Bleeder screw busted

5775 Views 11 Replies 6 Participants Last post by rayray718, Mar 24, 2014

XtremeRevolution

Discussion Starter · Nov 11, 2013

I decided to bleed my brake fluid today since the fluid was getting old. Started on the driver front, then worked to the back and around, doing the front passenger last.

When I unscrewed the brake bleeder on the first three, everything felt fine. They broke loose and unscrewed with ease. The last one though didn't feel right at all. Once it broke loose, it was harder to unscrew and felt like it was grinding for the first 3 turns. I crossed my fingers, tightened it back up, and went out for a test drive. At 40 mph, started hearing crackling in the front right. Came back and found brake fluid splattered in a line across the inside of the fender. I thought...great, I didn't tighten it enough. I went back and tightened them to check and went out for another drive. Same thing.

Came back home and removed the bleeder screw, and found the tip was grooved badly. Great. Looks like the factory over-tightened this one like crazy. Just my luck.

Biggest concern right now is the amount of brake fluid that got on the inside of the wheel. That better not corrode or I won't be a happy camper.

Not my first time bleeding brakes. The dealer better not give me a hard time replacing the bleeder screw, a $2 part. I was pretty annoyed going to the parts store and discovering that GM changed the screw so they aren't available anywhere.

Going in tomorrow or Tuesday.

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XtremeRevolution

Discussion Starter · #2 · Nov 11, 2013

Well, turns out the last tightening I did reduced the leaking a lot. Can't tell if it's still leaking or if it's wet from before, but I'm definitely replacing it and buying spares.

Note to everyone: buy a few spare bleeder screws before you bleed your brakes.

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sciphi

· #3 · Nov 11, 2013

Good to know. I sure hope that liberally coating everything with Fluid Film will reduce/eliminate the chances of them being corroded to junk before bleeding my brakes in the spring.

Let us know how it turns out, and if we need different parts for the front calipers and rear brake cylinders.

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70AARCUDA

· #4 · Nov 11, 2013

Which: Over-tightened or cheap Chinese-made component?

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XtremeRevolution

Discussion Starter · #5 · Nov 11, 2013

sciphi said:
Good to know. I sure hope that liberally coating everything with Fluid Film will reduce/eliminate the chances of them being corroded to junk before bleeding my brakes in the spring.

Let us know how it turns out, and if we need different parts for the front calipers and rear brake cylinders.

I'm sure that will help. Of course, replacing your brake fluid every 2-3 years will also help.

I'll create a new thread on the fluid. It is that good.

70AARCUDA said:
Which: Over-tightened or cheap Chinese-made component?

Probably both, but I would imagine that making the bleeder screw a softer metal so it would groove instead of damaging the caliper would be a good engineering idea as well. It's far easier to replace a $2 bleeder screw.

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XtremeRevolution

Discussion Starter · #6 · Nov 13, 2013 (Edited)

Had the car checked by the dealership, and the tech there said that there was no longer a leak since I had tightened it a bit more. I'm still not comfortable with a bleeder screw with a grooved tip, so I went to the parts counter to order another. Check this out...they wanted to charge me $10 per bleeder screw, and they would have to custom order it! They wouldn't even give me the part number for it. As if it would be that hard for me to find it on my own.

I bought 5 from rockauto.com for $7.15 shipped to my door instead.

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70AARCUDA

· #7 · Nov 13, 2013

"Greed is GOOD"...per Gordon Gekko (of GM?)

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99_XC600

· #8 · Nov 14, 2013

XtremeRevolution said:
Had the car checked by the dealership, and the tech there said that there was no longer a leak since I had tightened it a bit more. I'm still not comfortable with a bleeder screw with a grooved tip, so I went to the parts counter to order another. Check this out...they wanted to charge me $10 per bleeder screw, and they would have to custom order it! They wouldn't even give me the part number for it. As if it would be that hard for me to find it on my own.

I bought 5 from rockauto.com for $7.15 shipped to my door instead.

$40 for about $.20 of product.....that's one awesome screw there.

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70AARCUDA

· #9 · Nov 14, 2013

99_XC600 said:
$40 for about $.20 of product.....that's one awesome screw (up) there.

...there, fixed it for you (wink,wink)...very nice metaphoric pun!

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rayray718

· #10 · Mar 23, 2014

Funny, front right bleeder was messed up on my 2011. So either previous owner had some shotty work done or I wasn't paying attention. Hopefully the dealership is a little more flexible with replacing the screw. I bled all the other brakes and the clutch.

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Gnfanatic

· #11 · Mar 23, 2014

They must of thought you asked for the bleeder screws that are made out of kryptonite.

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rayray718

· #12 · Mar 24, 2014

Hey xtreme, do you happen to know the dimensions of the bleeder screw? I'm seeing a couple different sizes. 10mm-1.25x33mm and 10mm-1.00x38.

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