I went to attempt a brake bleed this morning and couldn't find the bleeder nipple on the left rear caliper ... I thought it was because I was dense, but it turns out it's just not there ... there's just a hole where it used to be. Other three calipers all have the bleed nipple, but I'm not just going to bleed 3/4 of the system. What does one do in this event?

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1987 300D, arctic white/palomino--314,000 miles
1978 240D 4-speed, Euro Delivery, light ivory/bamboo--370,000 miles
2005 Jeep Liberty CRD Limited, light khaki/slate--140,000 miles
2018 Chevy Cruze diesel, 6-speed manual, satin steel metallic/kalahari--19,000 miles
1982 Peugeot 505 diesel, 4-speed manual, blue/blue, 130,000 miles
1995 S320, black/parchment--34,000 miles (Dad's car)

May have to use an ease out, or worst case, replace the caliper.

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RRGrassi


70's Southern Pacific #5608 Fairmont A-4 MOW car

13 VW JSW 2.0 TDI 193K, Tuned with DPF and EGR Delete.

91 W124 300D Turbo replaced, Pressure W/G actuator installed. 210K

90 Dodge D250 5.9 Cummins/5 speed. 400K

Expect to buy a caliper,your chances of removing that broken bleeder without damaging the threads or seat are very slim.Important thing is make sure the little rubber caps are on all the bleeder screws when you finish the job,the chances of the bleeder screw rusting into the caliper is MUCH greater if those caps are left off. Don

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Red Green "This is only temporary,Unless it works!"

97 E300D 157000 miles
87 300TD ?141k? miles

None of the screws have rubber caps on them now. Last flush was done by a mechanic in the last town I lived in. Maybe he left them off. He never mentioned anything about a broken bleed screw, but it could have happened since then (or he could have broken it off, for all I know, and just not said anything). Guess I'll take it to my current (very trusted) indy and see what he thinks. Looks like it's pretty rusted into the caliper, so I'm guessing it's curtains for the whole caliper.

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1987 300D, arctic white/palomino--314,000 miles
1978 240D 4-speed, Euro Delivery, light ivory/bamboo--370,000 miles
2005 Jeep Liberty CRD Limited, light khaki/slate--140,000 miles
2018 Chevy Cruze diesel, 6-speed manual, satin steel metallic/kalahari--19,000 miles
1982 Peugeot 505 diesel, 4-speed manual, blue/blue, 130,000 miles
1995 S320, black/parchment--34,000 miles (Dad's car)

If you are going to replae one, replace the one on the other side as well to keep the wear "Balanced". IE: Right front is replaced, the replace the left front as well.

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RRGrassi


70's Southern Pacific #5608 Fairmont A-4 MOW car

13 VW JSW 2.0 TDI 193K, Tuned with DPF and EGR Delete.

91 W124 300D Turbo replaced, Pressure W/G actuator installed. 210K

90 Dodge D250 5.9 Cummins/5 speed. 400K

I had a similar situation a a year or so ago.....what I did....

I ordered 2 Bleeder Screws, from Phil
I also ordered a caliper rebuild kit, from Phil
I also replaced the Brake Lines while doing this project...stainless by "Goodridge"

I removed the caliper from the car....chucked it in a vise, and used a 4 fluted easy out.....and the broken part came out relatively easily.....

bear in mind that the "bleed screw" is in all actuality a valve....so once you move it off of it's seat....it comes out very easy.....

There are a couple of different rear brake calipers....mine are Girling....but you need to identify your caliper before ordering the rebuild kit.....

SB

Note to critics: As I remember a Caliper Kit does both sides front or rear....my car has ATE on front and Girling on rear......and I rebuilt all 4 corners of the car....and I installed the "high test' stainless braided lines all way round as well.....and of course new pads while I had it all apart......

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Diesels:
'85 300D, "Max, Blue Benz", 155K, 27.0 MPG
'84 190D 2.2, "Eva, Brown Benz", 142K, 40.2 MPG
'77 240D (parts car)
'67 Eicher ES 202 Tractor "Otto" (2cyl, Air Cooled, 30HP)
Gassers:
'94 Ford F-150, "Henry", 170K (300 Six) 17.5 MPG
'85 190E 2.3, 148K....Parts Car
'58 Dodge W300M Powerwagon (Flat Fenders) Less than 10 MPG

The bleeder nipple is hollow, right? So right there you have solved one of the stickiest problems with using an easy-out, i.e. drilling a nice hole in the center.

