Brake Bleeder Nipple Sheared: You Guys Are Awesome THANKS!

"Poor_Sh" (ar4x) 07/18/2019 at 09:01 • Filed to: None

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How fucked am I?

2014 Cayman S, so of course this is gonna bankrupt me. How does a 5 year old car have this happen? I really wasn’t applying much torque, I only had a 5 inch handle on wrench... At least it broke while closing it so I didn’t lose much fluid as it was leaking and it did close completely. Car still brakes fine and the system held 15psi from my Motive so I should be ok getting it to the dealership tomorrow. UGH most unlucky car ever.

UPDATE 9:00: Just want to do this rather than answer a bunch of similar posts you guys made. I understand how to and that it can be extracted, but how do you depressurize the system so the fluid doesn’t squirt out when you pull the nipple out?

Also yes, I did a track day in May and had a reputable shop do a full flush 3 weeks before that. So, they SHOULD HAVE opened the same nipple I did at some point. It shouldn’t have been untouched for a long period of time essentially.

MM54 > Poor_Sh 07/17/2019 at 21:51

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If it failed while you were tightening it and you weren’t cranking on it, you should be able to get an extractor in it and back the bleeder out pretty easily and screw in a new one.

Arch Duke Maxyenko, Shit Talk Extraordinaire > Poor_Sh 07/17/2019 at 21:54

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Invest in brake fitting wrenches. And you can probably extract it and replace the nipple.

E90M3 > Poor_Sh 07/17/2019 at 21:55

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Should be relativity easy to get out with the correct tools.

merged-5876237249235911857-hrw8uc > Poor_Sh 07/17/2019 at 21:56

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You can drill it out if you’re patient and you have a good set of left hand drill bits or some extractors.  You may be able to just get an extractor in there and remove and replace it.  Especially if you just had it opened to bleed the brakes.  You should be able to get an extractor set and a matching drill bit.  A left handed drill bit would work best though, as it would try and loosen the bleeder as you’re drilling.  But if you snapped it off while tightening, you may not have the feel for using an extractor.  Because you do not want to break one of those off in there.  That’s a bad day.  Any shop that does brakes should be able to handle the swap out of the bleeder. It doesn’t have to be a dealer fix.  

merged-5876237249235911857-hrw8uc > Poor_Sh 07/17/2019 at 22:00

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Also, don’t feel too bad.  We replace a lot of bleeders when we work on brakes.  If they come out somewhat hard, or the threads feel the slightest bit rough, we replace them.  Just because of stuff like this.  And you should get some flare nut wrenches to do the bleeders.  The torque is more squared up and less likely to allow a wrench slip to snap the head off.  

The Compromiser > Poor_Sh 07/17/2019 at 22:01

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G reat name for a band.

jimz > Arch Duke Maxyenko, Shit Talk Extraordinaire 07/17/2019 at 22:11

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if it broke that way, then it doesn’t matter what tool you were using, it was gonna break.

Highlander-Datsuns are Forever > Poor_Sh 07/17/2019 at 22:17

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That brembo quality.

If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent > Poor_Sh 07/17/2019 at 22:25

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You could be like me who was elbow deep in his engine bay this morning trying to solve a limp-home mode issue so I could make the three hour drive home.

nFamousCJ - Keeper of Stringbean, Gengars and a Deezul > jimz 07/17/2019 at 22:40

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They make reverse threaded pullers. When you screw it in the teeth slide in then when you back it out they bite in and it comes out. Much more surface area then just the head

nFamousCJ - Keeper of Stringbean, Gengars and a Deezul > Poor_Sh 07/17/2019 at 22:47

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Need one of these. Reverse nipple extractor. Heh... Nipple. 

Bylan - Hoarder of LS400's > Poor_Sh 07/17/2019 at 22:48

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Hold up, 5 year old Porsche C ayman and am I seeing a “made in Italy” bracket? THERE’ S your problem! lol

M.T. Blake > Poor_Sh 07/17/2019 at 22:51

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Throw away the car and buy a new one now. This will tarnish the cars title and it will forever be a lemon.

Nah, you’ll be fine. A little elbow grease and it should come out. Otherwise a new caliper but I doubt  that.

