Thread: Bleeding Brakes with Frozen Bleeders

The bleeders on my front calipers are seized on, and will not budge. I'm going to give it another shot by heating it up a bit with an acetylene flame, but I'm not hopeful.

I'm replacing my brake booster when I pull my engine this week, and was hoping someone might have suggestions on how to get the lines sufficiently bled? My thought was to disconnect the line from the caliper and use a vacuum pump to draw fluid through the lines after I install the new booster/master.

I'm really trying to avoid new calipers as cash is tight. Thoughts?

pb blaster lots of it and heat and use a good wrench that wont slip off the bleed screw

Trust me I know how to try and break them loose, but sometimes it just doesn't happen. I'm looking for alternate ways to bleed.

no other way

There is no way to release trapped air behind the caliper piston than through the brake bleeders. Typically what I do is pull the caliper and do it on a bench vice. Replace it and grease it next time.

Brent

maybe loosen the brake line going to the caliper and use it as a bleeder? I never tried it but I have seen it done before.

If I could get the bleeders out i'd just replace them, but that's not happening. Im not concerned about air in the caliper cavities though, I just want to do the lines quick after I replace the master.

The air in the system makes its way to the calipers and stays there, that is why bleeders are put there.

Brent

Loosening the brake line wont work. The bleeder is at the very back of the system for a reason. Its either get the bleeder loose by letting it soak in wd40 or pb blaster, or if you have stripped the bleeder then use a pair of vise grips. If you cannot at all get it off then youll need to replace the caliper. But you should be able to get it off.

If you damage the bleeder you can always get new ones at pretty much any auto parts store. They are all basicly the same thread and size.

Not to rain on anyone's parade, but I've bled brake systems on motorcycles without using the bleeder, specifically KTM (because their bleed system actually bypasses some caliper cavities). I was just hoping someone had some experience they could share to save time, but looks like I'll just be diving in myself. It is possible, it just isn't any fun.