TRW’s Technical Manager, Brian Newell, describes a recent garage encounter he came across:
“The other day I took a call from a garage having problems installing one of our rear callipers. The issue was no fluid getting into the calliper, nothing coming out of the bleed screw and a very hard, almost rigid pedal.
“My first question was whether there was fluid coming from the brake hose when it was not connected to the calliper?The answer was a resounding ‘yes’.
Brian Newell (left) at MechanEx
“So I then asked if they had removed the small blanking screw which was in the bottom of the hose fitting on the caliper. Their response was: ‘what blanking screw?’ I explained that all TRW replacement callipers with integrated handbrake mechanism come pre-filled with fluid to aid with bleeding and set up. In order to stop the fluid leaking during transit and storage we fit a blanking screw which must be removed with an allen key just prior to fitment of the brake hose. It is usually so far down inside the fitting that it is still possible to fit the brake hose, but will obviously stop any fluid entering the calliper body.
Brian continued: “I suggested he went away and checked this, and get back to me if this wasn’t the issue. Suffice to say I haven’t heard from him again.”
