19
That time a seized bleeder screw cost me 3 hours on a Saturday
I was doing a brake job on my buddy's 2012 F-150 in my driveway last month and got to the rear passenger caliper. The bleeder screw snapped off clean when I went to crack it loose, like it was made of butter. After 45 minutes of swearing and trying extractors that just broke off too, I had to pull the whole caliper and take it to my work bench. I ended up drilling it out with a left-hand bit and chasing the threads with a tap, but by then it was 2 PM and I still had the other side to do. Has anyone else had luck with the heat and penetrating oil trick for seized bleeders, or do you just replace the caliper outright when this happens?
2 comments
Log in to join the discussion
Log In2 Comments
ray_martinez821mo ago
Yeah @karenh56, not everyone has a torch handy.
7
Three hours for a seized bleeder screw? Honestly, I think you're making it sound WAY more dramatic than it needed to be. Half that time was probably just you cussing at it and trying the wrong tools first. If you'd just soaked it in PB Blaster for ten minutes and hit it with a torch like my dad taught me, you'd have been done in an hour tops. I've had bleeders snap on my old Silverado and never once had to pull the whole caliper for just that. I bet you could have saved yourself a lot of headache and the whole bench drilling thing by just hitting the area with a propane torch for 30 seconds and using a steady hand with a proper six-point socket. Seems like you overcomplicated a simple job, man.
2