Brake Fluid Reservoir Screws

Disaster Area

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Hi,

The cross head on one of the four brass screws has completely gone - there's just a smooth cone where the cross used to be.

Any suggestions for how to get the screw out?

Cheers,
DA
 
If the cross head has become the cone you describe then there's a good chance is central. And being brass it'll be easy to drill out.

If you work up from very small drills, I suspect it'll just come out without ever having to reach the diameter of the thread.

Or is "disaster area" a warning? :)

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Disaster Area used to be a warning, but after 10 years with the GS, four with a '78 Mini and now a '95 Land Rover, I'm actually getting quite good at spannering...;-)
 
Sounds like you'll be fine :)

One thought. If you have the other screws out, use them to mark the drill for depth. I'd also put them back in to even out any tension in the screw.

Maybe someone has a different solution? Because it's all alloy,it won't do well to hammer in a torx. I guess if you have a dremmel you could try and make a slot for a flat blade? Just don't slip :)

Good luck!

Sent from my SM-N910F using Tapatalk
 
A good quality small flat head driver. Waggling it back and forth will cut a slot. Then turn with a fair bit of down pressure.
 
Tap a sharp crosshead screwdriver bit into the "cone" with a good dollop of Ezi-Grip.
If no Ezi-grip try a blob of valve grinding paste, it's not as good but may do the job. .
 

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If you can make a slot to secure a screwdriver blade, attach the handle to mole grips. You’ll get loads more leverage.
 
Had a similar problem recently and found it easier to very carefully cut the top cap off and then it was a breeze to remove the screw, wasteful I know but not too bad for a new one about £20.
 
agree with all the above, but a method I have found recently to stop the original damage to the tight screw on reservoirs, is the use of a 600mm long Phillips head screw driver.It allows you to put a great deal more weight onto the tight screw, but also allows you much more precision as you attempt to undo the screw, so you don't slip and ruin it in the first place.
 
The screw eventually came out, but it required the use of a Dremel to cut a groove into it.
 
Glad you managed it D.A. What a relief !

If you ARE buying the stainless replacements, do make sure you have a dip of Copaslip on each thread, or instead winkle a tiny blob into the screw thread holes in the cylinder, with a steady hand, which I can't do nowadays unfortunately. Making sure none of the copper lube ever gets near the reservoir cup itself.

No, sadly, nowadays the delicate jobs like poking Copaslip into a small thread-hole with a toothpick is a job for Her Indoors, as a relief for her from her usual daily jobs of cooking, cleaning, bed-making, window-polishing, ironing, washing-up,cat-grooming, gardening, etc.

Back in the day when I often frequented motor engineers' workshops, they used to call me 'The Copaslip King'. Wonderful stuff. Perfect for exhaust clamps.

If a copaslipped bolt is torqued to the right value, it won't shake loose, but you can easily undo it when you need to. And it stops s.s. bolts from rotting into alloy or Mazac or ordinary steel.
 
" If a copaslipped bolt is torqued to the right value,...."

I don't think its a good idea to torque any copaslipped bolt to an indicated torque figure! Most torque values are given for dry threads. Adding grease or any lubricant will greatly increase the stress on the bolt if it is torqued to a given value. Copaslip is an anti seize grease only, where there is a risk of a thread seizing and it needs to be able to be undone. I agree it will stop some corrosion between alloy and steel, but it is no where near as effective as specialist greases made for that purpose ( used extensively in the marine and aircraft industry).
 
There you go...

Forty years applying Copaslip to bolt threads and I never knew you weren't suppose to torque them up.

One learns something new every day...

Thanks Adrian.

AL in s.e. Spain - still 25 degrees a meter deep in the pool.
 


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