Replacing brake bleeder screw

Devallee

New member
I stripped a bleeder screw and need to replace it. I'm trying to figure out the best way to do so without brake fluid squirting out all over the place when I pull the old screw out. Is there any little tip or trick to somehow relieve the pressure long enough to get the new screw in without making a mess? I thought about vice grips to pinch it off but the lines are way too thick. Any ideas?
 

WJCO

Meme King
I stripped a bleeder screw and need to replace it. I'm trying to figure out the best way to do so without brake fluid squirting out all over the place when I pull the old screw out. Is there any little tip or trick to somehow relieve the pressure long enough to get the new screw in without making a mess? I thought about vice grips to pinch it off but the lines are way too thick. Any ideas?

You will lose fluid no matter what. Have the new bleeder ready. Pull the old one and put the new one in. Then re-bleed that caliper. It won't squirt when you remove the old bleeder, FYI. It will drip continually though until you install the new bleeder.
 

jeeeep

Hooked
what WJCO said, it'll ooze out but not spray all over.

if you decide to use vice grips, only do it if you have rubber brake lines and put something around the line to protect it from the vice grips is it possible to damage the line. if you have stainless steel lines I wouldn't use vice grips on them, it'll distort the line.

if you need to plug it while you go get another screw, you can use Teflon tape on the stripped bleed screw and put it in to stop it from oozing out. Teflon from the threads up, you don't want any Teflon tearing off into the caliper.
 

Bustedback

Member
You run the risk of totally messing up the threads trying to drill out the bleeder screw that just broke off when you put the muscle to it with the vise grips. Spend hours dinking with a rusty bleeder screw, or five minutes slapping a nice shiny caliper on.
 

ttfhell

New member
You run the risk of totally messing up the threads trying to drill out the bleeder screw that just broke off when you put the muscle to it with the vise grips. Spend hours dinking with a rusty bleeder screw, or five minutes slapping a nice shiny caliper on.

That's one way to do it[emoji106]🏻
 
How did you strip it?
Put the spinach away and WJCO pretty much nailed it if you don't want to replace the whole chingus.
 

JoeB-JKURX

New member
Easy Out

You don't need to drill the old bleeder out. I bought an old car once with no brakes. Someone had broken all of the bleeder screws off. All you need to get them out is a amall Easy Out (has a reverse helical shape that tightens itself into the bleeder valve hole as you screw it out. Instead of replacing wheel valves, I replaced 4 bleeders at a cost of about $1.50 plus a buck for the Easy Out (it was a long time ago).
 
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