Broke my bleeder valve stem... [Merged 8-7]

[doodie]

The weather was nice today so I decided to go out to bleed my brakes since I haven't bled it since I changed my rotors and pads a while ago. Took a flarenut wrench at it and no dice. The thing is siezed on pretty damn good so I took a pair of channel locks and went at it. The whole thing just snapped off. I'm left with really little to grip on right now but I just can't get it to hold with the channel locks. What can I use to get that piece of shit off that caliper?

 

[Mike1992]

You have one of them broken bolt remover kits? If not try that, if that dont work (didnt work for me) find a new caliper

 

[doodie]

Yeah, I guess I'm going to have to get a new pair anyways. I snapped off the passenger side and the driver side's piston boot is teared up.

 

[Mike1992]

ouch thats $$$expensive

 

[doodie]

well, its not really all that expensive. I see them around for like 40-50$ for a pair. They're single piston calipers anyways, it doesn't worth much.

 

[2Much_Eclipse]

what should i do? should i just get new calipers?

 

[Fattie92]

HMMM..well it all depends on a few things..

How is it broke? .. meaning is there any sticking out that you can clamp onto?

How good are you at improvising? ... gotta get creative!!

If its broke to where you can get some vice grips on it, try to clamp on and turn it. If its broken flush, you can try to drill it, then easyout it. Or drill it, then try to pound something into it that might "bite". .. I had this happen at work lastweek... twisted off a bleeder on the front caliper of an 2004 ML 55 AMG Mercedes..... we tried everything and ended up replacing the front calipers cause we could not get it out.

If you get desprit.. you can try some heat as well... good luck

 

[Mike1992]

If that dont work try an E-Z Out and if you break off the E-Z out in there, your looking at buying a new caliper. This happened to me over the summer

 

[2Much_Eclipse]

Cooh good lookin out. I'm trying to get F/R calipers of a gst, but I'll clamp it till then. Thanks.

 

[cuttheduck]

Bleeding the brakes last night (first time I've done them on the 95) and broke the rear bleeder screw on the drivers side. Kinda suprising since i was using a 2 inch wrench and pop the damn thing broke right in half.

Since there was a little bit of thread left i tried to thread on a nut, jb-weld on a nut, use a vicegrip since the threads were already stripped, and pound on the smallest socket I have with a hammer and turn with a ratchet. This proceeded to just take break off what was left of the bleeder screw on the outside but its still suck in there.

So the only options i seem to have left are to drill and retap a new hole or get a new rear caliper. Is it possible to drill in a new hole there and use a larger brake bleeder fitting or will too many metal shaving and stuff get inside the caliper there.

Anybody have any ideas, possible drill/tread sizes for the retap, or done anything like this themselves?

 

[gurrmanator]

use an e-z out and use heat.

 

[eclipsh]

If you do choose to retap, every bolt I've come across on our cars is a 1.25 metric pitch.

 

[HRNYHG]

I would try an ez out. If that doesnt work, just buy a new one. I wouldnt want to risk having metal shavings in my brake system

 

[hellotbone]

Same thing happenede to me even an easy out wouldn't pull it I ended up having to buy calipers.

 

[Nanan]

Ah yes, the same thing happened to me two weeks ago when I was tearing apart the rear suspension.

I tried to drill and screw extractor it out, I ended up with a broken screw extractor and a now fubared caliper. I just got a new set for the rear from advance auto for like 35 each, the core charge was like 60 each heh.

 

[cuttheduck]

If you do choose to retap, every bolt I've come across on our cars is a 1.25 metric pitch.

Yep, for the record it was M8 1.25 (2g FWD rear).

Thanks guys, appreciate the help

 

[MG200]

This happened to me when I was doing the big brake upgrade. I broke a russell speed bleeder with no thread showing. What I did was drill it out little bit then pound a small flat screwdriver into the metal and back it out. It worked fine and no need to retap.

But the speed bleeders already have a tiny hole in the middle of them so when I drilled it was right on center cause I had the pilot hole already there.

 

[n smashed]

i have two broken bleeder valves, both in the rear... the last people to own the car must have just bent them off when trying to loosen them.. anyway.. i took one caliper off.. drilled the screw out, but a new "universal" valve in because I couldnt match up the exact same valve.. then i thought about the metal shavings that must have been in the cylinder because of having to make a bigger hole for the valve.. so i took an air compressor and blew it in the valve opening.. the piston blew straight out, ruining the seal.. so now I have to buy a new caliper.. now its time to try and repair the other caliper.. any post i've read it just says to drill the old valve out.. nothing about getting the shavings out of the cylinder.. is it okay to just leave the shavings in the cylidner?? doesnt seem like a good idea to me, but what do I know about brakes.. look what i did

 

[Mr Peepers]

You don't want to blow into it, but rather have the shavings pushed out. You could bleed it and push brake fluid out, flushing the chips out with it, or use something like the skinny red tube that comes with WD40 etc(do not use WD40 though). Insert the tube as far in as you can get it into the bleeder hole, and inject brake fluid through the tube. This should push the metals chips back out of the bleeder hole. You could also unscrew the line from the caliper, and flush fluid through it that way. You will have to bleed the brakes either way when you are done to get air out of the system.

Hope this helps!

 

[n smashed]

well i flushed brake fluid through it before i did the compressor.. and there was definitely still a lot of chips left in the cylinder.. i put the fluid in the bleeder hole and tried to flush it out the hole where it gets the fluid.. maybe that was my problem... the chips cant go through the cylinder ### the pistons in the way!!

 

[Mr Peepers]

The fluid can flow through the bleeder hole and to the line freely, but when you blew air into it I'm sure that it all couldn't go out the small hole on the other side. Instead, it found the path of least resistance, the piston. You could try the same thing, but put the brake pad back on the piston side, and put a C-clamp around the whole caliper like if you were to compress the piston. This should keep the piston from moving all the way out, and let you blow all the air into it you want, and hopefully chips out. Wear safety glasses

 

[n smashed]

you dont think the seal would pop though? i guess i should just try flushing it out.. i'll just have to use a ton of fluid.. one more dumb question.. i dont think it would get ALL the shavings out, would that be the worst thing in the world to have some shavings in there? i dont think it would find a way through the cylinder into the rest of the brake system

 

[Mr Peepers]

It's made to hold a LOT of pressure. How much do you think takes to press a pad against a rotor and stop a car? If the seal pops from an air compressor you have a lot more to worry about

My *guess* would be tearing the seal in the piston, causing a leak. If you flush it well I don't think you'll have a problem. I don't see it finding its way into other parts of the brake system. The only direction brake fluid will travel is from the master cylinder to the pistons, not the other way around, and that should only be when you are bleeding the brakes.

 

[n smashed]

well after what happend earlier today, i think its better if i just flushed it and didnt take the chance .. thanks for the help

 

[Artago]

HI all. So I'm sure many of you ran into this problem. I went to bleed my brakes (after installing new rotors, pads, and SS brake lines), and I broke the bleed valve. Actually I broke both rear ones and I haven't even touched the fronts cause I know they will break too. I used WD-40 to help release the threads but it didn't work. When I tried to loosen the valves they didn't even budge and snapped off like putty.

Anyways, what can I do? Can I bring the calipers to a brake shop and have them tap the lines and put in new bleed valves? Is there another way to bleed the system? Any advice you all can give me would be appreciated. Thanks, Tom