Worms
Member Since: 24 Sep 2023
Location: Highlands
Posts: 398
  
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What is it with bleed nipples? Why do they always seem to be somewhere between spanner sizes? Do they expand with age? I've failed today trying to get a spanner to fit the nipples on my wife's Volvo. 8mm is too small, 9mm is too big. I cleaned the end with a wire brush, in case it was rusted. I tried sockets from different sets, I tried brake line spanners, I tried ring spanners. All gave the same result. I had the same last summer with the FL2 - all the old calipers were a no-go for spanner size, but the bleed screw on the new caliper I was fitting worked fine. Same experience with our old Golf.
Is the common denominator simply my technical incompetence? Or does everyone just resort to a mole wrench? Previously:
2010 FL2 TD4e GS
‘93 Defender 110 200TDi CSW - still got this, non-runner on SORN.
‘87 Defender 90 4 cyl Petrol
‘83 110 CSW V8 - best ever!
Range Rover 2-door V8 (not sure of year - 4-speed box and vacuum diff switch)
Series III SWB Diesel
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 16th Oct 2023 8:27 pm |
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defector
Member Since: 23 Feb 2009
Location: Greater Manchester
Posts: 1471
 
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I still keep imperial spanners and sockets, just in case.
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| 16th Oct 2023 10:05 pm |
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Moo
D3 Decade
Member Since: 13 Aug 2010
Location: UK
Posts: 14386
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I suspect Imperial size spanners might be your answer. New Defender L663 110 SE (known as Noddy!)
Sold Volvo XC90 R-Design (known as Basil)
Sold - D4 HSE (Known as Gerty)
No longer the Old Buses original owner 
231,000 miles and counting
05 S manual owned from March 2005
D4 Face lifted
Still original injectors and turbo
V8 Front brakes
BAS Remap, Allisport Intercooler and deCat
EGRs blanked
T-Max split charge
Hanibal Expeedition rack
Prospeed ladder
Duratrac tyres
IID BT
BAS FBH control
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| 16th Oct 2023 10:43 pm |
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Worms
Member Since: 24 Sep 2023
Location: Highlands
Posts: 398
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Yes, I do have sets of imperial spanners...somewhere deep in the back of the garage along with all the other "it-might-come-in-useful-some-day" stuff! I was actually deep in there already yesterday to get out the old Saab jack that I rescued when the Saab 900 went to scrap 20-odd years ago - I needed it because the Volvo came with no jack or spare wheel and is just too low for the D2 bottle jack. Previously:
2010 FL2 TD4e GS
‘93 Defender 110 200TDi CSW - still got this, non-runner on SORN.
‘87 Defender 90 4 cyl Petrol
‘83 110 CSW V8 - best ever!
Range Rover 2-door V8 (not sure of year - 4-speed box and vacuum diff switch)
Series III SWB Diesel
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| 17th Oct 2023 5:16 am |
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Martin
Site Admin and Owner
Member Since: 06 Nov 2004
Location: Hook Norton
Posts: 18561
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You really need the flared spanners for bleed screws, they love rounding off with normal spanners.
Or use a small 6 sided socket over the whole thing to get it “cracked”, then switch to a spanner. 06 D3 SE / 15 LR D90 XS SW / 88 LR 90 Td5 / 68 BMW 2000 ti
Any issues with the site let me know!
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| 17th Oct 2023 6:03 am |
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Maddpuk
Member Since: 25 Aug 2023
Location: Barnard Castle
Posts: 39
 
