Your old mechanic's trick was to either have a phillips impact driver, or just a plain phillips end 'socket', he put the phillips end in the screw and whacked it with a 2 lb. hammer a few times.

90 % of the time that works, and the screw easily backs out. However in harder driven (and track driven) cars the brakes see more heat and those damn screws get peskier.

 

i...hate...those screws...the very last one i had to get out on the s2000 stripped, the last one on my integra stripped. hate you rotor screws! hate you! however drilling out a rotor screw takes about 2 minutes. down with rotor screws!

in fact, i think i'll add an upcoming DIY about how to throw away rotor screws specifically for the s2000 application. heh.

thes2000blog.com

 

This is what you DO need to put on them if you put them back.
Impact screwdrivers and punches are what you don't need if you put on what you do need.
And don't overtighten.

But you might as well leave them out.

 

I realize this is an old thread, but I spent 4 friggin' hours trying to get the screws out of my passenger side rotor last night. I broke 4 #3 phillips bits AND the #3 bit that came with the impact driver that I bought at AutoZone. I also tried a couple "tricks" that I found on Youtube. On top of that, one of the broken phillips bits left the tip stuck in one of the screws, and I couldn't get it out. Even drilling that sucker didn't work! If not for the fact that I had already damaged the rotor so bad by beating it all to hell with a sledge hammer, I would have just given up!

I decided that maybe I just needed a better impact driver and extra #3 bits, so I went to Sears. On the way home, it occurred to me that maybe it would be easier to get out if it were really cold, so I stopped at OfficeMax to get some compressed air cans for cleaning keyboards and stuff. Sure as shlt, it friggin' worked!

I just sprayed the head of the screws with the can upside down for about a minute, until it was obviously very cold, then it came right out with just 1 good hit with the impact driver. I was super relieved, but what was even better is that the one with the broken phillips tip in it came out super easy too! I tapped it on the edge a couple times with a flat head screw driver, and it started turning!

Even though it was a bitch getting them out, I did put them back in with antisieze. It seems like they might help center the rotor on the hub.

 

I didn't actually try putting vice grips on a regular screw driver, but I did go through several #3 bits in a socket wrench. They just kept shattering.

This is my 8th Honda, and I've been tracking and autocrossing on and off since '93. I've removed these screws countless times, and have NEVER had as hard of a time as this. I believe they were so difficult because A) they hadn't EVER been removed before and B) I did a track day with Cobalt XR3's at a track that is VERY hard on brakes just a couple months ago. I melted the XR3's all over the rotors, so I had to throw those pads away after just about 60 minutes of track driving. I should have thrown the rotors away too, but thought they would clean up. I was wrong, since this happened this week while bedding in new pads for another track day next Monday.

 

Here's a video of me freezing it...
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xbcJ8V9wneY [/media]

 

I did a friend's Accord today and he bought 4 cheaper aftermarket rotors for the car. A couple rotors the screw holes didn't even line up with the ones on the hub, and some of the new rotors didn't even come with holes for the screws. The shop that put on the previous set of rotors didn't put the screws back in all of the rotors. So we didn't use screws on the car as they were missing or didn't fit the new rotors. I would re-use them if you have them and the don't get stripped coming out, but if you don't have them there won't be any harm.

 

Sounds like you needed the universal solution: a bigger hammer.

Personally, I find a 40 oz ball peen just about right, on the Craftsman 1/2" square impact driver with the 5/16" hex bits.

 

I do find that a heavy hammer such as that works better, I did try using a rubber mallet on the impact driver but it didn't seem to do the job like the heavier metal hammer. The heavy hammer really put some pressure on the screw and it cracked open easier using it.

 

I think a rubber mallet would be the wrong thing to use, since it will deaden the blow. If you want to "crack" the screw loose, a steel hammer will do a much better job, even if it's significantly lighter.