how do I remove a stripped brake bleeder. vise grip didn't work.
tried lubercate

 

Been there done that. The right rear bleeder valve on my 78F150 hadn't been touched in years, before I bought it. I couldn't loosen it no matter how much PB Blaster I soaked it with. The wrench couldn't grip it and the metal was too soft to securely hold the bleeder valve with vice grips. They kept sliding off. I was tempted to use heat but didn't want to start a fire and figured that if the bleeder valve was that stubborn that it was just time to replace the whole brake cylinder assembly and bleeder valve. I know that probably not the answer you wanted to hear, but it might be the right thing to do at this point.

 

Heat might be the only answer at this time. But, now you will be into rebuilding the caliper or wheel cylinder. With the cost nowdays you might as well buy new and use anti-seize on the bleeders. Good idea to replace in pairs.

 

Search on my user name with "bleed" and you should pull up my technique which works about 50% of the time. The other 50% requires replacing the caliper.

 

How 'bout an easy out?

 

Seriously, don't even bother. Just replace the calipers/cylinders. It's not worth the time to fight with it.

 

replacement is a good idea...however sometimes a relatively new bleeder seizes up...esp here in Buffalo -salted roads abound. Ive found the following to work

put a nut... that fits over the bleeder...over it & arc weld the bleeder to the nut. Start at the middle of the nut and work out totally filling the nut with weld....being careful to not melt the nut.

this procedure will heat the seized bleeder and provide a means of removing the bleeder with a socket on the newly welded nut......wait a minute or so after welding before unscrewing so you arent working with red hot steel that will surely twist off.....works most of the time...bleeders are avail at Pep Girls for about a buck each....

 

I'd go for replacement. Welding, unless you're also willing to replace all of the rubber parts inside the caliper or wheel cylinder isn't worth the effort, IMHO. You might get away with it once in a while, but the odds are that you'd get the nut out only to find that you've melted the inner seals and need to replace anyways.

Canadian prices for calipers work out to about 30 bucks a side, wheel cylinders for the rear are only about 12 bucks a corner. The calipers and wheel cylinders usually have a core charge which you get back upon returning the used parts.

One thing I will say, for those who've run into this scenario before, and for those who will in the future. Bleeder nuts often sieze in a very short time after install. The best way to get them loose is to use a decent quality 6 sided socket. Using 12 pt sockets is a sure way to guarantee stripping the head right off. 12 pt sockets are fine for some things, but when it comes to stubborn, rusted bolt and nut heads, or in this case, bleeder nuts, it's better to have something that grabs, and has no where to slip to. If the socket only has 6 sides, all parts of the nut are being gripped firmly, and there is no where to go, shy of snapping it off. 12 pt sockets just grip the corner tips of the nut, and more often than not, slip past them. End result is the stripped head.

 

I beg to differ with the nay-sayers about welding....youre welding the BLEEDER...not the brake cylinder....the mass of the bleeder is very small ...compared to the cylinder and any melting that you predict ....JUST DOESNT HAPPEN!

put a small vice grip on the bleeder and the "work" or ground from the welder on the vice grips...then...it takes some coordination....put a 3/32 E-6011 electrode (about 75 amps) to the bleeder and it will be welded in seconds...if you bugger up the flats of the nut by being sloppy in welding...just put a bigger nut over the buggered one and repeat weld...so you have a nice nut for your 6 point socket to grip....

Im just sharing experience...if you ruin the cylinder or cant remove the bleeder...youve lost nothing....RIGHT??????...nay-sayers...just for *****s and grins....give it a try next time....:-)

the arc is localized....Im not sure if even using a oxy-acetylene welding torch and brazing the nut to the cylinder would melt the rubber ...if you tried to keep the heat on the parts youre brazing....but FOR SURE>>>the arc method DOESNT heat the cylinder appreciably ...used many times with complete success.

 

Well this technique is a bit unorthodox but what you do is since its stripped, get whatever socket that is just too small to fit on (metric maybe), then tap it on with a hammer. Then put the wrench on the socket and hold the head of the wrench with one hand and hit the handle of the wrench with the hammer in your other hand. You dont want to use your best set of tools for this. And go to a pawn shop or a flea market or something and buy the socket cheap so that you can just throw the socket away (or you can mess with the socket, but its a real pain.) But its important to use the hammer on the wrench, when you torque on it with your muscle is usually when its most likely to strip (why we bust our knuckles so much).

 

Thank for all the info. It help out.
will anti-seize affect the porformance of the brake. When it mixs with the brake fluid.

 

Now you'll know to use a flare nut wrench next time.

 

If you just put ant-seize on the threads it wont get near the brake fluid. You don't need a flare nut wrench for the bleeders, just a 6 point wrench or socket, some of the bleeders I've run across are metric. Years ago I bought a couple of sockets that would fit over the bleeder and you would hit the socket with a hammer while turning similar to an impact driver.

 

Thanks for the info. I will try it out.

 

A screw extractor will work sometimes, too.