Topic: Bleeder Screw...Problem.
in Forum: C3 Engines, Driveline and Handling
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Former Member
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Wayne, NJ - USA
Joined: 5/31/2002
Posts: 973
Vette(s): White 1975 L48 Stingray 129,000 Miles, daily driver.
Well, the ineveitable has happened. Something went wrong with the Vette
Bleeding the brakes today and when loosening the inner left rear bleeder screw, it sheared off. No actual loosening occoured, just a total removal of everything outside the caliper. Bled the rest of the system and removed what I would consider a substantial amount of air. However the pedal remains very soft and has a lot of travel before the car stops. Two key questions, what is the solution to the sheared bleeder screw? Can it be ignored, do I need a new caliper(please say not) etc. The second question is how do I get a nice firm pedal? The car actually stops but it is never as quickly as I'd like or expect after driving other vehicles.
Thanks,
Scot

Thanks,
Scot
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Former Member
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Frederick, MD - USA
Joined: 9/8/2003
Posts: 3398
Vette(s): 1969 convertible L71 427/435 4-speed black interior
You may be able to remove the remnants of the bleeder screw with an easy out...maybe. If not, you're stuck with needing a replacement caliper. You're gonna have to remove the caliper anyway to get at the broken one. Then you get to bleed them all once again. Good luck.
You can always drill it out and retap it. If you do get it out put some Never-Seze on it. And of course
rebleed the brakes. Ckeck a shop for the proper order to bleed the brakes.
Thanks Glenn
rebleed the brakes. Ckeck a shop for the proper order to bleed the brakes.
Thanks Glenn
That will probably come out with a screw extractor but you are definitely going to need to remove the caliper.Those bleeders are pretty soft metal I think.
Now you will definitely need to re-bleed the system. The order is Left rear (inner first then outer) right rear (inner first then outer)left front, right front,
The trick it to raise the front end higher than the rear so that the top bleeder screw is as close to 12 o'clock as possible. To get the air pocket at the top to rest on the bleeder.
I just did mine and needed to go around a couple of times on all. Didn't really take long. Just make sure you get a good amount of fluid through and re-fill the master cylindar often. I used one of those cheap "one-man" bleeding systems cost me like $10 or something and it seemed to work quite well.
Pump the brake pedal a bunch of times to get some good pressure in the system before moving on to the next caliper.
Good luck!
Now you will definitely need to re-bleed the system. The order is Left rear (inner first then outer) right rear (inner first then outer)left front, right front,
The trick it to raise the front end higher than the rear so that the top bleeder screw is as close to 12 o'clock as possible. To get the air pocket at the top to rest on the bleeder.
I just did mine and needed to go around a couple of times on all. Didn't really take long. Just make sure you get a good amount of fluid through and re-fill the master cylindar often. I used one of those cheap "one-man" bleeding systems cost me like $10 or something and it seemed to work quite well.
Pump the brake pedal a bunch of times to get some good pressure in the system before moving on to the next caliper.
Good luck!
Former Member
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Wayne, NJ - USA
Joined: 5/31/2002
Posts: 973
Vette(s): White 1975 L48 Stingray 129,000 Miles, daily driver.
ok, the Haynes listed Left Rear Right Rear etc and on the forums I've often seen it listed Right Rear Left Rear....was confused and since it didn't work I was wondering if it was because the Haynes had the order wrong. Didn't mention that the rears would have two bleeders so I'll have to redo them inner then outer since I did the opposite last time.
Where can I buy just the bleeder screw from? Seems like I'm going ot end up drilling it out, or possibly having a pro look at it. Hrm.
Scot
Where can I buy just the bleeder screw from? Seems like I'm going ot end up drilling it out, or possibly having a pro look at it. Hrm.
Scot
If you look around you may be able to find a bleeder repair kit. If drilling fails and the hole in the caliper is damaged, you drill a larger hole, tap it and install a new bleeder in a holder into the fresh hole. Looks a bit funky but is cheaper than a new caliper. You would want to take the caliper off to prevent chips from getting inside. If you plug the line to the caliper, and don't allow it to drain, you won't need to rebleed the other calipers.
Ken Styer
Ken Styer
Actually I got a set of "speed bleeders" from madvet.com. Supposedly they allow air/fluid to escape without any seeping back in. I installed them making sure they ended up being the one in the 12 o'clock position.
Seemed to work fine. Hopefully you can extract them without re-drilling and tapping. If not this message won't help you much
Good Luck!
Seemed to work fine. Hopefully you can extract them without re-drilling and tapping. If not this message won't help you much
Good Luck!
I just had that happen with the Heritage Softail when I was doing the brakes on it. The bleeder on the Harley was a very soft metal and wouldn't come out with an EZ out, it just stripped away more and more metal. I wound up replacing the caliper. I was going to drill and tap as others have suggested, however, the problem was finding a new bleeder just a tad larger. The Corvette might be different, but a check of my brakes looks to be the same type of metal (aluminum?) on the bleeders. Good luck.


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