brake bleeder screw stripped, please help
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Freshman User
Joined: Mar 2006
Posts: 25
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From: levittown, pa
brake bleeder screw stripped, please help
so i had a leak in my brake line yesterday and fixed it today, like pulling teeth. i've never had so many problems changing break lines or bleeding brakes. anyway i stripped both rear brake bleeder screws. i had to bleed the brakes by loosening the brake line itself. most of the air is gone but some still remains. anybody have any ideas on how to get the stripped screws out so i can bleed my truck correctly? i sprayed the crap out of them with pentrating oil and used vice grips and stuff like that, i'm just lookin for ideas if anyone has any.
Elder User
Joined: Oct 2005
Posts: 623
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From: Blytheville, AR
Yikes... How old is the truck? A pair of channel locks or the correct sized end-wrench should do the job just fine. It could've possibly been a metric sized screw (for lack of a better word) and you could've been using SAE wrenches; or even the other way around. The big deal now is getting them out without further damaging the screws. Relieving the pressure off the brakes by disconnecting the brake line may help to get the screw out. Other than that, just make sure you have a good grip on it if you're using vice-grips or channel locks.
Laughing Gas
Joined: Apr 2004
Posts: 819
Likes: 2
From: Northern Maine
Try using a hammer. I'm not kidding. Tap on the bleeder screw a few times, like you were trying to drive it in like a nail. Sometimes that will free it up and it screws right out. Use a good tight fitting boxed end wrench. If you are able to get it out, throw it away and get new ones. Sometimes a very little bit of heat is helpful. Be real careful because of the rubber seals inside the wheel cylinders. I would only use a small propane torch. For what new cylinders cost though, CowboyBilly9Mile's tip is the best advice.
Laughing Gas
Joined: Jul 2004
Posts: 1,245
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If the flats are just rounded off, use the vise grip method. Though I would just change the wheel cylinders as suggested if the truck has a good number of miles on it. For less than $10 each it may not be worth the trouble to free those stuck bleeder screws.
Senior User
Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 427
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From: allen park
You can also temperature shock the bleeder screws. Get yourself quite a bit of water, and get a torch. Heat the sucker up and while it's still hot dump some water on it. That's what we did to my friend's F-150 bleeder screws. Works great. Just be careful you don't catch stuff on fire. It's probably best to take the wheel off. Also take note of what Dan Robertson said, be careful not to overheat it and mess up the rubber seals in the cylinder.
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mike L
1987 - 1996 F150 & Larger F-Series Trucks
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Sep 13, 2013 08:11 PM
