Stuck Disc Brake Pads

I was going to change my wife's brake pads on her 2000 Chrysler PT Cruiser, I got the caliper off with no problem but I could not get the damn pads out!! It appears they are stuck. What would cause this and how can I get them out without damaging anything, it looks like they might be rusted to the anti-rattle clips at the top and bottom. I will try to post the picture of it, I have to salvage the clips because the new pads didn't come with new ones. Could I just take the mounting bracket off with them still in place and then tap them out from the front? Help Please, Thank You!!

 

Those pads look good yet. The pads won't be stuck to the clips as the clips are stainless steel. New clips should come with new pads and should be replaced with the pads. There should also be grease and anti-squeal adhesive in the kit.

The pads should come right out. you tube/watch?v=9S0im10Z2T0

 

They should slide off I have had to pry some off with a screwdriver.

 

the pads looked good to me too, but the scratch sensor is scratching so I figured I'd change them; what do you think about the pad on the lower right (as you look at the picture), it looks a little more worn then the rest. These were changed about a year and a half ago; new pads came with the grease, but not the shims- I just ordered them for $6 US thinking they will be destroyed upon removal.

 

Caliper slide may have been sticking a little, Be sure you lube the the pins.

 

Am I to understand that he's a;ready compressed the caliper piston ?

 

We don't know.... but the caliper has been removed.

 

yes the first thing I do is remove the caliper and hang it on the spring to keep the hose safe, then push the piston back in with a c-clamp. But for some reason the damn pads won't come out!! Even the outside pad with no pressure at all on it will come out- I don't get it, I never ran into this before.

 

This is front, right?
Undo caliper bracket bolts and take entire piece out. Rotor with pads and bracket. Set it on work bench and inspect well. It's hazy picture, but from what it looks like, appears that outer pad is sitting at the angle on bracket. It could have simply jammed there. Again, it is hard to tell - but it looks like that.
$6 for brake pads? Hope that was lesson learned.
When on work bench, with good access, it can be much easier to spot wdf they are not coming off. Though GM is no Mazda or Ford, it is not known for brake pads replacement trickery. Don't start me on Mazdaspeed brake pads job.

I have wild guess. Because it's some cheapo pads, metal plates expended from heat and locked on bracket. There's plenty rust also. Hammer. Big hammer.

 

saw that video and the one by AAAuto, I have never ran into this before, it's just insane.

 

Sorry, not thinking clearly. Undo bracket bols and remove bracket with pads off the rotor. If you can, of course, if rotor does not have wear ridge.

 

PJ I saw that video and the one by AA Auto, but I have never ran into stuck brake pads before; even tapping them with a screwdriver and hammer didn't budge them- I'm at a loss here, can I take the mounting bracket off with the pads still in them without doing damage? If I can, I'll take the whole unit off and bank them out from the inside.

 

UKRBYK: no $6 for 4 new shims and bushings, brake pads and rotors came to about $90; but **** WTF?? The pads seem to have become one with the bracket and rotor. OY!!

 

Was a mechanic 30+ years and never seen pads that won't come out with a screwdriver prying on them. If stuck that bad that is why the excessive wear.

 

Hey, sorry, no offense. It's "quick reading" through posts.
No, never saw them get stuck that bad. And if they were, then rotor would have jammed on the car to start with.

 

very true, I didn't think of that, the rotor would seize.

 

I have seen rear caliper pads stuck to rotors but that was with a parking brake feature. Tore chunks of the pad getting them apart!

 

The ONLY picture I've seen in this thread still shows the Rotor and the Pads are looking like they're tight to the Rotor surface.

I asked if the Caliper Piston had been compressed, and if it has been, then there must be a ridge around the perimeter of the Rotor's wearing surface which prevents the Bracket and Pads from sliding off,

In the past, I have had this condition, and used a mallet to encourage the carrying Bracket to slide away from the center of the Rotor, and completely off.

This wheel's Caliper has been frozen in that position for quite some time, even if the Pads allow the Rotor to move between the Pads.

 

As a diyer I've never not been able to remove the pads. When they are stubborn, a screwdriver and/or hammer/mallet has always been enough to convince them to come off.

 

Pads still look good to me too. I can’t accept that the wear sensor is scratching already, I guess the pads are contacting the rotor surface and that is what can be heard.

Your pads do not look like the ones in this video? Could they be wrong pads for the application? Looks like one single pad on each side of rotor, not two per side. The caliper in the video looks like a single piston type...

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=9S0im10Z2T0

 

I do believe those springs are there to push the pads away from the rotor surface when you release the brakes, so they aren’t functioning correctly as well.....

 

jzchen, I see what you mean by single pad, the new pads I bought from a different auto supply store also gave me pads that are split into 2 individual pads- and it is a single piston system, would that make a difference?

 

It shouldn't make a difference if the rotor is scored. The brake pads slide away from the rotor for removal.
You can usually use a large (wide) screwdriver at the red boxes and work them off that way.

 

It makes no sense to me that you got double pads on each side with a single piston design. Those do not seem to be the correct pads for your car. Pressing with a single piston towards the center between the two on the one side may be what is causing all the issues with one pad wearing compared to the other 3. As PJ points out I hope you can get some sort of flat tool into the boxed area and pry them off. Then possibly try to bring them back to the shop for some sort of refund. Take a picture of the caliper with single piston and show the staff....

I’d return the new pads that it sounds like you’ve purchased as well.

 

I see your location is NJ. I searched and seems like you have AutoZones in your state. (I even saw one that seems to be open 24 hours. I miss having that here). I searched on my AutoZone app for iPad and strangely the earliest year they list a PT is 2001. They have several pads to choose from, which also seem to be of single pad on each side, which is what I think is correct for your calipers. I know from experience here that anything goes wrong with them and you can bring them back, as long as the wear does not go down to the backing plate. (I had one Sienna inner rear brake pad wear out compared to the other 3, and though that is a caliper sticking issue, my local AutoZone was willing to replace them for free. I asked to pay the difference for their higher/highest level pads). I try to buy from them whenever I need pads.....

 

Yes I got them from AutoZone this time, BUT I bought them from the store web-site and each store only shows on their web-site what's in stock. So, yea I probably bought pads that eehh should fit but are not the correct pads for the car. I still haven't fought with them yet because it rained the next 3 days after the original post, then it snowed, today was 30 degrees F with 40 mph winds and tonight we get another 1/2-3 inches of snow. Thank You All For The Intell, Good Stuff Posted Here!! Wait until you see my next post about the same car, that was todays surprise; BUT WAIT THERE'S MORE!! You've heard that before.