Terrible Saturday

[ytre]

Got a 2nd hand brake caliper today for my car as the original one was sticking. went to release the brake nipple bleeder and it nipped clean off, tried a dormer stud extractor and broke it too, anyone any easy ideas on removal?
Anyhow decided to buy new and phoned a dealer, give him reg and chassis number and yes had one in stock, travelled 28 miles to purchase to be told they hadnt got one told them the distance id travelled and he said it hadnt been taken off the computer, one in on Monday if you want it, not a single apology to say i was mad was an understatement.
Where is customer service? i wasnt looking petrol money, just a "sorrry thats our fault" would have been sufficent. Places like these dont deserve business
Rant over

 

[ps_bond]

Buzz a weld on the top of the nipple (or the remains of it), then drill into it with a LH drillbit.

Just be careful not to overheat anything while doing it...

 

[steveo3002]

id place a washer over the broken bit , do a fierce weld onto it , then tack a nut onto the washer and see if that helps

 

[penfold]

Got a 2nd hand brake caliper today for my car as the original one was sticking. went to release the brake nipple bleeder and it nipped clean off, tried a dormer stud extractor and broke it too, anyone any easy ideas on removal?

Now it has a broken off extractor in it the only reliable option is find a local engineering works with a spark eroder; you might get lucky blobbing weld onto it but I wouldn't bet on it. How much is a new caliper? Unless they're pricy it's probably not worth the effort.

 

[ronan]

Thats the modern world , no consideration and no manners. +1 on the welding something to the broken nipple , the heat from the welding helps shift it too.

 

[ytre]

Now it has a broken off extractor in it the only reliable option is find a local engineering works with a spark eroder; you might get lucky blobbing weld onto it but I wouldn't bet on it. How much is a new caliper? Unless they're pricy it's probably not worth the effort.

New caliper is £120 plus vat

 

[steveo3002]

also watch out if the new caliper is exchange , they often wont take snapped nips

 

[Bsmith]

+1 on the welding something to the broken nipple , the heat from the welding helps shift it too.

I agree and it looks like you have nothing to lose by trying.

 

[dannymac]

Yeah,if its exchange,they wont take the old unit with a broken nipple,trying to drill out the snapped stud extractor will be a nightmare and a waste of time,its too hard beside the cast and so small an area without knackering the thread.If you can,like has been said already,puddle weld a nut or similar onto it,you might stand a chance getting it out the heat shifts it,.been there many a time mate ,PITA,but dont give up just yet.

 

[mike 109444]

As it is not fitted to the car then drill down it using a new bleed nipple frount (the unthreaded/cone part) to get the size to use (the thread core diameter - a few thou. Also put a depth stop on the drill bit to stop you ploughing into the seat at the bottom of the nipple hole. Once drilled then collapse the remains of the nipple in on it's self.

 

[steveo3002]

if theyve been snotty..and you end up using that dealer glue the nipple on and cake it in grease and pay cash heheh

 

[GrahamGKD]

As it is not fitted to the car then drill down it using a new bleed nipple frount (the unthreaded/cone part) to get the size to use (the thread core diameter - a few thou. Also put a depth stop on the drill bit to stop you ploughing into the seat at the bottom of the nipple hole. Once drilled then collapse the remains of the nipple in on it's self.

Yes, I was thinking that but I imagine the remains of the stud extractor is jammed in the hole??

 

[ytre]

I got the stud extractor out but theres not much left of the nipple, i was applying heat when trying to turn it but no joy i'll be forcing another nipple into place steveo and giving it to that dealer,
Gonna try the weld tomorrow first and next option is dealer.

 

[penfold]

With the broken extractor out of the way it should be straightforward to drill it out and helicoil it, with care you might even remove the remains without banjoing the thread.

 

[ps_bond]

I forgot - there's also a thing called "Nipple Therapy".
http://www.fraserbrowneng.co.uk/store/index.php?route=product/category&path=60

Never tried it - replacement calipers for the Defender are cheap enough that I replaced it, then got the broken one out for amusement.

 

[Frasbrown]

There is a new cure which is done at modest cost and can be seen in action on Youtube.

*Link removed - please see rules on advertising. *

 

[ps_bond]

Tsk, and you've already got someone doing your advertising in the previous post

FWIW, if I were trying to deal with an expensive caliper I'd have a set of them like a shot. But when a replacement costs £40, it didn't seem cost-effective.

Nice clean solution to the problem though.

 

[brightspark]

now that weve been shown what the score is we can make our own now

 

[dannymac]

Ah well,with the snapped stud extractor out,thats half the battle,or atleast back to sqaure one,dress it down flush with the grinder,get a smaller drill and drill the nipple out slowly,in a pillar drill is best,then try clean out the threads with a tap,careful you dont snap the tap lol,you might be better changing thread/pitch for another size nipple.

 

[Wallace]

If you cannot repair the replacement caliper why not strip the old one down and see if you can make one good one out of the two?

As for the customer service from the dealer, if I have to travel any distance I ask them to physically check the stock and keep the item to one side with my name on.