Universal M25 Bleed Screw Stripped

Amontyg

Member I
I was replacing the on-engine fuel filter over the weekend and must have cross threaded the bleed screw on top of the filter bracket. I removed the filter and bracket and brought the bracket back home to figure out the best way of dealing with the problem. I did find replacement brackets online from a couple vendors, but they are around $180, so I'd like to explore other options to fix this before going that route. I have a few options in mind, and thought I'd poll the crowd to see what your opinions are.

Option 1 is to drill out the stripped hole and install a helicoil. The concern here would be that the threads may not seal afterward, although the screw has an O-ring that I assume does most of the sealing so as long as I get the hole drilled straight enough I think it may still work.

Option 2 is to drill the hole, tap and install a replacement brass bleed fitting I found at Autozone meant for repairing brake calipers. My concern with this approach is I have heard that brass and aluminum are a corrosive mixture and this may not last long term. My thought is that if I add enough loctite or yellow teflon there may not actually be that much contact between the two and this may never actually be an issue.

Option 3 is to drill the hole and tap to a larger size, and either find a new bleed screw or replace the screw with a standard bolt. Not ideal for bleeding the system, but should work to seal things off. If I go this route I'll likely remove or loosen the supply hose to the high pressure pump when bleeding.

Open to other suggestions as well that I may not have considered.

I included pix of the bracket in case ya'll don't know what I'm talking about as well as the brass fitting I'm considering.
 

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Rocinante33

Contributing Partner
Or option #4 - Leave the bracket and that fuel filter off and add a Racor 500 series filter in it's place.

I'm not sure if you would need to add a small flat plat to cover where the bracket was installed, but that is possible. Maybe not necessary, though.
 
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