Bleeder broken inside of Caliper

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May 10, 2011 | 04:46 PM

CamaroLSwon

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Bleeder broken inside of Caliper

After many hours of taking off, cleaning and prepping, painting, and re-installing my brake calipers, I thought I was done... We went to bleed the brake and both front bleeder valves were very tight to come off. The passenger side came out, but some of the threads were gunked with metal off the caliper. The drivers side ended up breaking off at the head.
So I guess I'm asking: How screwed am I? Do I need to go ahead and order some new calipers? Is there any way to drill the holes out and re-thread them and get a bigger bleeder valve?

Thanks for any help

May 10, 2011 | 05:39 PM

ROCNDAV

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If just the threaded part of the bleeder is stuck in there, you should be able to use an easy out / screw extractor. Home depot, Lowes and Osh should have a little 4 pack of different sizes for about $10. Just put it in the hole and turn counter clockwise.

Autozone might have them too individually for the same price. You can also get new bleeder screw in the "Help" section.

May 10, 2011 | 08:41 PM

CamaroLSwon

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Well I was thinking if it was too tight that the head broke off, that the threads are probably gummed together and won't come out without a fight.

May 10, 2011 | 08:45 PM

deelong4002

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It's about your only option i think. If it doesnt work, you might be looking at drilling and tapping, or a new caliper. Heat on the caliper with a butane torch would probably help. Try to get the Aluminum to expand a little, so the threads might break loose.

May 11, 2011 | 10:46 AM

CamaroLSwon

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Thanks for the help guys

May 11, 2011 | 10:58 AM

ROCNDAV

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Quote:

Originally Posted by CamaroLSwon

Well I was thinking if it was too tight that the head broke off, that the threads are probably gummed together and won't come out without a fight.

I would think you would have stripped the threads if it was that bad.

I just drilled out a bunch of socket head cap screws last night on a machine. Once the heads were drilled off, the pressure was removed. I removed the part of the machine that the rusted screws were holding, and the threaded parts came out pretty easy with an easy out.

The same should apply for the broken bleeder. The head of it is what is keeps the tension. A screw extractor should be able to grab it. You can also use a left handed drill bit (with the drill on reverse) to drill it out, if you end up needing to drill it out.
You can find LH drill bits (and extractors) at Sears. I just checked.