Snapped calliper bleed screw

[KungFuPanda]

I’ve just bought a Range Rover Sport with Brembo six kit calipers on the front. Unfortunately, one of the bleed screws has been snapped clean off leave the rest of the screw flush with the body of the caliper.

If this anything a reasonable competent home mechanic could try to remove or would it be best to take the caliper off and send it to a specialist refurb company?

[stevieturbo]

KungFuPanda said:

I’ve just bought a Range Rover Sport with Brembo six kit calipers on the front. Unfortunately, one of the bleed screws has been snapped clean off leave the rest of the screw flush with the body of the caliper.

If this anything a reasonable competent home mechanic could try to remove or would it be best to take the caliper off and send it to a specialist refurb company?

A never ending question.....

Whilst yes it is a problem....can you also not just leave it alone ?

Really there is no answer as to what is reasonable. There are various methods to remove and repair and some should be within the scope of a competent person.....but it seems competence levels vary, as well as the tools they have to hand to achieve it.

What is a bigger question, is how much will it cost if it goes wrong ?

I would certainly say for someone competent to have a go at extracting the damaged piece, without actually getting into major drilling or repair attempts.
If the extraction goes wrong, then definitely send it to a proper repair place.

Or if the brakes are all fine and working....just leave it alone. The caliper will probably outlast the engine.

[105.4]

Wasn’t there a similar question on here just a few months ago from a guy with or Porsche or an Audi R8 or something of that calibre?

IIRC he took it to a local engineering shop who had the job turned around in a day for a very reasonable figure, something like £80?

Considering the replacement price of a new Brembo caliper if something goes wrong, that would be my preferred route.

[TwinKam]

There will be a need to bleed it at some stage (presumably already... as the 'breaker of the nipple' wasn't there for fun..) even if only to expel dirty fluid when doing a pad change. So it needs sorting one way or another. Lots of opportunities for cocking it up if you're not experienced/ confident/ well equipped.

[Krikkit]

105.4 said:

Wasn’t there a similar question on here just a few months ago from a guy with or Porsche or an Audi R8 or something of that calibre?

IIRC he took it to a local engineering shop who had the job turned around in a day for a very reasonable figure, something like £80?

Considering the replacement price of a new Brembo caliper if something goes wrong, that would be my preferred route.

Aston Martin, but yes otherwise spot on!

[stevieturbo]

TwinKam said:

There will be a need to bleed it at some stage (presumably already... as the 'breaker of the nipple' wasn't there for fun..) even if only to expel dirty fluid when doing a pad change. So it needs sorting one way or another. Lots of opportunities for cocking it up if you're not experienced/ confident/ well equipped.

Zero need to open bleed nipples when changing pads.

If you consider it a big problem though, best advice is take/send it to somewhere you know can fix it, regardless of what challenges it may face.

[TwinKam]

stevieturbo said:

TwinKam said:

There will be a need to bleed it at some stage (presumably already... as the 'breaker of the nipple' wasn't there for fun..) even if only to expel dirty fluid when doing a pad change. So it needs sorting one way or another. Lots of opportunities for cocking it up if you're not experienced/ confident/ well equipped.

Zero need to open bleed nipples when changing pads.

If you consider it a big problem though, best advice is take/send it to somewhere you know can fix it, regardless of what challenges it may face.

OK Stevie, we'll have to agree to disagree on that one; I'll take the obvious gift of an opportunity to get rid of some stale fluid, you go ahead and continue to push your dirty stuff uphill though

[105.4]

TwinKam said:

stevieturbo said:

TwinKam said:

There will be a need to bleed it at some stage (presumably already... as the 'breaker of the nipple' wasn't there for fun..) even if only to expel dirty fluid when doing a pad change. So it needs sorting one way or another. Lots of opportunities for cocking it up if you're not experienced/ confident/ well equipped.

Zero need to open bleed nipples when changing pads.

If you consider it a big problem though, best advice is take/send it to somewhere you know can fix it, regardless of what challenges it may face.

OK Stevie, we'll have to agree to disagree on that one; I'll take the obvious gift of an opportunity to get rid of some stale fluid, you go ahead and continue to push your dirty stuff uphill though

Good point TK, and something I’d foolishly never considered.

Next time I change a set of pads I’ll give that a go.
Thanks for the tip

[stevieturbo]

TwinKam said:

OK Stevie, we'll have to agree to disagree on that one; I'll take the obvious gift of an opportunity to get rid of some stale fluid, you go ahead and continue to push your dirty stuff uphill though

Never been a problem, but I've only been doing it for 35 years.