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Or get one of these …
Sometimes helps to get it started, then switch to standard nipple spanners.
I guess the metal used is relatively soft, for good reason, making them so easy to round-off. 2014 Discovery 4 HSE
2013 Insignia Sports Tourer BiTurbo 4x4 SRi
2004 S2000
Honda FourTrax TRX300
- Paul
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| 17th Oct 2023 6:29 am |
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Worms
Member Since: 24 Sep 2023
Location: Highlands
Posts: 398
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Martin, thanks. Flared spanners and sockets were part of the elimination process, but I still had the "not 8mm and not 9mm" problem with them. I'll dig out some non-metric sockets, so that I have them to-hand to try the next time. I may even have an old imperial set of flare spanners somehwere, from way-back days of autotesting minis.
Maddpuk, that is an interesting looking tool! Never seen one of these, what do you call that? Previously:
2010 FL2 TD4e GS
‘93 Defender 110 200TDi CSW - still got this, non-runner on SORN.
‘87 Defender 90 4 cyl Petrol
‘83 110 CSW V8 - best ever!
Range Rover 2-door V8 (not sure of year - 4-speed box and vacuum diff switch)
Series III SWB Diesel
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| 17th Oct 2023 6:58 am |
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Martin
Site Admin and Owner
Member Since: 06 Nov 2004
Location: Hook Norton
Posts: 18561
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Seems highly unlikely that Volvo would ever have used imperial sized bleed screws. 06 D3 SE / 15 LR D90 XS SW / 88 LR 90 Td5 / 68 BMW 2000 ti
Any issues with the site let me know!
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| 17th Oct 2023 7:31 am |
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Maddpuk
Member Since: 25 Aug 2023
Location: Barnard Castle
Posts: 39
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@Worms it was an E-Bay find a few years back that got me out of trouble on a nicely corroded/rounded brake union.
I vaguely recall the Ad suggesting it was sourced from Russia, hence probably why I cannot find anything similar today? 2014 Discovery 4 HSE
2013 Insignia Sports Tourer BiTurbo 4x4 SRi
2004 S2000
Honda FourTrax TRX300
- Paul
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| 17th Oct 2023 8:02 am |
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Worms
Member Since: 24 Sep 2023
Location: Highlands
Posts: 398
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Martin wrote:Seems highly unlikely that Volvo would ever have used imperial sized bleed screws.
Exactly - hence my rant! Its a 2014 car and I'm sure the bleed screws are metric. But then, so would the Golf ones have been and I'm pretty sure the FL2 ones would have been, too. So why can I never get my spanners or sockets to fit?  Clearly I am alone in this, so it must be me that is the problem here! Previously:
2010 FL2 TD4e GS
‘93 Defender 110 200TDi CSW - still got this, non-runner on SORN.
‘87 Defender 90 4 cyl Petrol
‘83 110 CSW V8 - best ever!
Range Rover 2-door V8 (not sure of year - 4-speed box and vacuum diff switch)
Series III SWB Diesel
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| 17th Oct 2023 8:57 am |
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Trailered Movements
Member Since: 16 Jan 2020
Location: East/West Sussex Coast Borders
Posts: 1200
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My lad replaces those on the equipment he services with 45 or 90 degree ones, it make for easy removal with mole grips if required.
Dave 2011 Discovery 4 Commercial SDV6 (Gone)
2010 RRS TDV8 (Gone)
1980 OBLIC 4.0ltr Range Rover (went a long time ago)
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| 17th Oct 2023 11:03 am |
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al cope
Member Since: 08 Nov 2005
Location: Oldbury, WM
Posts: 10352
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It’s swings and roundabouts, as the issue with 45 or 90 Deg ones is you can’t hammer a socket over them to get them moving 
Al Volvo XC90 B5 Plus Dark
Gone - MY18 D5 HSE - Corris on 22's with Black Pack
Now gone - MY16 D4 SE Tech, Loire Blue, Almond Leather, Privacy, plus some other goodies.
Old - MY12 D4 SDV6 XS Auto - Ipanema Sand with Almond Leather - Plus other niceties, and D4.com sticker
Older - D3 TDV6 XS Auto - Lugano Teal with Almond Leather, 20" Stormers, Shiny Tailpipes, DVD/TV - and obligatory D3 sticker
Ancient - D3 TDV6 S - Tonga with Ebony, 20" Stormers, satnav & DVD
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| 17th Oct 2023 12:46 pm |
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