Hi All,

Anyone have any advice on removing the front calipers on a 1982 240? I've got a shiny new set of wheel bearings and these $#*&! bolts have me stopped cold.

There's not much room to swing my favorite breaker bar & torque multiplier device (some old pipe!) I've got the thing soaked to the hilts with liquid "wench" and they're not budging. They've probably never been removed - are they usually a bitch to get off? I know they're torqed down with loctite, that and 20yrs of heat treatment...

Even in I had air, I doubt I could get the impact wrench into a decent position.

Greg

Hey Everyone - thanks for the excellent advice. Once I soaked them for 1/2 day with some P-Blaster (my first can - that stuff is great), they yielded to my 1/2" drive breaker bar and a 6pt socket. Turning the wheel hard to port or starboard gave me plenty of room to work around. My only complication in this whole wheel bearing job was a clogged brake bleed nipple (I punted, it was an upper front), and some already stripped lug nuts from its prior life.

My first time doing a brake job on a 240 - easiest vehicle I've ever done!

Thanks again, brickboard people!!

Greg

I have a stupid question. Are you sure you're turning it in the right direction? Since the bolts are put in from the inside out, from your perspective you should be turning your wrench clockwise. In other words, it IS a normal bolt, if you're looking at it from a normal point of view. But you're coming from the other side, so you need to remember that.

Sometimes the simple things are easy to forget. :)
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Kenric Tam
1990 Volvo 740 base sedan (B230F)
My Volvo 'Project'

Worth asking IMHO. I never get screwed up when looking inside out...but somehow my mind gets funky when thinking about a bolt under the car. All is well when I climb under and start turning, but invariable the rat-shit is set bass ackwards.
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Paul's Amsoil and other lubricants

Right hand rule. Most bolts, screws are right hand threaded. (except, for example, left side bike pedals which would turn out if they were RH threaded.)

Anyhow, make like your hitching for a ride with your right hand. Thumb points in direction bolt, screw, nut is to go and fingers point in direction you turn.

I'm constantly checking my right hand to confirm.

Note: All bets are off if you forget which is your right hand. (It does happen.)
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1980 245 Canadian B21A with SU carb and M46 trans

Well then you have to remember the other rule which is to hold your hands out in front of you with your thumbs facing each other. The one that looks like an L is your left hand.

Of course if you forget the alphabet, then you're REALLY in trouble. ;)
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Kenric Tam
1990 Volvo 740 base sedan (B230F)
My Volvo 'Project'

"you have to remember the other rule which is to hold your hands out in front of you with your thumbs facing each other. The one that looks like an L is your left hand. "

Great! Why didn't somebody, eg. teacher, tell me this sooner? All those years ...

(When I was a kid, I didn't know my right from my left. Finally figured it out when I lost a tooth on what I was told was my right side. Tongue would feel for space when needed to know which side was which. Now, though that space has long since been occupied by a permanent tooth, tongue still reaches for that space. All those years ...)
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1980 245 Canadian B21A with SU carb and M46 trans

What brand of pene? Their are about 3 or 4 that work, the rest are useless.

Heat.

Wrench and hammer work for me. I use a dead blow hammer....alternating with a small ball peen...it's a frequency of vibration thing, Kenneth.
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Paul's Amsoil and other lubricants

If you don't budge them with muscle and the penetrant doesn't dissolve the loctite, use your 19mm combination wrench. Hold the closed end firmly on the bolt head with the index and middle fingers of your non-dominant hand and whack the open end of the wrench with a big, fine hammer. Move it about 30 degrees, then finish with your favorite ratchet.
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Art Benstein near Baltimore

Umm, keep in mind that box end wrenches tend to be 12 point and might round the head of the bolt.

I'd use a six point socket with a 1/2" wrench. Since my wrench is Craftsman and guaranteed for life, I wack it with a 2lb (?) hammer/mallet.

Though RStarkie's suggestion is preferable. Ie. If space allows, eg. try turning wheels as previosly suggested, you should be able to use a very long tube that slips over the wrench handle to get additional torque (press down on it with your foot). A socket wrench with an extended handle doesn't require much arc movement to crack a bolt loose.
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1980 245 Canadian B21A with SU carb and M46 trans

yeah you can get a long extension on front or back. Front you turn the wheels enough that the caliper is almost sideways. Rear you can angle the bar down toward the rear. One problem with this. Your 6 point socket may not strip the head, but it can snap the bolt head right off. I just learned this the hard way, and spent about 4 hours yesterday dealing with what was left of the bolt.

Guess I'm used to not being able to turn the wheel (boneyard - no key). But the thought of rounding off a 19mm caliper bolt never crossed my mind. I've never been able to put a mark on those hardened fasteners. I can understand why sheer torque would snap those - they look brittle to me and you never know what the last guy used in the form of air impact.

Now, all bets are off if you're talking the newer style with the 15mm heads. I'd like to hear the story explaining why they switched.
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Art Benstein near Baltimore

I rounded the heads off on the front calipers of my old Saab 900 when I was still a student. They were a 15 or 16 mm head and I think I had some cheap 12 point sockets. I didn't have the money to pay someone to get them out for me so I figured out another way to change the rotors. I figured out that if I pounded out 2 studs I could take the rotor off without removing the caliper. I changed them that way a few times(You need to replace the brakes on 900s almost as frequently as you need gas). I also later discovered that the bolts had locking tabs on them. The bolts came off much easier when I bent those out of the way.

Using penetrating solvent only counts if it is PB Blaster or Kroil. There is definitely an advantage to using either one of those.

Make sure you are using a six point socket.

Use the advantage of being able to turn the wheel into a position that gives you your best angle at getting you breaker bar and pipe into position.

Do not use extensions on the socket unless necessary.

Go for it.

Randy