Sheared off bleeder screw

My fault, sorta.
previous owner shredded the heck out of the bleeder screw, and left me
with a rounded nub. I tried vice grips without joy. So I applied some
heat, then tried again. Sheared it right off. (Of course.. alloy screw
but steel caliper..)

Should I even try to drill it and use a bolt extractor, or just plan on
a new caliper?

Mike D.

> My fault, sorta.
> previous owner shredded the heck out of the bleeder screw, and left me
> with a rounded nub. I tried vice grips without joy. So I applied some
> heat, then tried again. Sheared it right off. (Of course.. alloy screw
> but steel caliper..)
>
> Should I even try to drill it and use a bolt extractor, or just plan on
> a new caliper?

try an "Easy Out" screw extractor!

BBA

BBA wrote:

>>My fault, sorta.
>> previous owner shredded the heck out of the bleeder screw, and left me
>> with a rounded nub. I tried vice grips without joy. So I applied some
>> heat, then tried again. Sheared it right off. (Of course.. alloy screw
>> but steel caliper..)
>>
>>Should I even try to drill it and use a bolt extractor, or just plan on
>> a new caliper?
>
>
> try an "Easy Out" screw extractor!
>
> BBA
>
>
So drilling it and using a bolt extractor is a good bet?

> So drilling it and using a bolt extractor is a good bet?

yes - be sure to clean & bleed once repaired
BBA

"Mike D" > wrote in message
...
> My fault, sorta.
> previous owner shredded the heck out of the bleeder screw, and left me
> with a rounded nub. I tried vice grips without joy. So I applied some
> heat, then tried again. Sheared it right off. (Of course.. alloy screw
> but steel caliper..)
>
> Should I even try to drill it and use a bolt extractor, or just plan on
> a new caliper?
>
> Mike D.

Mike, the only thing I've ever seen work is drilling it out and installing
an over size plug with a bleeder screw in it.

See this http://tinyurl.com/5mfo7

Brian

If it's a popular brand of car, rebuilt calipers will be cheap enough
that all the drilling & carrying on is somewhat senseless. If the
bleeder was rounded off then vise gripped & heated & still broke off,
that sumbitch is seized REALLY good. Easy outs usually won't affect a
cure in these types of situations. Good luck.

Mike D wrote:
>
> BBA wrote:
>
> >>My fault, sorta.
> >> previous owner shredded the heck out of the bleeder screw, and left me
> >> with a rounded nub. I tried vice grips without joy. So I applied some
> >> heat, then tried again. Sheared it right off. (Of course.. alloy screw
> >> but steel caliper..)
> >>
> >>Should I even try to drill it and use a bolt extractor, or just plan on
> >> a new caliper?
> >
> >
> > try an "Easy Out" screw extractor!
> >
> > BBA
> >
> >
> So drilling it and using a bolt extractor is a good bet?


Nope. In over 30 years of wrenching I have never seen an easy out or
anything else work on a sheared off bleeder screw. Not to say it
'couldn't' work, I just haven't seen it.

Replacement time.

Mike
86/00 CJ7 Laredo, 33x9.5 BFG Muds, 'glass nose to tail in '00
88 Cherokee 235 BFG AT's

> Left-handed drill bits are better.

I forgot about that!!! yep yer absolutely correct

BBA

"TeGGer®" wrote:
>
> Mike Romain > wrote in
> :
>
> > Mike D wrote:
> >>
>
> >> So drilling it and using a bolt extractor is a good bet?
> >
> >
> > Nope. In over 30 years of wrenching I have never seen an easy out or
> > anything else work on a sheared off bleeder screw. Not to say it
> > 'couldn't' work, I just haven't seen it.
>
> Left-hand drill bit just a touch smaller than the threads. Most of the old
> threads will break up as the drill does its work. The rest can be chased
> with a blind tap.
>
> The only danger is that shavings will fall into the caliper, so the safest
> thing is to rebuild it, which is dead easy.
>
> --
> TeGGeR®

The last one I snapped was on my Jeep CJ7 'just' before a 10 day trip.
I was cursing bad until I got the price for a replacement caliper.
$19.00 not including tax.

For that price, I replaced.

Mike
86/00 CJ7 Laredo, 33x9.5 BFG Muds, 'glass nose to tail in '00
88 Cherokee 235 BFG AT's

> The last one I snapped was on my Jeep CJ7 'just' before a 10 day trip.
> I was cursing bad until I got the price for a replacement caliper.
> $19.00 not including tax.
>
> For that price, I replaced.

Excellent point.
How long can you justify farting around with a damaged caliper before you
could justify replacing it.
Exception might be if you have a rare caliper. I did this to a Fiat 128
some years ago, looked at machining it to remove the bleedcock, and ended up
finding a salvageable caliper for near nothing at a junkyard.

Would have bought new had it been easily available and cheap enough.