stripped screw on brake reservoir

THAT'S the ticket right there ! easiest, cheapest way with minimum chances of damaging anything. be sure no metal flakes get into reservoir.

just drill the head off and remove the stub with pliers

 

Clean the area out where the metal has filled in the slots of the phillips recesses, take some valve grinding compound and put a dab on the end of your phillips screw driver and and screw the screw out. If your lucky to have enough to grab onto it will work. Otherwise use an easy out type device. There are a couple different kinds out there. I've been using the valve grinding compound trick for years on the worst of cases with only a few having to go to the easy out. The trick obviously is to not let the screwdriver slip. Best to stop turning if you think it's going to slip as you loose your ability with every mash of the screw.

 

It really helps to whack on the screws with a hammer and the proper-sized screwdriver a few times before attempting to remove; it breaks the corrosion bond between screw and mc.

 

Pull the other screw, go find/buy a tap or rethreader to match. Usually these will say right on them what size drill bit to use, (if not, you can google "drill and tap chart") then get yourself a solid carbide drill bit. Drill out the broken one. you can use a toothpick for depth reference. Then tap or rethread, preferably rethread. Taps cut metal, rethreaders push metal. For a while I would always try easy outs first but if you break one of those off in there you'll have no choice but drill with carbide, ceramic or diamond. HSS drill bits won't cut an easy out, even TI coated ones. Since it seemed like I was breaking the easy out 20% of the time, I just started skipping it and going straight to a carbide bit and then rethreading. Carbide will cut through HSS like HSS cuts through wood. By the looks of the striped head you won't have any problem starting it or keeping it centered regardless wether or not you decide to take the unit completely off the bike. Although, +1 for taking it off the bike and using a drill press. If it were mine that's probably what I would do, a little more time consuming but it will be right the first time. If you muck it up while its on the bike, you'll most likely have to remove it anyway.
Good luck.

 

glad to see I am not the only one that runs into something like this when just doing a quick maitainence project.

I wouldn't use an impact driver, not on that. I too would be afraid of making a real mess. As for the Sears thing, I bought one last year when I had a stuck bolt, it didn't work for me, but maybe it will work better for you. In my case, I did something they say you are never to do. I took a drill bit that was a size or two smaller (although i was dealing with a much larger screw that you are here) than the body of the screw, and carefully started to drill out the screw. My thought was that if I removed enough "meat" from the center of the screw, the the walls of it woudl just collapse. About halfway through the drill bit got stuck (I wasn't using cutting fluid) which actually worked out well. Instead of working it free, I just put the drill in reverse, and slowly backed the drill bit, with the remains of the screw still on it, out of the hole. Worked perfectly, but accidentally. Come to think of it, I never did get that screw off that drill bit...

For the future, those screws have a really low suggested intstall torque in the manual, they really aren't supposed to be put in very tight. I want to say like 12-15lb feet, but that is without looking in the manual, so please don't go by it.

 

I may be all wrong on this one, but i wouldn't use an easyout for this job cuz chances of damage to screw hole are too great.....

-If screw threads are nicely greased they won't stick.

 

You got it. Anti seize on everything, especially where disimilar metals come together.

 

Any recommendations for an anti seize for my battery when I have another R/R crap out?

 

"Slick 50," right ???

 

I heard the stuff is great. I'll try some. If it works in batteries, I wonder if it will work in magnetos too.



Odd thread this one. Started as a bad thread and ended up as a good one.

 

Some good advice in this thread. I agree an easy out is too small and breaking one off just creates worse problems than you have already...however, the left handed drill bit that frequently comes with kits will often remove fasteners in a case like this. All you need is a reversible drill and a 3/16 left handed bit.

Another technique (probably the quickest) is similar to GreyGhost's suggestion. I frequently use a very small sharp chisel on the flat of the fastener head and 'tap' in a counterclockwise direction. This way does usually put a small mark or two in the countersunk part of the master cylinder cover if you're not careful.

