S80: Wheels/Brakes Brakes

[green van man]

I have had that problem. These days I keep new bleed nipples on the shelf.

What I do is clamp the flex able brake pipe. Remove the bleed nipple completely with a hex socket or flare nut spanner, size is either 11mm or 10mm. Grease the nipe, replace, remove the clamp and then bleed the brake. If you do not grease the nipple you will have the same trouble next time.
Before anyone has a fit, grease on a nipe thread is never going to get anywhere near the piston seals, 10 years of doing it without problems has proven that. If you are really worried use red rubber grease, I use standard high melting point grease.

Paul.

[Ian21401]

What Paul said. I do the same.

[Kev0607]

I managed to bleed three of the wheels using the existing bleed nipples, but one was jammed shut on the passenger side rear wheel. I ordered replacement bleed nipples from my local Volvo dealership & picked them up this afternoon. I replaced the one that was jammed with a new one, but left the others as they were working fine. I'll keep hold of the other new bleed valves for now, as I didn't see the point of replacing the ones that were working fine & released with no issues.

So, my car has new discs & pads all around with fresh brake fluid It took longer than expected to do, but I suspect someone had already tampered with many of the bolts because they seemed to be rounded before I touched them & were extremely tight too. The flare nut spanner certainly came in handy, although imperial sockets only oddly enough () seemed to fit nicely too.

[barrybritcher]

best piece of kit is to get a full set of 6 point/ sided brake spanners spanning the full range.

12 point will round them off in no time at all.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/6-piece-F...item547072697e

[Kev0607]

I've just ordered the ones you sent me the link to. They'll come in handy for future use hopefully.

Thanks.

[Ian21401]

I invested in a set of brake flare nut spanners a few years ago when my 940 brake pipes needed some attention, better than standard open enders.
Re rounded/damaged bolt heads. Last year I invested in a set of flat drive sockets from Machine Mart. As they drive on the flats of the bolt/nut they will often shift something which has rounded. I find that I am using them more and more for dismantling whether the bolt is obviously damaged or not as they prevent “rounding”
I also bought a small set of “grip and twist off” sockets which have a spiral inside which bites into the bolt head. I’ve needed them a couple of times to date and they worked.

[Kev0607]

Originally Posted by Ian21401

I invested in a set of brake flare nut spanners a few years ago when my 940 brake pipes needed some attention, better than standard open enders.
Re rounded/damaged bolt heads. Last year I invested in a set of flat drive sockets from Machine Mart. As they drive on the flats of the bolt/nut they will often shift something which has rounded. I find that I am using them more and more for dismantling whether the bolt is obviously damaged or not as they prevent “rounding”
I also bought a small set of “grip and twist off” sockets which have a spiral inside which bites into the bolt head. I’ve needed them a couple of times to date and they worked.

I had to get a set of the grip & twist sockets - The ones I have are made by Irwin. They were extremely useful for my recent brake job because of rounded bolts on the caliper bracket that were just jammed solid. They're quite clever how they work, as they don't damage the threads of the nut. I was expecting the caliper bracket bolts on my car to be totally useless when they eventually came off using the grip sockets, but the threads were totally fine. Definitely a handy set of tools to have!