Maybe some day it will be a problem ?

[TwinKam]

105.4 said:

TwinKam said:

stevieturbo said:

TwinKam said:

There will be a need to bleed it at some stage (presumably already... as the 'breaker of the nipple' wasn't there for fun..) even if only to expel dirty fluid when doing a pad change. So it needs sorting one way or another. Lots of opportunities for cocking it up if you're not experienced/ confident/ well equipped.

Zero need to open bleed nipples when changing pads.

If you consider it a big problem though, best advice is take/send it to somewhere you know can fix it, regardless of what challenges it may face.

OK Stevie, we'll have to agree to disagree on that one; I'll take the obvious gift of an opportunity to get rid of some stale fluid, you go ahead and continue to push your dirty stuff uphill though

Good point TK, and something I’d foolishly never considered.

Next time I change a set of pads I’ll give that a go.
Thanks for the tip

Hose clamp on first and not a speck will go back through the ABS valves

[TwinKam]

stevieturbo said:

TwinKam said:

OK Stevie, we'll have to agree to disagree on that one; I'll take the obvious gift of an opportunity to get rid of some stale fluid, you go ahead and continue to push your dirty stuff uphill though

Never been a problem, but I've only been doing it for 35 years.

Maybe some day it will be a problem ?

Then you're just a boy! 43 years in and still learning.
Tbf, was never considered pre ABS.

[105.4]

TwinKam said:

Hose clamp on first and not a speck will go back through the ABS valves

Have you got any recommendations for those?

I’ve got a set of these orange plastic things, (I think they’re Laser?), and they don’t clamp super tight.

[silentbrown]

TwinKam said:

Then you're just a boy! 43 years in and still learning.
Tbf, was never considered pre ABS.

Is this really a thing? I'd never even heard of it before. Brembo (who seem pretty anal about most things) don't even suggest it,



My gut feeling says it's nonsense as any contaminants in the fluid will diffuse throughout the entire system, so the fluid in the calipers won't be any worse than the rest of the system.

If you've got serious crud coming out the bleed nipples, drawing off a small amount of fluid isn't really the solution.

[996Keef]

BiggRed drilled and installed a helicoil in my 8 pots for £55 plus postage

Not worth messing with really for that price.

I replaced all bleed nipples for titanium ones

[Jodele]

Titanium is a great material. I use as much titanium fasteners as I can find, just for that reason alone, they are worth the admission price.

[Chris32345]

TwinKam said:

OK Stevie, we'll have to agree to disagree on that one; I'll take the obvious gift of an opportunity to get rid of some stale fluid, you go ahead and continue to push your dirty stuff uphill though

If your fluid is that dirty the bleed nipple is the least of your issues

[alabbasi]

KungFuPanda said:

I’ve just bought a Range Rover Sport with Brembo six kit calipers on the front. Unfortunately, one of the bleed screws has been snapped clean off leave the rest of the screw flush with the body of the caliper.

If this anything a reasonable competent home mechanic could try to remove or would it be best to take the caliper off and send it to a specialist refurb company?

Use an easy out to get it out.

https://www.amazon.com/Irwin-Industrial-Tools-5353...

[5s Alive]

No help in removing the broken nipple but for future reference these kind of bleed caps are useless for preventing thread corrosion and subsequent nipple seizing.



These ones cover the entire hex flat and head of the nipple. A light smear of clear silicone grease inside the cap and around the flat seals against water ingress. I've never had a problem with bleed nipples while using this type over the last 20yrs or so.

[stevieturbo]

silentbrown said:

Is this really a thing? I'd never even heard of it before. Brembo (who seem pretty anal about most things) don't even suggest it,



My gut feeling says it's nonsense as any contaminants in the fluid will diffuse throughout the entire system, so the fluid in the calipers won't be any worse than the rest of the system.

If you've got serious crud coming out the bleed nipples, drawing off a small amount of fluid isn't really the solution.

Exactly, it's a nonsense. And you should be changing fluid entirely at appropriate intervals anyway

[Chris32345]

5s Alive said:

No help in removing the broken nipple but for future reference these kind of bleed caps are useless for preventing thread corrosion and subsequent nipple seizing.



These ones cover the entire hex flat and head of the nipple. A light smear of clear silicone grease inside the cap and around the flat seals against water ingress. I've never had a problem with bleed nipples while using this type over the last 20yrs or so.

They look useful what are they called or got any links to them?