DIY extract broken bleeder valve

Maintenance/Repairs
1

I am driving a 2013 Porsche Cayenne, two local shops (Sears auto center, Mavis Discount Tire) flushed my brake fluid in past 4 years. One of them snap off one of my passenger side rear caliper valve strew’s head. I noticed last month and decided to extract the screw by myself. I bought the WD-40 and screw extractor from home depot, but it could not pull the remaining screw out.

I tried to drill through the screw and install Dorman bleeder screw repair kit 13960 https://www.dormanproducts.com/p-840-13960.aspx, then I stuck again. I did not have a 1/8" NPT tap to make the screw thread for install the repair kit outer screw. At this stage, I did realized that, this project is beyond my experience.

I bought the replacement caliper as a backup plan, booked appointment from https://www.yourmechanic.com . A mechanic came next day, and found that I worked on my car, the wheel was taken off and being jacked up. He refused to work on it due to his company’s insurance policy.

I am in a difficult situation, it seems like the only option to to toll my car to Porsche dealer and let them replace my caliper and perform full brake system flush. The other mistake I made is there had been some brake fluid leak since I drill though the valve screw, I wrap the drill with a plastic bag to stop brake fluid leak, I did not refill the fluid reservoir in time, so it seems like went below the min line. I was then topped it up with half Liter fluid, the fluid is currently above max line. After blocking the hole with drill head and plastic bag, the valve screw hole has been leaking small amount of fluid for last 3 days.

I am getting the right 1/8" NPT tap tool from Amazon today, if I preform the following steps, and then asking some local mechanics to inspect my brakes system independently, if all of them found no issues, will it safe to drive?

1 - install the bleeder screw repair kit
2 - tight it and check if no leaks when pushing the brake pad.
3 - Flushing my brake fluid and release some air from my brake system

I could ask the local shops to re-do the brake system flush, just to avoid potential issues. I read some good review about the screw repair kit, many people did fix the issue using it.

2

Just replace the caliper…it would be a lot safer.Sometimes,mechanics use a combination of heat and penetrating oil(PB Blaster) to remove a stubborn bleeder screw.

1 Like
3

Since you don’t seem to know how to replace the caliper, have the car towed to the dealer, replace the caliper and fully bleed the brake system.

Right now, given what you have done, it isn’t safe to drive since there is air in the system. I have no confidence you can bleed it properly yourself.

I would suggest 2 things. One, stop taking the car to discount service centers. You don’t have to take it to the dealer but you should seek a Porsche specialist. Second, either stop working on your car or make a concentrated effort to learn how and buy a good set of tools. Expect to buy specialty tools as well.

Good Luck

2 Likes
4

What in the world were you thinking when you decided to take a Porsche to places like that ? If repair cost is a problem then limited type exotic vehicles are not what you should be driving.
Actually I can’t think of any vehicle I would take to a Sears Auto Center.

4 Likes
5

I am successfully made the new screw thread with Century Drill & Tool 93201 1/8-27 NPT Tap and 21/64" Drill

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0797JWQ1R/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0797JWQ1R/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

The original Porsche caliper valve was a bit smaller about 20/64" diameter, so the current hole is litter bit bigger, but Dorman bleeder screw repair kit fits it perfectly.

6

Stop cheaping out on your brakes. You will kill someone. Take it to a real mechanic and have them fix it.

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I cleaned the drill hole, and released some old brake fluid. After wiped clean the caliper, pushed my brake a few times, there was no leak. I also waited half day, and saw no leak on caliper. The new valve is siting on my caliper and tighten very well. I did not try to disassemble my caliper and my brake pads.

The only thing I am worry is the air and water went in to my brake line, there was half liter fluid leaked out during my repair, and the fluid reservoir went blow min line before I topped it up. I hope doing a full brake fluid flush will restore my brake system, Any expert here please give some advise, I look forward to hearing some suggestions.

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I will ask a few shops to check my brake system, one of them will perform full brake fluid flush. They should be able to tell if my caliper leaks or not after my valve repair kit installation.

I feel things happen to other people who have much older and worse car condition with leaking brake line on the road, I did not disassemble anything else except the broken valve.