My suggestion is to get a set of reverse drill bits from harbor freight or similar and just drill out the nipple with successive larger bits. You will probably reach a point where the nipple will back out as you are drilling it. Hit it with Kroil or similar and heat cycle it a few times with a propane torch and an ice cube before drilling.

It'll come out.

Rgds,
Chris W.
BTDT

Same thing happened to me. I just tightened it down too much after bleeding the brakes and the damn thing snapped off!

I took the caliper off and took it to a machine shop and had them back it out for me. Cost me 20 bucks and I replaced it with a bleeder nipple from my old caliper, works great!

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1963 Ford F100 - Cummins Swap?
1985 Mercedes 300SD - 210K
1992 Ford Festiva - 92K
2001 Ninja 250 - 8K

I'd order two rebuilt calipers from Phil or a local Autoparts store. Carquest can get them.

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1999 SL500
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200

I used the left hand drill bit method (since the centering hole is in there already), using Snap On extractor kit, and the remnant of the bleeder screw just walked out thanks to the drill bit.

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'98 E300 DT
'87 190D 2.5 turbo RIP
'92 S500 Sold
'03 3.2TL-S A-Spec

Both sides of the caliper, not both sides of the car. At least not that I have ever seen.

I don't think it just broke off when you rolled over a bump. Methinks the last mechanic who bled the brakes tightened it up just a hair too much, then...........
Hard to believe it didn't leak.
Do you have any old pics that might show whether or not it's been broken off for awhile? Maybe those old pics of your rear frame crack or something similar.
Wouldn't matter really, just a curiosity thing......

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Jimmy L.
'05 Acura TL 6MT
2001 ML430 My Spare

Gone:
'95 E300 188K "Batmobile" Texas Unfriendly Black
'85 300TD 235K "The Wagon" Texas Friendly White
'80 240D 154K "China" Scar engine installed
'81 300TD 240K "Smash"
'80 240D 230K "The Squash"
'81 240D 293K"Scar" Rear ended harder than Elton John

The benz calipers are very high quality. If a numb nuts does not break off the bleed nipples they last a very long time. I would try getting the broken bleeder out before buying a new caliper, but I don't depend on my car as my sole source of transportation.

There is also the possibility of drilling the bleeder completely out and installing a bleeder repair kit. I had my favorite machinist do this on my old Ferrari.

It consists of a complete new bleeder with the seat which is installed by drilling your old one completely out and tapping the hole with a pipe thread die and screwing in a whole new bleeder assembly. I simply removed the brake cylinder and took it to his shop and watched while he did it.

The cost may not be much less than a rebuilt caliper, but if the broken stub can be gotten out it should be a good deal less.

Since you don't report any braking problems at the moment it is not a problem which you are forced to solve immediately.

BTW the rubber caps don't protect the threads, just the nipple opening.

Tom W

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[SIGPIC] Diesel loving autocrossing grandpa Architect. 08 Dodge 3/4 ton with Cummins & six speed; I have had about 35 benzes. I have a 39 Studebaker Coupe Express pickup in which I have had installed a 617 turbo and a five speed manual.[SIGPIC]

..I also have a 427 Cobra replica with an aluminum chassis.

Yes, but without the cap water gets inside the hole and rust begins to form along the bottom of the bleeder screw; this spreads to the threads eventually.

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'98 E300 DT
'87 190D 2.5 turbo RIP
'92 S500 Sold
'03 3.2TL-S A-Spec

I had the same problem and attempted the easy-out solution and made things much worse. The metal used in the easy out is very hard but also brittle, and it snapped off in the bleeder in mine. Don't even think about trying to drill that out when it happens. I would have a back-up plan in mind (maybe even a caliper on stand-by-You could return it if not used). I ended up having to replace the caliper. And have since replaced the soft brake lines also, probably would have been easier to do at one time, but that would have required foresight. Alex

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"Frau Blue Car" 1980 240D think Frau Bluker, cue the horses, formerly known as "China" from JimmyL
"Gunther" 1982 300D.....Turbo!! A/C!! Sunroof!!
"Fraulein" 1975 240D----Donated to NPR