My old impact wrench gave up the ghost in the middle of a big brake job

So I was working on a 2012 F-150 yesterday, doing a full brake rotor and pad swap on all four corners (you know, the fun stuff). I was about halfway through, had the front passenger side caliper bracket bolts off, and went to zip off the rear ones. My trusty Milwaukee 2767, the one I've had for like five years, just made this sad little clicking noise and quit. No smoke, no smell, just dead. I had to finish the job with a breaker bar and a lot of elbow grease, which added a solid hour to the whole thing. I'm pretty sure the motor brushes finally wore out, but I haven't cracked it open yet to confirm. Has anyone had luck rebuilding these, or is it just better to bite the bullet and get a new one at this point? I'm kind of attached to this old workhorse.

2 comments

2 Comments

thomas_scott12d ago

You mentioned your Milwaukee 2767 just clicked and quit. That's actually a pretty common failure mode for that model, it's often the trigger switch or a wire coming loose, not the motor brushes. It's usually a pretty easy fix if you're comfortable opening it up. I'd take a look inside before you write it off, because that's a solid tool worth saving. A new switch is a lot cheaper than a whole new impact.

smith.anna12d ago

Oh man, @thomas_scott might have just saved you a ton of cash.