So I am trying to change brake pads
 

I have a Giant Roam 2 disc of 2013 vintage with Tektro brakes.

That 3mm retaining pin on the caliper that needs to be removed is frozen in place and I have managed to strip the screw head so that my 3mm hex wrench spins freely inside.

How do I get out of this corner I have painted myself into? I thought of jamming a 3.5 hex wrench in there, also applying heat...but I have a propensity to make bad situations worse. I soaked it in solvent last night, but without being able to grip the screw head, I’m not making progress.

Thought I would seek guidance here before employing the bigger hammer.

I'd probably try drilling the head of the retaining screw off and going from there. It might allow you to remove the screw w/ needle nose pliers or if that won't work maybe drill/easy out.

remove the caliper with bracket from the bicycle, put it in a vise & use a left hand [size=13px]drill bit[/size] in the center of the retaining screw.

Heat from a torch will make a bad situation worse. Don't do it.

Use a dremel to make a cut in the screw head. Use a flat screwdriver to remove the screw.

Just looked at some Tektro brakes. Don't know for certain which yours are but all the screws that you can see in pictures are Torx. Perhaps yours isn't messed up too bad yet.

Thanks for that. That’s exactly why I came here for assistance.

That sounds promising and within the skill set of this old Jarhead. Thanks.

You are correct in that there are torx screws, but this screw and one other are hex heads.

Maybe put a dab of epoxy on the hex wrench and allow it to sit overnight in the hex screw, then turn it out in the morning. Just be sure no epoxy goes anywhere you don't want it, and of course, you'll need to either get a new hex wrench or cut the existing one afterwards.

Hey guys, I got it out! Small victories are the sweetest.

I borrowed a set of easy outs from a neighbor. Actually, I borrowed the neighbor. :lol:

That's an easy way to get it out.

This happened to me (and my kid) once, and ... it was with Tektro brakes.

We tried pretty much everything listed, but never succeeded. I have NO idea how it happened. Eventually we replaced his calipers with Shimano.

What kind of epoxy is this? I've never seen an epoxy that couldn't be scraped (or at least filed) off of steel objects.

It seemed to me the metal screw was awfully soft. At least that’s my story.

But it is like the thing welded itself into the thread-hole. I couldn't budge it even with a vice grip, and I couldn't even drill it out. It is a bolt you just finger-tighten. Some calipers just use a cotter pin instead.