E30 Zone

Hi My Bleed nipples on all 4 of my brake Calipers are rusted in. I dont want to break em, does anyone know if i can drill em out and re tap the holes to fit a bigger one ???????? or do i need new ones
Any help would be much apriciated
Cheers
Darren

Just get them out with mole grips then stick new nipples in

Its always best to use a 6 sided spanner on them so you dont round them of in seconds

If they are really rusted, then soak liberally in WD40 for a few hours prior to trying to undo them...

And use a proper spanner as Jimmy said...

If they do snap, you'll probably need a new caliper or wheel cylinder

Fushion_Julz wrote:If they are really rusted, then soak liberally in WD40 for a few hours prior to trying to undo them...

And use a proper spanner as Jimmy said...

If they do snap, you'll probably need a new caliper or wheel cylinder

Not Entirely true TBH

If they do snap, a competant machine shop can drill them out and fit a helicoil and new nipple.

It's cheaper than a new caliper

a recon caliper is only about £50 from ECP. nice and shiny with new rubbers etc. a stud extractor would probably remove the snapped bleed nipple.

JimmyC wrote:Just get them out with mole grips then stick new nipples in

Its always best to use a 6 sided spanner on them so you dont round them of in seconds

Fushion_Julz wrote:If they are really rusted, then soak liberally in WD40 for a few hours prior to trying to undo them...

Top advice.

Nipples..

If they're proper seized - i.e. if a ring spanner, and mole grips rounds them.

... then, you'll probably need to heat them to get them out in one piece.

Plus Gas is better than WD40, you could also try a little heat from a blowtorch, obviously taking care not to cook any rubber parts/seals, etc.

personaly i think that useing mole grips would be your best bet.

loads of wd40 and loads of beans and if shit happens and they do snap then use a little heat and a stud extractor, but unless theyre totaly fecked then some molies should sort it

mole grips everytime has worked for me

if poss use a small pair, once clamped a little tap with ya hand should break the seal

i always change them yearly nowdays to save probs only a couple of quid for 4

I had one shear and simply banged a torx bit into the hole in the nipple as the metal is quite soft and then undid it with a rachet was quite effective.

I worked in garages for 6 odd years, and in all my time, I never snapped one!! They may look skanky and rusty, but get a brake pipe spanner on em, and you'll be fine!

Oh, and whatever you do...NEVER use heat on callipers!!

i always use a 6 sided socket on a 1/4 inch ratchet, never failed me yet

File them down to the next size but tight (8mm to just over 7mm), tap on a deep 6 point socket 1/4" and they should move.

Simon13 wrote:i always use a 6 sided socket

Same here although sometimes a 3/8 ratchet is more effective

why on earth did bmw use such a stupid small size head on them!!!!! never snapped a bmw one though, just seems scary!

if they do break, it'll still seal and as a temporary botch to get on the road again, you can pump the caliper up with fluid, unbolt it, hold it so the feed pipe is at the top, slacken off the flexi feed pipe one turn then bleed through the leaking pipe. once that's free of air, clamp the flexi pipe and push the piston back in (pipe at the top still) to push any air out of the caliper body. it might not be perfect but it works well enough to get about for a few days while you get another caliper

guess who's had a lot of peugeots with rear discs in his time! those little feckers shear off immediately!

Simon13 wrote:i always use a 6 sided socket on a 1/4 inch ratchet, never failed me yet

Same here. But after a good soaking of WD40.

law wrote:I worked in garages for 6 odd years, and in all my time, I never snapped one!! They may look skanky and rusty, but get a brake pipe spanner on em, and you'll be fine!

Oh, and whatever you do...NEVER use heat on callipers!!

Why not? They get very hot in normal use!

Mole grips or single hex socket mate.

Speedtouch wrote:

law wrote:I worked in garages for 6 odd years, and in all my time, I never snapped one!! They may look skanky and rusty, but get a brake pipe spanner on em, and you'll be fine!

Oh, and whatever you do...NEVER use heat on callipers!!

Why not? They get very hot in normal use!

They dont get to 3000 degrees thought like they would if u used the bottles on them, it would boil the fluid and render it usless, also melts seals in the caliper.

10 point closed spanners or whatever they are and even open end normal spanners are useless for these. hex shaped, 6 point sockets all the way.

scottidog wrote:

Speedtouch wrote:

law wrote:I worked in garages for 6 odd years, and in all my time, I never snapped one!! They may look skanky and rusty, but get a brake pipe spanner on em, and you'll be fine!

Oh, and whatever you do...NEVER use heat on callipers!!

Why not? They get very hot in normal use!

They dont get to 3000 degrees thought like they would if u used the bottles on them, it would boil the fluid and render it usless, also melts seals in the caliper.

I didn't suggest using an oxy-acetalene torch on them to heat to 3000degC, merely a blowtorch aimed at the seized bleed nipple if need be! An alternative would be to lightly MIG weld a nut onto the offending nipple, the heat of which would be enough to break the rusted thread.

need to replace mine as one snapped off. are these 7mm? will these do?

http://www.merlinmotorsport.co.uk/p498/ ... _info.html