I bled my brakes 5 months ago, and slowly they became worse. I noticed that it was wet around two of the bleeder screws indicating a leak. I tightened them, and it became dry indicating it no longer leaked. I got some new screws and bled the brakes. I cleaned the area with brake clean so it would be dry around the bleeder screws, and after a short drive, all 4 of them were wet with fluid around it. I put the old screws back in, it seems better, but 1 or 2 screws may still be leaking (I need to drive more to tell for sure). What do I do? Will teflon tape fix it? Do I need to clean it somehow? Shown in the photo, the new screw looks a little different from the old ones. Did I get the wrong ones, or are the old ones just worn like that?

 

Looks to me that they've been WAY over tightened. We all know that buying parts made of Chinesium is a bad plan, also, mistreating parts made right is a similarly bad plan. Get some new good quality bleeders and replace them without over tightening. Know that you might also have damage on the seating surface in the caliper now.

 

What do I do if the caliper seating surface is damaged?

 

That'll be one of those "It depends" answers. Theoretically, it or they can be renewed. Examine the caliper seating surface to see if they look OK. If they look OK then move on. Try the new bleeders first. Don't over tighten them. See if they leak. If the ones you bought are thought to be good quality, then you might already be at this point. If I thought the seating surface were chingered up, I'd examine the piston bores to see what condition they are in, and use that info to decide if I'm going to try to renew the calipers or replace them. I hate replacing stuff that can be fixed.

 

I got the DORMAN 12706 bleeder screws (bottom). They worked great and are not leaking. The end is a little wider than the original screws, but it still works. The middle one was an aftermarket replacement from rovers north which leaked and the top is the original. I tightened the bleeder screws to 10 ft lbs.

 

My pedal is starting to feel less firm, and I noticed it was slightly darker around one of the bleeder screws indicating possible leakage (and air getting in?). I tightened the screw a little more, and after driving around, there was a much larger leak. Then today it has been bone dry even after driving and braking. I have no idea what is going on.

When I tightened it the first time, I tightened to 10 ft pounds instead of 7 since thats the lowerst my torque wrench went to. Is this too tight?

At this point I'm just going to replace all the calipers since I'm planing a long trip and don't want to die.

 

Good point on not risking it when it comes to brakes. They are on the cheaper side ($115 x4 a few months ago if I recall correctly) but still WAY cheaper rear ending someone, or worse. It seems odd that its happening to all 4 though? I don't know if there would be too much pressure? Heat cycles? Are they only leaking when they are hot? Grasping at straws but definitely curious to the resolution of this.

 

Right now only one is leaking, but with the previous bleeder screws all 4 were leaking. The one that is leaking now was dry for about a week before it randomly started. Since I'm not sure if the other calipers will start leaking in the future, I'm just replacing all of them to be safe.