Long time reader, first time poster. I'm in the process of replacing all of my rotors and pads on a 2005 R53 MINI (and doing the Poor Man's JCW Brake Upgrade for the front brakes) and decided to pull the rear calipers to clean them up and paint them red (already cleaned and painted the R56 S calipers and carriers I bought on eBay). Since both of my parking brake cables were shot, I figured I'd pull them and maybe do that job while I had everything apart. Both cables had disintegrated in the little rubber boot that sits just past the caliper holes, so I pulled them both off (and the broken cable ends) with ease.

But then came the metal fittings.

On the passenger side, I was able to wiggle the cable free by grabbing the bent metal tubing right before the caliper, and the metal fitting was loose enough to hammer out of the caliper hole. Great! Then I tried the other side to no avail. I ended up cutting the parking brake cable just past the bent metal tubing and disconnected the brake line so I could pull the entire caliper and work on it.

I've since tried WD-40 and a hammer, a small chisel on the other side, and today I borrowed an air hammer to try and get it free. But it won't even budge! The only thing I have left at this point is heat (I don't own a heat gun).

Suggestions? Do I need to buy a new caliper at this point? I've read several parking brake replacement articles, watched several videos, and search this forum but nothing I've seen has helped thus far...

 

PB blaster and work it out, let it soak overnight. It works much better than WD 40.

 

Figured that was my next attempt, so I picked up a can of PB Blaster last night and I just soaked the spot on my caliper and let it sit this morning. I'll give it another go in a few hours. If that doesn't work, I also picked up a small butane torch to heat it up and then I'll try air hammering that thing out.

 

Welcome.

 

Update: PB Blaster is the real deal. I sprayed the parts every few hours and let it soak throughout the day, then used a regular hammer to free the cable from the caliper. Didn't even need the air hammer until I got down to the last little bit. Thanks for the advice!

 

Thats great. It works most of the time.
Your welcome.

 

late reader but when I read the first post my immediate reaction was PB Blaster !

WD is good, PB is better for busting a seized fitting