Broken caliper bleeder

[tim noble]

I had a frozen bleeder on a front C/912 caliper and even after heat and penetrating oil it broke off flush with the caliper. After 2 weeks soaking with Kroil I just took it to a local qualified porsche mechanic and with heat we could not remove it. Eventually, using a Snap- On easy out, the hardened steel easy out broke off in the bleeder (Snap on snap off). Additional efforts were fruitless and without a diamond drill or mill he suggest getting it to a speciality shop to be removed and a new bleeder installed. I live in the Lehigh Valley/Allentown PA area. Can anyone recommend shop and does it need it to be a Porsche brake expert or will any quality machine shop be able to deal with this? Thanks.
Tim

[David Jones]

One way to deal with this problem is to weld a sharpened 6mm bolt on to the remains of the bleed nipple. This gives you something to grip and it will apply a lot of heat directly to the remains of the nipple which may help it come loose. Failing that any competent machine shop can advise you on next steps.

[Bob Kittel]

Find a shop that does EDM. They deal with holes that have studs, pipe and easy outs all the time. Easy job for them and your part won't be damaged. Here is a search for you.
http://www.globalspec.com/local/3741/PA

[John Brooks]

Try a left handed drill a little smaller than the bleed nut, also heat the bleeder to a anneal it. The drill bit will remove some of the inside material, then bite and unscrew it. Or you will end up drilling it out and re taping it. It's not that hard, I use them all the time. The Easy out's taper expand the screw and make them bite harder. The left drill bit removes some screw material and reduces the bite of the screw in the hole. Low speed and reverse on the drill and presto it's out.

[tim noble]

Thanks guys . The easy out nearly fills the hole we drilled to install it so the center of the bleeder is hardened steel that our bits didn't cut into so I don't think a left handed drill would gain purchase. Researching EDM so thanks all.
Tim

[John Brooks]

If you have a spring loaded center punch with a sharp point. You can snap it against the easy out, in the CCW direction at a low angle and it will pop the broken end out of the bleeder bolt.

[tim noble]

Thanks John. We tried that with a sharp pointed center punch (not spring loaded) and after a few blows we quit feeling it might screw up the threads. There are a few EDM shops within an hour of my place but they seem like super specialized companies to the medical and other high tech industries and may not be want to take on a 10 minute job. I'll contact some in the AM and report back.
Tim

[cory cotherman]

if you broke an easy-out in the bleeder the only way to drill now is to get a set of carbide ball burrs and use a tool like a dremel.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Wokesi-10Pcs-1 ... SwAFBZuEG8

I broke off one in a exhaust stud once and it did the trick. slow but doable.

[Ron LaDow]

Tim,
I'd contact some used-parts guys to see if they have the R-L, I-O, F-R caliper part you have.

[Bill Oldham]

I agree with Ron. While the challenge to repair it is actually fun, the actual easy way out (and least cost) is to call Jim at EASY and just buy a new caliper.

[WilliamVaughan]

Per Ron, I have never heard anyone report success with an "easy-out". In torsion, why substitute a small diameter brittle rod for a larger diameter ductile rod or tube? Bad swap. Just develop some patience and drill carefully with a sequence of progressively larger drills till you can pull the remaining threads out with needle nose pliers. You will be glad you bought the set of drills.

[Martin Benade]

An easyout can work on a bolt that was over torqued and broken, but pretty much never on one that was rusted and broken. Hopefully a bleeder will not act like many bolts which once heated, have cooled quickly enough to be very hard and almost undrillable. Unfortunately annealing steel needs hours of cooling to make it soft again. Buying a caliper is a good idea.

[Al Zim]

My response was for a brake cylinder not a caliper. al zim

[Ned Gorski]

When i was a kid, when father and sons actually worked on things together ..
The first thing my father said prior to loosing any brake bleeders" tap the bleeder head once or trice with a hammer" . the shock will loosen the bleeder. it works quite well .. the second thing very important also "be sure you are loosing it in the right direction" .. its easy to get confused when your reaching around something or you're on your back.

[tim noble]

Update
Jim at EASY suggested PMB Performance as Jim has 20 left calipers and 0 right. I will be contacting them in a few hours but this is from there web site

"Bleeders can and will snap off in shipment. The cost for removing a broken bleeder is $80.00 per inlet. EDM (electrical discharge machine) is about the only way to go as smaller EZ-Out devices nearly always fail".

Looks like Bob was on the right path

I spoke with PMB and they typically extract bleeders by in house machining - $40-50. Rare, stubborn or particularly valuable calipers are sent out for EDM for $80. Great resource for brake work with $325 for complete restoration for the pair including zinc plating. Thanks for the help.
Tim