Bleeder screw broke - what are my options?

[mookish]

My rad has a crack and so I need to add A/F about once every 10 days until I get it replaced. So I went under the hood to add some coolant and while turning out the bleeder screw it broke in half on me. The head and some of the shaft came out, but the other half is still threaded about 1/2 way in there. This is NOT the bleeder screw on the expansion tank but the other one on the t-stat housing.

What are my options here? Is there a way I can get that piece out and the housing still be useable? Or is a new housing the way to go?

[e39dream]

go to autozone and get a bolt extractor set for about 6 bucks.

go to dealer and get 2 new bleeder screws for about 6 bucks- get the part number from real oem because when you ask for a bleeder screw they will look at you funny.

Follow the directions to remove the broken screw, then put 1 new bleeder in the thermostat housing and the other in your spare e39 parts stash, for next time.

[jabdelja]

Same thing happened to me,i went to the dealer got a replacement hose it has the neck and bleeder screw included for like 40 bucks. Make sure you replace it or you will be stranded somewhere when it gets hot.

[BlackSapphire]

You can probably get it out with a screw/bolt extractor set.

17111712788 is the part number for a new bleed screw.

EDIT: Was slow on the draw. Mark beat me to the punch.

[mookish]

go to autozone and get a bolt extractor set for about 6 bucks.

go to dealer and get 2 new bleeder screws for about 6 bucks- get the part number from real oem because when you ask for a bleeder screw they will look at you funny.

Follow the directions to remove the broken screw, then put 1 new bleeder in the thermostat housing and the other in your spare e39 parts stash, for next time.Well the first thing I did was slap myself and go to the dealer and get two new bleeder screws for 5 bucks each. Now, I thought about the bolt extractor option, here are my concerns. First, will that mess up the threads in the housing? Second, the screw is made of plastic, is there any risk if it just breaking up and falling inside? If so will that damage anything? Where will it go? Or will it take out my water pump?


Same thing happened to me,i went to the dealer got a replacement hose it has the neck and bleeder screw included for like 40 bucks. Make sure you replace it or you will be stranded somewhere when it gets hot.How hard is it to replace the neck in the street? I can't drive the car too much because it wasn't a clean break, so fluil leaks out of that hole now.

I'll try e39dream's method first since it's the eaisest, but just incase that goes wrong, I already have it in my mind that I'll need to replace that housing. And I guess that gives me an excuse to replace the t-stat that's in the housing because I think mine is stuck open, the car takes forever to warm up and as soon as I hit the highway at speed, my tems fall back close to the blue.

[e39dream]

the threads will be perfectly fine. You'll have to take a drill bit and make a hole in the center of the broken screw. Be careful not to drill the hole completely thru (putting plastic bits in your cooling system), you just need a deep enough hole to let the extractor get a good bite.

[mookish]

the threads will be perfectly fine. You'll have to take a drill bit and make a hole in the center of the broken screw. Be careful not to drill the hole completely thru (putting plastic bits in your cooling system), you just need a deep enough hole to let the extractor get a good bite.That's my fear, there's only a small bit left in there and like I said it's not a clean break straight across, so it will be hard to drill a small hole in the middle to get a good bite. I had to leave the car in NY and take the Honda Accord to PA :(, when I get back I'll look down there again, If it looks bad I'll just remove the housing and do it so nothing drops in the system.


Anyway, I've never changed a t-stat in this thing before, it looks kinda simple, is it something I can do on the street? Meaning, can I just take out the housing and replace it without removing too much other stuff to get to it?

[e39dream]

yes, it can be done in a lot or parking spot in a pinch, there's not much if anything in the way of it. Be sure to have some coolant to top it off of course.

[mookish]

yes, it can be done in a lot or parking spot in a pinch, there's not much if anything in the way of it. Be sure to have some coolant to top it off of course.That's what I want to hear. Being that my rad is cracked, I keep a fresh gallon of coolant in the trunk.:)

[pmk540i]

If you've not got that much of the thread left to work with, maybe you could use a blow-torch to heat the tip of a 4-5mm flat-head screwdriver, and then press it into the top of the bleed screw stub. It should burn its way in enough to allow you to screw out the stub. At least that way you won't risk getting swarf in the cooling system.

I'm assuming that there'll be very little resistance on the threads when you're unscrewing it, I'd have though it'd come straight out. (?) You might want to test the procedure on the broken piece of the bleed screw you've already got out (the top bit), just in case it melts really easily.

I hope this helps.

[hitek510]

heat up a bit...press into the broken screw....unscrew it out. done.

[Poolman]

Sound like a complete cooling system change on the way

[mookish]

Sound like a complete cooling system change on the wayThat is true come spring, but for now I just want to get by. If I can make it!!!!

[mookish]

Well thanks everyone for the idaes. I actually came up with a more crude approach. Since I knew I'd be doing this in the dark I went out and bought a flashlight yesterday. So when I got home from work I thought I'd go take a peek in there to see what I was up against, my plan was to just replace the whole housing and t-stat. But when I looked in there, the fan shroud was blocking full access to the housing and the shroud looks like it would a be a bit*h to get off, not something I wanted to do in the street at night. So I just stared and stared and came up with a plan. So heres the tools I used;

Drill
http://img443.imageshack.us/img443/4438/dsc01594ap3.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

Bits
http://img179.imageshack.us/img179/8764/dsc01599qd7.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

Pick Set
http://img20.imageshack.us/img20/511/dsc01598wz5.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

Bleeder Screw or Vent Screw
http://img179.imageshack.us/img179/9831/dsc01603de6.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

I noticed that the t-stat housing neck pointed slightly downward so I unscrewed the clamp and removed the hose connected to the housing neck. Then I drilled a small hole into the broken bleeder screw shaft. I used about 5 drill bits increasing the size each time until I took a good chunck out of the middle of the bleeder shaft but was careful not to go too big and ruin the threads in the housing.

Now the bleeder screw is not completely threaded, it has a groove or vent running down the side, that's where the picks come in. I stuck the straight pick into that groove and used it to pry inward, since the material left was so thin it just broke, then I went further down the groove and did the same thing until it was completely broken from top to bottom, then I used one of the angled picks to pry it away from the housing threads and out. Then I just poured water into the bleeder screw hole to wash away the plasctic bits left from the drilling, since the housing points downward, it all washed out without risk of any getting into the system. I re-connected the hose and topped of the coolant and was back in action. This all took about 30 minutes.

[pmk540i]

Well done. I bet that you're glad that's over!

[mookish]

Well done. I bet that you're glad that's over!Yes I am! This was actually and act of desperation, when I looked at the fan shroud I said f**k this s**t, this screw is coming out right here and right now. I was not in the mood to take apart all that stuff for a plastic screw.

[SEROMA]

heat up a bit...press into the broken screw....unscrew it out. done.
+1, The same thing happend to me and this is the method I used, just use a small flat head (smaller than the screw) and take your time.

[tka1]

Nicely done.