Brake bleeders.

The Blue Wrench AKA torch! ;-) But some liquid sprays supposedly work like PB Blaster or Dura Lube penetrant along with multiple taps with a light hammer. later, dave

Care has to be taken when releasing bleed nipples, all too often they will break.

I suggest you clean all dirt and dust from around the bleed nipple, get it as clean as possible.

Use some form of penetrating oil and leave for about 24 hrs to allow full penetration. WD40 with directional tube would be good.

After 24 hrs tap the area arround the niple gently with a hammer to try and "release" the threads.

Finally, gingerly use a spanner to unscrew the nipple, DO NOT USE UNDUE FORCE this will only result in a broken nipple.

If all fails get a "good" garage to do it.

||Use some form of penetrating oil and leave for about 24 hrs to allow ||full penetration. WD40 with directional tube would be good.

WD-40 is a single-purpose fluid for WATER DISPLACEMENT Any other properties attributed to it over the years is more folklore than anything else. Whatever lubricant properties it has are accidental. It is not a rust penetrant. Use PB Blaster or Kroil, the proper tools for this job. Texas Parts Guy

Jim B.

I accept the fact that WD-40's prime function is as a WATER DISPLACEMENT, but it does seem to function quite well as a lubricant and a release oil and comes highly recommended as such by many on this side of the pond.

The products you mention do not seem to be readily available over here - I've done a search.

"Solv-It" (a UK company) do a 200ml can of Penetrating Oil priced £2.19 (inc. VAT) which is "Fast, incredibly efficient penetrating oil. Spray on and see the rust melt away." It is obtainable from:

Hope this helps all you UK peeps !!!!

P.S. thanks for the observation !

Ok, first, have a beer, this is going to suck.

Day 1: take the whole caliper/slave cylinder off of your parts car.

drop it in a bucket of penetrating oil of choice ( mine is either marvel mystery oil, kerosine, or WD40) , go clean bloody knuckles, have another beer, call it a day.

Day 2: pull caliper out of bucket, and _very_ carefully tap it out with a small wrench and hammer, use heat if needed.

After you break it off, use an easy out to get what's left. clean the threads, clean the rest of it, re-assemble, and install a new bleeder screw.

re-install caliper, put bleeder screw nipple on, and spray tar based underbody sealant all over it. That way, when you go after it next time, a little gumout and a brush will peel the tar offf and you can do it without all the hassle.

Mileage may vary, etc,etc.

this is not a left-handed monkey wrench joke. left-handed drill bits(running ccw) of the proper size will sometimes generate enough heat and vibration to back them out. difficult to find, but you have to drill anyway to use the ez out. drill centered almost to the threads, can be picked out with patience.

those people, quite simply, don't work on rusty cars. No offense intended, but WD-40 is crap as a penetrating oil.

Can you get Wuerth Rost Off where you're at? that's another excellent penetrating oil.

nate

I've never heard of it nor seen it advertised :-(

I haven't had much luck with getting out seized bleeder valves. Regardless of how gentle I am, the bleeder valve seems to finally free up and move---but on closer inspection, it's just broken off. And I've never had much luck drilling out broken bleeders either. So I just bite the bullet and replace the whole caliper when I break the bleeder valve. In the long run, it hasn't been too costly, On my wife's '85 Golf, I finally replaced the remaining front caliper last year (year

18). Net cost after returning the old caliper is about $55 Canadian per caliper plus taxes. Not as cheap as digging out the old valve, but still cheaper than getting a brake job at the shop.

-------------------- twong(at)vcn.bc.ca Vancouver, BC Canada