Vent: stripped the drain plug on a customer's hydraulic brake bleed at 4:45 on a Friday

Joel Adams · 2026-10-15T19:20:03.862509+00:00

Last Friday a guy rolled in with a 2019 Trek that had a mushy rear brake, and I told him I could squeeze the bleed in before close. I got the syringe on the caliper port and gave it a turn, and the hex rounded out like it was made of warm cheese. Turns out the last shop that touched it used a 3mm on a 3.5mm plug and chewed it up, so the metal was already half gone before I ever got near it. I ended up pulling the caliper, drilling the plug out on the bench, and chasing the threads with a tap I keep in the bottom drawer, which ate up 50 minutes and a $14 plug I had to rob off a warranty return. He was cool about it and paid the extra labor, but now I want to know how you all handle this when it happens mid-bleed. Do you keep spare plugs on hand, or do you tell the customer it needs a whole new caliper?

Librear

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Vent: stripped the drain plug on a customer's hydraulic brake bleed at 4:45 on a Friday | Bicycle Mechanics - Librear