%@#^&# Bleeder Screw

[kilrwail]

I'm only posting this to whine and get sympathy. This morning I started to change the brake fluid in my Spider. Before withdrawing the old fluid from the reservoir I tried to loosen the front left bleeder screw. Of course, it sheared off, in spite of liberal quantities of WD-40 and heat. It wouldn't have bled much anyway, because the last shop to work on the brakes didn't install a rubber cap, so it was plugged solid with crud. Why do they face upwards? I will get new screws and rubber lines, since they are dry, and I will drill out the old screw(s). If necessary I'll replace a calliper or two! I only wish I'd started this in March, before the good weather arrived. Oh well, I still love old cars

[racydave]

Peter, I too tried to drill mine, no luck! Just the nature of the beast... Want some Cheese too?

[mbouse]

sympathy extended.

i get to look to doing that whole routine over again on a car that JUST had it done last year. leak somewhere...

which is worse? doing it all over again (and again) or replacing everything like you are looking at?

[kilrwail]

Mike - I'd rather not be doing it over again like you, but at least all your nuts and bolts should be free. I had to replace rear lines and front callipers on the Mazda this winter due to rust issues, so I'm an "old" hand.

Dave - I've drilled out a few broken bolts over the years, so I'll let you know how it goes. Swiss cheese would be good, and appropriate.

[engineerted]

You should be able to find bleeder repair kits at most auto part stores. This would be the better route to go, so in the future when you go to bleed the brakes again and you snap it off you will have a second chance by unscrewing the repair body from the caliper. They look like this. http://www.levineautoparts.com/bleederrepair.html

Ted

[kilrwail]

Thanks Ted - that would be a good option if I can't drill it out.

[rlux4]

Peter, are you talking about drilling it out, or drilling it so you can use an EZ-out?
Ron

[kilrwail]

Ron - The centre hole is still visible, just completely plugged. I'll ream that out and try an EZ-Out, with heat. There's very little material in these things, so it will be interesting to see how quickly it disintegrates. I won't start until I get the new rubber lines, but I'll let you all know how it goes. Thanks for the input.

[engineerted]

Dude !!! I can see it now, broken ez-out %@& sh---------t,

Ted

[mbouse]

http://www.rockauto.com

rebuilt brake calipers in stock.

many an EZ out broken on frozen bleed screws.

[narfire]

If you have access to a welder, try the weld to a nut trick. It has worked great on the 2 broken bleed screws I had on my calipers. The threads are not damaged by this and will take a new bleed screw no problem.
Good luck
Chris

[kilrwail]

I don't have a welder, but I discussed it with the local general mechanic who has worked on everything imaginable, as well as my Porsche guy. I have the small square-style EZ-out and some advice on how to use it. Just waiting on rubber lines. Surprisingly, all of this stuff (including callipers) is available through NAPA, which is very convenient. Thanks for the link to Rock Auto, Mike - looks very useful. I'll tackle this next week, after some lapping!

[mbouse]

Rock Auto is gonna be a sponsor of FFO '09, and has helped several chapters with some gift certificates recently.

have your chapter representative give me a holler and i will put him/her in touch with the right gal. Any other FLU chapter representative reading this is welcome to do the same thing.

[majicwrench]

An easyout is likely NOT going to do it, if the original hex sheared off it is stuck!!! And once you break off the easy out you are really stuck. On my Fiat, both fronts were stuck, I heated em,, tapped on em, soaked em, heated em, tapped em.....over the course of several days, one came loose, I finally broke the other, then drilled it out. The bleeder screw is hard, the calper is soft, the drill want to really go into the soft stuff. At least there is a good pilot hole to work with!!
Have fun,
Keith

[kilrwail]

All you experts were right - again. The EZ-Out snapped off, in spite of liberal heat and WD-40. I was able to remove it and drill out the bleeder and re-tap the hole, but it seeped under heavy pedal pressure. Life is too short. Re-man callipers are available right now through NAPA. I have better things to do.