Well, the last thing I need to do to get my truck back on the road is to bleed the brakes. I was trying to crack the bleed screw open on the driver front, because I was going to crack all of the bleed screws open to get the fluid going and to make sure they all functioned.

Well, as it turns out, I broke the little bolt head and fitting job off of the bleed screw, and the rest of it is still in the threads. Does anybody have any tips on getting the remainder of the screw out of there? I was going to try to grind a phillips or flathead into it and try to use a screwdriver to get it off. Between that or an easy-out, I don't know what else to do. I was just hoping somebody had a trick to making this PITA a little easier.

It looks like I'm going to be doing this for at least three bleed screws.
I don't know what to do to keep it from happening besides soaking it in penetrating oil, which I did before I broke the first one. That is the only one that I attempted.

I'm sort of down in the dumps because every time I have to do something that shouldn't be a big deal, something rolls around and makes it take ten to twenty times longer than it should . I definitely haven't given up on the old rustbucket yet, though.

Any help would be much appreciated. Thanks in advance, guys.

 

i have never had any luck getting broken bleeders out. i have to drill the old one out and retap the hole.

i spray with pb blaster, and apply heat before i try to loosen the bleeders. it is a crap shoot. usually break about 50% of the time.
it may be easier to replace the wheel cylinders and calipers.
before you put the new bleeder in, put never-seize on it.

 

X2 ^^^ for the $30 better off getting a new caliper

 

x3 And wheel cylinders are a good but cheaper than that.

 

many times i dont even use the bleed screw. i just loosen the brake line into the caliper until its a steady flow and mot a inconsistent drip then i tighten the line back up. i dont think iv touched a bleed scrw in years

 

Yeah if it were me, I would just loosen the line and let it gravity bleed. Another thing I usually do when I can is to use a small 1/4" 6 point socket on the bleeder screw if I can. It seems to give me a lot better results than using a wrench. But in this case, I would bleed all of them that I could using the screws, then let the broken one gravity bleed from the line. Take it for a ride and see how it feels. If it is still mushy then you can always replace the caliper later, but then at least you will know for sure that you tried everything you can. Besides, once you have the truck moving under its own power again, it will seem less frustrating to fix this issue.

 

If you heat the bleed screw red hot , when it cools , it will come out ...

 

maybe using a reverse drill and a simple little extractor.

 

I usually just buy a new caliper or wheel cylinder then waist time trying to remove the broken one. Plus if you try to remove it, you would have to try and flush it to get the metal filings out.

 

On the broken screw ,cut a slot in it for a screw driver . heat whats left of it red hot . then try removing it after it cools a bit...

 

Yes I have to agree.

 

both sides of mine were froze, so I just ponied up and put on new calipers.

 

New loaded calipers from napa were dirt cheap...

 

yeah, I tried every trick in the book minus using a big torch.
Map gas didn't get it hot enough.
I finally said screw it after i broke both bleeders.

oh that was a pun. haha.

 

Thanks, guys, I'm just going to replace the wheel cylinder or whole caliper, depending on what I decide to do once I get it apart.