One of the front brake bleeder screws stripped on me. What is the best way to get it out? I tried using a pair of vice grip needle nose pliers without much luck.

 

I'm guessing that it's most likely rusted shut. use a torch to heat up the area just below the bleeder, tap the area a few times with a hammer to loosen **** up, then use the vice grips to turn it. You have to do it fast so it does'nt cool down before you attemt to turn it. Or just buy a caliper for like $50!!

 

Funny thing is I bled the brakes about 2 months ago and it gave me no problems. I'll try the torch.

 

then you probably just overtightened the bleeder last time you bled them.



they don't need to be very tight to not leak, people tend to overtighten them though... like oil filters.



be careful with the torch too, there are some rubber seals in the area that you don't want to overheat. Just remember it's aluminum, it doesnt take long to heat, a short burst of torch will heat the area around the bleeder pretty well, just work fast. If you keep it on you'll just end up heating the whole caliper, boiling fluid, and maybe damaging seals. i'm assuming it's the 4 piston calipers..

 

tap in a smaller size socket.. then remove

 

I had this happen to me when I did the brakes on my 88. I ended up drilling the bleeder screw out and retapping the hole. Just be careful not to drill too deep. My caliper was also off at the time so I had it in a vice.

 

Thanks. Do autoparts stores carry bleeder screws for our cars?

 

It should be just a metric bleeder screw, nothing exotic

 

Yea, I bought a couple of them through Schucks online for pretty cheap.

 

I used a monkey wrench. I striped one of my brake lines last week and my father told me to use a monkey wrench and it worked.



C