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Molegrips on nipples

paul987

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27 Feb 2015
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1,907
OK out of the 4 bleed nipples on my front calipers I've managed to undo one.... the rest are heavily corroded..
Flare spanner is just slipping.. I'm thinking of trying mole grips then replacing the nipples with stainless ones... is this a good idea or am I likely to snap them :?:
I'm hitting then with the shock and unlock freeze spay stuff for now..
 
Sorry, clicked on this expecting something entirely different!

Personally id advise against molegrips, try penetrating fluid overnight, and if you can get it on a 6 sided ring spanner.

:eek:
 
cliffbase said:
Sorry, clicked on this expecting something entirely different!

Personally id advise against molegrips, try penetrating fluid overnight, and if you can get it on a 6 sided ring spanner.

:eek:

Me too! Though I was going to recommend a small 'speciality' club in Leeds if you're into that kind of thing!

Back to your real question - I'd try to avoid mole grips too, penetrating fluid and a good fitting spanner as already suggested. :eek:
 
And maybe a gentle bit of heat...
 
Try just bleeding the side from the brake pipe replacement .. if no good then this may be a problem ..

DONT use mole grips .. you need a socket and knock it onto the bleed nipples ( large hammer .. well not that large ) .

Ive not come across ones so bad a socket wouldn,t fit .. But .. there is a very good chance they will snap .. you dont have a lot of choice though if you have to bleed them .

Crack them a bit and see if it starts to undo , then if loose carry on .. if not try doing up and undoing to try and slowly work them out.

If they snap .. im sorry here as i think at least one will then there are companys that can replace the bleed nipples , your local indy may even do this .. i know we do .

If you can get 1undone from each side then try to bleed just them with out attempting to remove the other 2 .. you may get away with it .
 
Thanks gents :thumb:
Demort... The one I got undone was on the
Caliper that the line broke so that's a bit of a bonus... But of course I had the caliper on the other side off too because I replaced the rubber hoses with braided ones sadly on that side the 11mm socket is slipping already so I'm guessing a 10mm and a hammer should work....

To be honest I used this method to get the nut off the caliper where the hard line snapped...

The back calipers and hoses I've not touched yet
 
Weld a hexagon nut through it's centre over the nipple top and then simply wind it out.
This works like a charm on the most stubborn of nipples.
The heat cycle delivered to the core of the thread breaks the seizure. :thumbs:
 
kas750 is totally correct , that is a very good method .. but you need to own a welder .

Its not a method i can advise though as heat and brake fluid dont go well , and i have to be a little carefull what i say im afraid .

If not then you are kinda stuck with hammering on a smaller socket .

Ive snapped more than my fair share over the years im afraid and most are without trying .. made of chocolate they are , makes a quick job turn into a pain .

Only positive is you can get the broken one removed but it does normally mean sending the caliper away to a specialist if there is no one local .
 
All this talk of nipples, wrenching, bleeding, etc. reminds of some friends of mine back in the 80s. Remember when you used to do daft stuff with mates like 'Chinese rings' and 'nipple wrenches'. I'll never forget one of my mates giving another lad a nipple wrench in metal work.......but instead of the usual thumb and fore finger method, he thought it might be more exciting using a pair of tin snips. Looked rather funny until all the red started appearing through his shirt.
 
I have snapped a couple in my time and I wish I had welded a nut onto them rather than trying harder to get them out, they always snap, then it's a nightmare to get them out due to the taper at the end, if you drill out incorrectly and take some of the taper the bleed nipple will never seal again and the caliper is scrap. I also had an "easy out" snap in one which opened up a whole new world of pain.

The combination of corrosion, small threaded bolt and being hollow don't help once they are stuck. Always replace with good stainless bleed nipples. I would even go as far as to suggest everyone does on their next brake fluid flush, change them all out for stainless before they corrode solid.

There is a caliper refurbishing place at Long Eaton, as they are local it might be worth giving them a call for advice and possible removal or remove the caliper and send it to Thomas at Pro Calipers. Hopefully you get it out without any trouble.

I do have a MIG welder if that is something you would like to try?
 
I soaked mine in Plus Gas, applied heat to the surrounding area, then used a small socket & wrench to repeatedly open/close little by little whilst adding more Plus Gas until the nipple came out.

From Infrasilvers above post I now wish I had replaced them with Stainless ones as I don't fancy them snapping when I come to do it again.
 
Give the nipple a tap with a hammer from the top to try to break the corrosion seal before undoing. Not too hard. In addition to plusgas (down the hole in the nipple, overnight). Also, instead of just heaving on the spanner, pull the spanner in the 'undo" direction, then tap with a hammer, again to try to break the seal and get the nipple to move. Above all, good luck...
 
Cheers gents
Thanks for the offer on the welder infrasilver very generous :thumb: I do have a mig but I really don't want to use it.. too risky for my liking and the way this project has gone so far I'm pretty positive the end result would be a burnt out C4s :sad:
Anyways... I managed to get another nipple undone on other caliper using Demorts back and forth method I learnt earlier on another siezed bolt earlier in the project ...
so I've now bled one chamber on each caliper... this side did have a lot of air in.. whilst the other side had hardly any... my drive does slope left to right slightly so maybe it's that :dont know: 2 done 2 to go... half way there is guess :lol:
So since the freeze spray seemed to work... I've put some more on the other 2 and will attempt again in the morning....
 
been hear when putting HEL performance stainless hoses on, everything was seized, all the previously mentioned is good advise so nothing really to add except for be patient and good luck :thumb:
 
Well I still haven't got the other 2 undone using the more gentle methods... But the peddle does seem firm... :dont know:
I'm still waiting on my new titanium nipples to arrive with it being the weekend and all that...
I shall try a little more aggressively with the hammer and socket when they arrive...
 

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