11

I wanna share some other stories about shops did bad jobs on my car, Mavis Discount Tire changed my engine oil and filter last Oct. Their mechanic overfilled the oil, I saw a message showing on my dash board saying “Engine oil above maximum” for a while, I ignored the message, because sometimes it does not show up.

It had been a year, Porsche only requires to change oil once a year or 10k milles. 3 weeks ago, I went back to Mavis and asked them to change my oil, they found small oil leak and refused to perform oil change. I had to hire a mechanic from www.yourmechanic.com, who has more than 100 good reviews on the website. This mechanic told me he owns his own repair business and working for the website with experience on luxury cars, he found the engine oil leak is from the filter cap, Mavis did not close the cap probably, so there was a slow leak for a year.

This mechanic also flushed the brake fluid for another car of mine 2013 Jaguar XJ in Aug 2018, the Jaguar dealer checked my XJ in Jan 2019, and said the fluid is not 100% clean if fluid flush performed in Aug 2018, Jaguar store said the mechanic from the website did not flush all old fluid out and suggested to flush the brake fluid with them.

However, I do not believe 100% dealer’s advise, because Porsche dealer lied to me, I had a SRS light on my dashboard two months ago, they charged me $400 to disassemble the driver’s seat for diagnostic, then told me they needed to change a side impact sensor and wiring harness inside the driver side front door for $2000.

I decided to perform the job by myself, because I had experience in replacing driver side mirror and disassemble the door for 2001 Mitsubishi eclipse, I also replaced the convertible top and car radio by myself.

Before I opened up my Porsche’s door, I checked the wiring harness connector outside the door. I found one wire was snapped. I connected the wire with tape and then use my Porsche scanner tool to reset the error code, the SRS light went off. I could reproduce the issue a few times by disconnecting the wire, the SRS light came back on immediately.

I googled the error code online, I am confident to tell initial driver seat disassemble was unnecessary, the Porsche dealer lied about the situation, they read the code which never referring to the driver seat, it was clear there was no connection between the side impact senor and wiring harness inside the door.

12

you have just enough knowledge and gumption to be dangerous.

Fill in the rest of your knowledge, and you’ll be a darn good DIY’er.

In the meantime- stop going to multiple mechanics (and like was said- Stay away form Sear Auto Center.) Find one you like, one you can trust, and stick with them. That will save you tons of headache, and tons of money. With a Jag and a Porsche, an exotic car mechanic would be a good idea.

There is zero need to have multiple shop look at your brakes.
But messing with your brakes and you SRS system without proper training or extensive knowledge of what you are doing is a very risky move. When you have a pro check your brakes, show them your SRS system repair too.

1 Like
13

First of all it sounds like you did not raise the hood for a year or you might have noticed the oil around the fill cap. Second , Mavis for an oil change ? It sounds like you should be able to do that yourself. Third , a Porsche dealer is not going to tape a wire back together that has anything to do with an air bag system.

2 Likes
14

I understand about the airbag situation too. I do not believe every car has side airbags, it is optional. The main airbag on my steering wheel should still work even the side airbag is offline. Porsche’s computer shows a lot details, if the side impact senor is disconnected again, the error message will show up immediately.

15

I will change my oil next time, there are 10 screws on the plastic panel. I could not open one of them using my screw driver, the website mechanic showed me how to take it off using its outer part.

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No , it is not an option . The side restraints were to be phased in starting 2013 and become mandatory by 2018 .

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That is good to know, people who drive a car older than 2013 may not have side airbags. image

I just marked that sensor location on my Cayenne

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I wanna share the pic of the broken valve before extraction

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19

Without evening mentioning the plethora of mistakes here I can only say that I wasn’t aware there was even a Sears service center open anymore.

TBA stores (tires, batteries, accessories) such as Sears and so on are not really the place to go for detailed service work and especially so on a more high end (and complicated German over engineered) car.

2 Likes
20

that valve has a rubber cap on it. Is it the rubber cap you were having issues with?

as for the SRS- if your car was manufactured with side aribags, then it is not an option to have them working. They need to work. Period. If you did not do a quality job of fixing the wire, you have endangered yourself and anyone else driving your vehicle. You have opened yourself up to lawsuits, and the possibility of insurance claims being denied. This is a bigger deal than I think you are giving credit to. Have a pro check it out.