RacinBob > Poor_Sh 07/17/2019 at 23:23

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Are you racing it? If not you probably would never need to bleed it so in that case you a totally Un-F’d.. If the pedal is spongy and it needs bleeding, I would crack the line into it and pushing the piston back with a scredriver to bleed it. I’ve done that and it works fine. Again Un-F’d.

You are probably not racing it as otherwise you would have bled it before and the bleeder would not be seized. My guidance is don’t obsess, just drive it as is. Or change it for a reman caliper and save yourself the grief of failing with a set of extractors.

pip bip - choose Corrour > Poor_Sh 07/18/2019 at 03:48

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buy a new car

Echo51 > RacinBob 07/18/2019 at 04:00

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Hang on there bob, you should change your brake fluid once in a while as it picks up moisture and developes a lower boiling point , for which having a working bleeder is kinda needed!

Echo51 > Bylan - Hoarder of LS400's 07/18/2019 at 04:01

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The bracket will self-immolate?

RacinBob > Echo51 07/18/2019 at 08:23

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I can probably be accused to be the master of deferred maintenance but I have not seen that to be an issue in any of the 5 vehicles I have had the longest. Each ran to 15 years. Tw o of them left me with   200k or so, the others had 100k miles.

Point in case, I just broke in carbon pads on my present 12 year old van with 100k miles and took 6 hard stops in 2 minutes. It is the original fill of fluid. I haven’t ever bleed them and n o fade at all.

Also, p erhaps fluid absorbs moisture, but why would it move out of the master cylinder? I am somewhat skeptical as how does that moisture travel the length of the system to the calipers. Now I am sensitive to if it is being tracked, hence why I asked the question.

If fluid does absorb moisture, unless you are doing complete flushs, bleeding just moves wet fluid from the master cyl to the caliper. How is that making things better.

I have to wonder if the “moisture” story is really true.... Or is it a problem related back from the 60's or earlier brake fluid . Or if it was a popular myth to sell hydraulic brake service. I just haven’t seen evidence that moisture causes issues in current brake fluid. So I wonder if that is a old wives tail.  

I stand on my point. If this is a street car and the worse you do is autocross it, I would leave it be. Otherwise buy a reman caliper and save yourself the grief.

Arch Duke Maxyenko, Shit Talk Extraordinaire > RacinBob 07/18/2019 at 08:28

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You only bleed your brakes when you flush the fluid, which should be done around 2-3 years. Yes, moisture does get into the fluid and the hydraulic fluid breaks down over time. If you haven’t ever had brake fluid changed in 15 years, please stay off the roads.

Michael > Poor_Sh 07/18/2019 at 09:08

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The system isn’t pressurized unless you’re applying the brakes... if it was your brakes would always be dragging.  It’ll dribble due to gravity from the reservoir to the caliper, but it won’t be under pressure as you try to extract the nipple remnant

MasterMario - Keeper of the V8s > Poor_Sh 07/18/2019 at 09:10

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As for your update question, you won’t have any pressure in the system when not applying the brakes. What you want to do is add some extra fluid to the reservoir and let the fluid leak out while replacing the fitting. This minimizes any air getting into the system. 

benjrblant > Poor_Sh 07/18/2019 at 09:12

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under normal (non-braking) circumstances, the system should not be under pressure. if you’re concerned about pressure in the system, cracking any other bleeder open should relieve it- maybe you just do this for peace of mind if needed . then try inserting an extractor into the center of the broken bleeder to remove it.

kgman > Poor_Sh 07/18/2019 at 09:12

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In response to your update. I don’t see how the system would be pressurized if someone doesn’t have their foot on the brake 

M.T. Blake > Poor_Sh 07/18/2019 at 09:13

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Never seen them squirt. Might leak a little.

That’s what she said. 

CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever > Bylan - Hoarder of LS400's 07/18/2019 at 09:14

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The Axis is alive and well

E90M3 > Poor_Sh 07/18/2019 at 09:16

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It shouldn’t be pressurized unless you’re pressing the pedal. 

J@kho13 > RacinBob 07/19/2019 at 01:10

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Please stay off the roads. You are a menace...