brake bleeder nipple ceased

"i dont think any air got in when i pushed the calipers back to their original position..."

Interesting comment in its own right.

Regards,

I guess you missed the punctuation lessons.

This (seized bleed nipples) is caused by lack of proper servicing.

Buy some new bleed nipples, use heat and a correct sized single hex socket or a pair of mole grips or small stilsons to remove the old nipples, bleed the brakes, changing the fluid at the same time.

Mrcheerful

NO! They need to be replaced, the rear ones also go. That's how you can spot a main dealer scam of changing your brake fluid. That's how Trading Standards caught out my local main dealer charging for work they never carried out. They are not a very expensive item.

WRONG! Obviously you have no working or practical knowledge of cars. You can have a car serviced each year by a main dealer and the bleed nipples can still sieze and/or rust/corrode. It's a well known occurance with the MK4 Astra with the rear ones being more of a problem. When you are under the car check the front/rear load balancing device too, it's hooked up to a small bar that moves up and down. This is never cleaned by lazy main dealers so it also siezes up meaning that the brakes don't operate in proportion to the load in the back.

Allow everything to cool down before putting fresh fluid in or it will just boil, also don't leave the top off the reservoir too long as brake fluid absorbs moisture. If you have ABS check the correct procedure or you will be there all day figuring out why it's not working as expected.

Are you going for some kind of record involving the most incorrect posts to usenet in one weekend?

Must congratulate you on your success.

Nah, just a gobshite past my monitor ;)

Nice :)

What a naive statement. The reservoir is open to atmosphere anyway, so how does leaving the reservoir cap off make any difference? Or maybe you think the master cylinder becomes a sealed unit once the cap is fitted. Mike.

I actually said 'lack of PROPER servicing' I agree that many main dealers do not do a proper servicing job, which is why people need to find and use, on a regular basis good independent garages (of which I know of only a tiny number, all of whom are like me, plenty of recommendation work, no advertising) Or do the proper stuff themselves, most of which is not too onerous (about one day a year per car for an amateur)

Correct servicing will include regular fluid changes (two or three yearly is average) which will preclude seizing of the bleed nipples, in addition the nipples would be undone whenever the pads are removed or replaced (yearly service job) which again stops seizing. The use of good tools and a mechanic with feel can also avoid snapped off bleed nipples (I honestly cannot remember snapping one in the last twenty years or so, but I did break one previous to that in an Austin Cambridge rear wheel cylinder, I had to replace the cylinder and found that the brake pipe had been drastically overtightened too and damaged the flare nut, so I had to replace the pipe too. After that I took more care and I don't think any have broken since)

As about half my work is on small Vauxhalls I am surprised I haven't come across this (supposed) seized nipple problem in recent years.

Thank you to the other posters who have backed me up, I do appreciate it !!

Mrcheerful

The message from "MarkT" contains these words:

My god, how hot are you expecting this braking system to be?

Don't know about the Astra but many cars have a rubber diaphragm in the brake fluid cap to allow for level changes but to keep the fresh air out.

The message from "MrCheerful" contains these words:

In my experience you can't beat a smear of copper grease. Provided it's kept clear of the conical bit on the end of the nipple it'll not contaminate the fluid - though the amounts involved would probably mean that's not terribly important anyway.

Condolences - you now face the horrible job of replacing that trivial 99p nipple. Make yourself comfortable, and commence a long dirty battle with WD40, mole grips etc. Filing new flats onto the nut is worth trying. If you get completely stuck, then slide a nut onto the nipple and weld it in place. That should allow a large spanner or socket to get it free.

The message from "Steve Walker" contains these words:

The heat from which almost always frees thing up sufficiently anyway. I've had loads of bolts which've been too tight to shift end up almost finger tight after welding something solid to 'em.

Now that is just plain hilarious.

You should have stopped there!

You could weld a 20 ft saffold pole to it, but it would still shear!

If that's a known problem, then one servicing a year (even by a main dealer with magic spanners) is clearly not "proper servicing." QED.

Ian

The message from Ian contains these words:

Does anyone really believe that a car that's taken to the dealers at the scheduled time is always going to be "properly serviced"?