Rounded + Nipple + Bleed

Tesla · 4 Jun 2006 at 16:13

Went and bought some DOT5.1 from 'frauds today. Just under a tenner for a litre and was going to change my brake fluid.

I cannot really fault my brakes much but as I have little service history with the car I wanted to do it for piece of mind and at the same time I can inspect the brake and suspension for wear, corrosion and the like.

Anyway, took the nearside rear wheel off. Inspected all of the brake components (drums on the rear) and they are all in good condition and I am pleased with them.

Stuck my 8mm spanner on the bleed nipple and gave it a turn and it just rounded the nipple straight away.

Tried a few other things but no good so in the end put the wheel back on and decided to leave it. I don't want to bleed 3 wheels and not the other. I prefer to do things properly or not at all.

So what do I do now?

Buy a new brake cylinder, any ideas on cost?

Look into disc conversion (don't really want to go to major expense on my work horse car).

Other?

Cheers folks!

EDIT - I went testing the brakes, from 50mph I stopped in around 8-10m I think. Not that I got out to measure but looking at fixed objects around me as markers. This seems ok anyway? Highway code is 38m + 12m thinking, 50m! iirc.

Tesla · 4 Jun 2006 at 16:20

Phil W said:
Mole grips

There isn't really enough room to get them onto the nipple. Also, I have to tighten it up with the bleed kit on there so there would definately be no room then.

I will look up the cost of my other options...

Tesla · 4 Jun 2006 at 16:36

Would it come out much easier if it was heated up?

I dont have anything I could use to heat it up with, thats the problem.

I also want to replace the rear ARB bushes and drop links but the droplinks nuts are heavily corroded.

Anybody here own or know of someone that owns a garage that would alloy me to use their lift/pit and give me a hand removing the bits? Don't need any help with anything other than removing the corroded bits.

Tesla · 5 Jun 2006 at 17:41

Ordered a pair of new nipples from Ford for about £5.

Tesla · 5 Jun 2006 at 18:48

wolseley said:
Rear cylinders are normally fairly easy to remove from the car. As you have already ordered the new nipples, simply remove the cylinder and change the nipple with it off the car (as it will make it a lot easier to do).

I have considered doing this as it wouldn't be too much of a hassle and I prefer to do jobs properly.

Also, I could take them off, then take them to a friendly garage and see if they will remove them with some heat if need be.

O/T - What's the story behind your forum name?

Tesla · 6 Jun 2006 at 18:21

nutcase_1uk said:
p.s. £5 for two bleed nipples???? Did you try a factor? About 75p each probably.

Yes I know but I was at Ford parts place anyway and don't know the thread size.

Tesla · 7 Jun 2006 at 01:10

OK I was wrong.

Ford say 26-28m from 50mph is about right. Seemed a heck of a lot shorter than 6 car lengths.

I am tempted to make some faint markings on the curb and test it out one late night.

Tesla · 9 Sep 2006 at 08:51

Right, I still han't got round to doing this.

I am doing an oil change today so would like to change the brake fluid too.

I could take the off, take them up to the local garage with my new nipples and see if they will swap them over for me with a bit of heat?

I cannot see how else I will be able to get them out!

Tesla · 9 Sep 2006 at 11:08

Well just spent £80 on service items. Quite a good deal though I think considering I got...

Oil
Oil Filter
Pollen Filter
Front Wipers
Air Filter
4 x Plugs

All Ford parts of course, I have some weird issue with using anything else.

I will pop round Halfords and see what they have with regards to brake spanners. Halfords spanners are usually quite good I find.

What is "Plus Gas"?

Tesla · 9 Sep 2006 at 16:38

nutcase_1uk said:
Ouch! Either you need to find a better dealer, or Ford parts are hideously expensive Nothing wrong with using genuine parts, but ouch!

Just looked at a Vaux reciept I have here for exactly the same shopping list for a corsa minus the wiper blades (£4 each ish?). Retail would have been £64.78 inc. VAT but trade was £29.02 inc VAT.

Seems rather cheap!

Wiper blades were about £12inc VAT. They are about £15-£16 in Halfords for thier own brand.

The spark plugs have to be platinum tipped for the Mondeo, so were around £5 each.

Also, does the Corsa even have a pollen filter?

Anyway, after wrestling with the stupidly tight sump nut I managed to fit all the new shiny parts. WOW what a difference! The idle is perfectly smooth, the car doesn't hesitate at all and pulls slightly stronger.

The plugs I took out were knackered and the oil was pretty damn black. I imagine the plugs made the biggest difference though!

I am just going to stick it in the garage for the brake fluid change as I cannot be bothered with the hassle of removing the rounded nipples and probably snapping them!

Tesla · 9 Sep 2006 at 16:58

nutcase_1uk said:
Yup to pollen filter Plugs are double prong things but not platinum. £2.03 each. Looks like the killer was the wiper blades. What's special about them for that price?

Here is what I paid:

Oil Filter - £5.08
Air Filter - £8.03
Pollen Filter - £14.48
5W30 Oil - £18.98
Spark Plugs - £20.07 (~£5.02ea)
Wiper Blades - £12.42

All prices inc. VAT.

The car is running as sweet as a nut so I think it's worth every penny of my £80!