Saturn SL/2 Stuck Brake Rotors

Disclaimer: don't work on your brakes unless you know what you're doing. I take no responsibility for any issues that arise from the following advice. If in doubt, always consult a professional (which I am not).

This is not a complete brake rotor or pad changing guide. This is just about getting the stuck rotor removed.

I tried it all:

Hammering
PB Blaster
Waiting
Hammering
WD-40
Waiting
Hammering
Heat
Hammering
etc.

Dang thing wouldn't budge. Watched a ton of YouTube videos that assured me that this thing would definitely work—it works every time. You know the ones. (On that note, I certainly don't guarantee this will work.) A lone comment on a YouTube video mentioned "the bolt trick" that worked for them. The video didn't mention anything about bolts, but I found another comment that loosely described it. So I'm going to more concretely describe it here.

Step 0: Remove the Caliper and Bracket

When I did this, I was changing the pads anyway, so I removed the caliper and the bracket. The service manual says that when you reinstall, you must use high-temperature thread locker on the bracket fasteners when reinstalling, or else use new fasteners.

This image shows the bracket bolts—here I've already removed the caliper:

You'll need leverage to remove those fasteners, or heat. They're on tight. If you can't get access, maybe (carefully if on a stand) cranking the wheel over might help, but I didn't do this.

Hang the entire caliper and bracket assembly from the strut spring with a bungee or wire. (Or just hang the caliper if you've removed it from the caliper bracket.)

Step 1: Chemicals

I sprayed PB Blaster (many recommend WD-40) into the lug bolt holes and around the axle. I let that sit for hours. I have no idea if that helped.

Step 2: Hammering

I hammered around the rotor at the locations indicated below.

I put the lug nuts on the end on the bolts to prevent me from missing and messing up the threads! I also used a brass driver to separate my hammer impact from the lug bolts. You don't want to mess those up—"It would be bad."

Some Internet commenters said to never hammer on the braking surface as the rotor could shatter. I don't know about this, but I didn't try it.

I like to think hammering did something to loosen up the rust, but have no way to measure this. Lots of mud and crap fell out of the rotor while I was hammering it, though.

Those areas are also where I applied heat on one of the rotors. I didn't bother with heat on the second rotor.

Step 3: The Bolt Trick, At Last

When you do this, you'll want to do it a little at a time. Don't just put the bolt on and start cinching it down—you'll probably bend something that isn't meant to bend! "It would be bad." We're going to do a little, then rotate the rotor, then a little more, then rotate, etc.

The idea is that you're going to get a long bolt that's the same diameter as the bracket mounting bolts. You're going to put it through the same hole as the bracket mounting bolt (which is unthreaded), and the put a nut on the other side of the hole.

I chose the top bracket mounting hole because it seemed to have more meat and I didn't want to bend anything.

Here it is shown with the rotor already removed:

Now you have a press! You can hold the bolt with a wrench and tighten the nut and it'll apply force on the rotor. In particular, it applies it to this little fortuitously-placed lip on the rotor. When you start to tighten it, verify that the bolt is pressing against this and not slipping off! "It would be bad."

A demonstration of where the bolt presses on the rotor:

Put the car in neutral (making sure you're on a jackstand and the emergency brake is on and the wheels are chocked).
Tighten the nut on the press until it seats in that little lip on the rotor.
Tighten it another half turn or so, applying a bit of force but not going overboard. When pressing, observe the rotor face against the lug bolts. You might see some outward motion, or you might not. The goal is to see some small movement.
Loosen the press all the way and rotate the rotor (the wheel) a quarter of a turn.
Repeat this three more times to get all the way around the rotor.
Do it all again, looking for the rotor face to move against the lug bolts. Maybe apply a little more force this time around.
Repeat it all until the rotor breaks free. Mine did it with little fanfare and just sort of eased off.

Both of my rotors came off after about 1.5 rotations of the rotor using this technique.

Before installing the new rotor

Be sure to clean its braking surface with brake cleaner to remove the manufacturer's oil.
Remove rust from the wheel mounting surfaces with a wire brush.

The service manual (2000 Saturn SL/2) says this about the bracket mounting bolts:

NOTICE: Clean caliper support bracket fasteners thoroughly with brake and choke cleaner (P/N 21007432 or equivalent). Apply a high temperature thread locker (Loctite 2728 or equivalent) to caliper support bracket fasteners. If Loctite 2720 (or equivalent) is not available, new caliper support bracket fasteners must be used.

Good luck!