The last resort is to simply drill the head of the screw (approx 3/16 in this case) until it just comes off but no further. You can then remove the other screw and master cylinder cap, grip the protruding threads of the damaged screw with a small vice grip and easily remove the remains with no damage to the threads in the cylinder itself.

 

Using a screw driver in this situation is the way I have gone in the past. I would use a philips screw driver and use a mallet to set the head of the screw driver into the screw. Just use enough hitting pressure to set the head. Keep pressing down while you try to unscrew it.

When you replace the screw use an allen head fastner not a philips head.

 

IMHO - this is a little risky when the subject container is plastic, and filled with brake fluid. To me, and I don't know, the risk of cracking or breaking the resovoir is just too great. If you were talking about the screw for your rear sets or something, that would be different, metal and no risk of spilling a nasty chemical. Otherwise an impact wrench would be the suggestion.

 

got something just like this from autozone. then went to Ace to get stainless steel screws.

 

Metallican, left handed drill bit is the perfect answer for a last resort. As you start to drill it usually grabs and removes the screw with zero damage. Lube with penetrating oil first and tap the screw lightly. Let it sit a while so the penetrating oil can do it's work. Another trick is if you can't find a left handed drill bit, use a regular right handed one and run it in reverse. This will wreck the drill bit but who cares. Before starting the drill push the bit into the stripped hole on the screw. The tighter the fit the better. When starting the drill the initial torque will usually pop the screw loose, if not you will create a lot of heat from the drill running backwards. If you notice the drill has spun without breaking the screw loose you can slowly increase the pressure on the drill and it may grab as pressure increases. After doing this the screw will be shot and your only recourse will be to drill out the screw.

To avoid this situation before you turn a Phillips screw head make sure the screwdriver tip is a perfect fit. In the USA I think the standard is SAE. In Germany the standard is DIN. In Japan the standard is JIS. JIS screws are slightly shallower than SAE. The reason you strip the screw is a USA screwdriver will bottom out in a JIS screw before it is fully engaged. If you can't find a JIS screwdriver you can file off the very tip of a US screwdriver so it seats a little deeper in the JIS screw. I always us a magnetic tip screwdriver that uses 1" long 1/4" hex tips. You can buy the tips from various manufacturers and you will usually be able to find one that fits perfect.

Sorry about the long post. I hope it helps.

Maggot

 

Its easy with a small drill bit and then an easy out set, I had to do it with a brake master cylinder on my first generation. Its unnerving but not as bad as it seems. Chris

 

All of these replies for a very common and easy to deal with problem. Like squirrel said, just drill the head off, then you can remove the cap, and most times, you can remove the remaining piece with your fingers. You don't need to put antiseize on the new one you just need the proper screwdriver to remove them. As stated, a #2 phillips is not the correct driver. Everyone that wrenches on japanese equiptment should have a set of JIS (japanese industry standard) screwdrivers. You can get them here->]Japanese Screwdriver Set (JIS Std)-Heliproz. The screw heads with a small dot or indentation on it is a jis screw. They also work great for those stubborn carb bowl screws that strip constantly.

 

Nice bike! What is it?

 

Exactly !! :thumbsup:

Needle nosed Vice-Grips clamped snuggly would be my choice.

 

Thanks for all the advice, you guys are great! Lots of excellent ideas out there.
Luckily, in this case my first attempt was a great success.
I purchased "Eazypower 82681 Spin It Out Damaged Screw Removers, No.0, No.1, No.2, No.3, No.4" from Amazon.com: Eazypower 82681 Spin It Out Damaged Screw Removers, No.0, No.1, No.2, No.3, No.4: Home Improvement for $20.
I started by putting bit#0 into a manual screwdriver I had. This didn't work but then I used #1 and it worked right away.
These work great as long as you give it plenty of downward pressure, and make sure its starting to 'bite' a bit before you rotate.
I bought 4 stainless steel screws and replaced all of them. Even though it is stored inside, these screws aren't holding up too well.
Thanks again, one of the many great things about owning a VFR is all the helpful folks around the world.