Seized brake bleeder?

Status
Not open for further replies.
Joined
Feb 7, 2010
Messages
100
Location
Illinois
Car is a 2004 Mazda 3, so has been through 6 Chicago winters and has plenty of rust underneath. Yesterday I did a drain of my brake fluid (2 person method), since it has only been changed once in the life of the car.

I was nervous about the horror stories of broken bleeder screws, but I really didn't want to blow $120 on a flush considering I had Blue ATE brake fluid in my garage. Anyway, hit the bleeders with PB blaster and let them sit for a few hours. First bleeder cracked just fine, passenger rear. Unfortunately, the driver rear bleeder would not budge an inch, even with great force.

At that point I figured leave good enough alone, better than snapping off the bleeder itself, which anymore force would surely do I thought. Moved on to the front brakes, and they broke fine as well.

Overall I'm very happy, as when I first bought this car I did no maintenance at all. A few tool purchases and lots of forum reading later...Oil/ATF/Coolant/Power Steering/Motor Mount and now brake fluid.

My question is, has anyone else had a similar circumstance? I've heard plenty of broken bleeder stories, but not any seized or just plain stuck one's. I suppose in a few years I will have to invest in some new calipers if I plan to keep this car.
 
Last edited:
Give it a whack with a hammer. Seriously- whack it right square on the face- hard enough to damage the end a bit. You might have to remove the caliper to get a straight shot at it. But that usually breaks them loose.
 
Yes, it's happened to me. Not on my 6, though. Wound up replacing the caliper. Normally i'll put the torch to seized fasteners, but was concerned about potenial damage to the caliper internals. While not cheap, usually calipers aren't that expensive. Mine cost me $45 which didn't seem bad for piece of mind.
 
Originally Posted By: onion
Give it a whack with a hammer. Seriously- whack it right square on the face- hard enough to damage the end a bit. You might have to remove the caliper to get a straight shot at it. But that usually breaks them loose.


I wouldn't do this, it might break off and then you've got some fun.

Heat the base of the bleeder screw with a propane torch. Don't overheat it, you just want to break the bond between the bleeder and the caliper so they pull away a little from each other and then it should come right out.
 
This is something I have never tried, but have been told by several people that it works. Heat the thread very hot and then apply parafin to the joint, and then let it cool. Then it comes apart like magic.
 
When I have a frozen bleeder screw, I tap it a few times with a small hammer and that's usually enough to break it loose. I've NEVER had one break off in a caliper and I've done several hundred brake jobs with the fluid being bled.

Best,
 
I'd keep hitting it with penetrating oil and keep trying. I would guess if the car is very rusty it may be smarter to replace the car soon vice a caliper/brake job... But you need to make that call...
 
My daughters 06 Mazda 3 has aluminum calipers and the bleeders are easy to strip. I was bleeding her system and ended up stripping out the driver rear. Threads were clean off inside the caliper. Had to get a reman from RockAuto. Im afraid to continue. The only one I never got to bleed is the driver rear. I did the front seperatly one day while checking some brake noise in the front. Although I should have started in the rears, I wasn't going to bleed the system at all since she just bought the car. So, I did the fronts. A couple of months later I decided to do the rears because I had time. Started with the pass side, stripped the bleeder and stopped. I'll do the driver side rear when she has lots of time where, should I strip that one, I'll have time to order another reman. This all just happened last March/April 2010 while she came home to Rochester from Buffalo for a week.
 
Last edited:
Heat will work, but you have rubber seals one inch away! Use wisdom.
Also squirt lube INSIDE the bleeder - it will work the other way.
Use a 6 point flank drive socket, if possible.

Tapping will help get the loose juice deeper in the threads.

Try again in a few days.
 
Oh don't be a wuss. Just hit it with a hammer.

It'll work. Trust me.
grin.gif



Generally I flush the brake fluid when I acquire a 'new' (to me) vehicle, and I put antiseize on all the bleeder screws to avoid this problem. I'll get around to it on my Honda one of these days.
 
Slave cylinders are often lightly attached to sheet metal with a simple clip - maybe bolted.
Whacking can loosen it or bend the brake backing plate.
Just saying to be careful here to not cause other problems .
 
I use an old socket just a little bigger than the bleeder so it only makes contact with the caliper around the bleed screw.Use penetrating oil,let sit a while then lightly tap on the socket for a few minutes,this will vibrate the oil into the threads.
When that's been done use the correct size 6pt socket with a short back and forth movement applying a little more pressure with every motion.It will come free.
 
If companies made brake bleeder screw heads larger, we could get them off easily.
But people would tighten them to distortion and break them off.

They are stinkers. Rust belt conditions and bleeders don't mix well.
 
I have this problem and have tried most of the solutions described here to no effect. Haven't tried heat, though. If I hit a bleeder with a propane torch, what should the duration be, so as to not potentially damage internals?
 
My Civic had issues the first time. I used like 3 cans of PB Blaster, Liquid Wrench, and some WD40 brand penetrating stuff. Broke all but one loose after soaking for a couple hours. I finally went rogue and had a friend hold the piece so I wouldn't bend the brackets and I pulled as hard as I could and smashed the pipe I put on the bleeder wrench with a hammer. It worked. Then I replaced all the bleed screws because I messed them up pretty good. My motto in the last years has been to crack them once a year or so. That has been better than 3 years of growth.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top