try a puller--I couldn't find one suitable for this purpose.

One other problem area, the 15mm caliper bracket bolts were very tight. I had to use a breaker bar to loosen them, so don't try this with your little
3/8" drive ratchet. Not even my 1/2" ratchet would do the job, so I had to jump on my bike and ride to the parts store to get the breaker bar. I
noticed IPD has a telescoping breaker bar for use on lug nuts--if you can put a 15mm socket on, it might be a good choice so you can adjust the
length to fit in the cramped wheelwell space.

Had I know all this in advance, I would have saved a number of sweaty aggravated hours!

Jack Corneveaux
Park City, Utah

I find it somewhat amusing, all the hype about torquing lugnuts. I change over my summer tires to winter snows (on separate steel rims) on my 96
850 Turbo twice a year using a plan old cross lug wrench. No torquing. And no warping. Never torqued spark plugs, crank drain plugs, brake fluid
bleeders, etc either. Maybe growing up working in my father's Garage and Ambulance business plus 35 years of working on my own cars for minor
maintenance has calibrated my hands...

Jack Corneveaux
Park City, Utah USA

If you have any experiences, facts, hints comments or data that you think might be useful on the site, please

and I will post it, with an acknowledgement of your contribution (if you so wish).