Brake Bleeders-MityVac

[Fast Orange]

I'm getting ready for spring car and truck maintenance.One of the projects on the top of my list is flushing/bleeding the brakes on my vehicles.To this end,I'm looking at buying a one-man brake bleeding system.I've already tried this task with the standard MityVac hand-held vacuum pump and catch bottle with poor results-you need at least three hands and need to be in two places at once to make it work.
The Toolwarehouse dot com has a MityVac # M6835 system on sale for $122 and it looks like a better solution to me.Has anyone here tried this yet?
I'm looking at doing a minimum of 3 flushes,2 of which are ABS systems,but as far as I can tell,I won't need to activate the ABS pumps on these particular vehicles to do the flush/bleed. What system are you guys using?

George

 

[kartracer55]

check/price iut there pressure bleeders...

I prefer pressure bleeding over vacuum bleeding because witha vacuum bleeder you need to constantly moniter the fluid and if you **** air you have to start all over. The only downside to the pressure bleeder is that you need adapter plates for different reserviors... Usually one or two for ford, one for gm, one for honda etc. Just price them out, dont know what they go for. Pressure bleeding makes the job much easier and gives, imho, better results.


Jim

 

[djjack]

I have one of these pressure bleeders and it works good.

http://www.motiveproducts.com/02bleeders.html

It is easy to push a lot of fluid thru the lines and you see the air bubbles clearly. Some people don't like the vac bleeders because air can enter at the bleed screw and make it tough to see when the lines are full.

I would recommend wrapping a towel around the master cylinder in the event of a leak.

 

[JohnZ]

I gave up on Mityvacs, Phoenix Injectors, etc. years ago. Corvette brakes are notoriously difficult to bleed, and the Motive Products pressure bleeder is the ultimate solution - makes bleeding a 15-minute job for one person, and you don't have to keep watching the fluid level in the master cylinder. Results in a high, hard pedal every time. Both of my current cars have similar dual master cylinders, so the same adapter works for both of them.

I didn't care for the J-hook and chain arrangement that secures the adapter, so I use a 6" length of 1-1/2" square tubing (to spread the load) and a 6" C-clamp instead. They also make a handy vented bleed bottle with a tether on it - just walk around the car, bleed to the bottle at each corner, and you're done; the pressure bleeder is one of the best tools I ever bought - takes all the grief out of bleeding brakes.

 

[ChucksCrib]

Am I the only one who uses speed bleeders as a one man tool

 

[Fast Orange]

Thanks guys-

I like the looks of that Motive Power unit-I see from JohnZ's pics that it will work on cast m/c,but how will it work on the newer m/c with plastic reservoirs? I'm worried about leakage where the reservoir snaps onto the m/c and if the resrvoir will take whatever pressure the bleeder exerts.
As for speed bleeders-my local parts store is telling me that of the three vehicles I own,I can only get them for the rear axle of my Dodge P/U. The ones listed for the front calipers are totally wrong.
Does anyone have a website that has a good applications chart?

Thanks,
George

 

[djjack]

I've used it on plastic reservoirs (Toyota) and it worked fine. The pressure is lower than you would expect. I think it is around 10psi. You can check for leaks with a dry tank before you add the new fluid.

 

[imported_banzaitoyota]

Why buy? Make your own. Buy a $12 sprayer and convert it

 

[kartracer55]

I didnt realize they made pressue bleeders like that. The ones I was thinking of are canisters the you pump compressed air into. The reservior seal will def hold up to the pressure, the compressed air pressure bleeders tell you to pump them up to like 25psi, never had a problem with th reservior seals going... the bigger concern is getting the adapter on tight enough to seal(otherwise fluid will jsut leak everywhere but not too tight to crack them. Whoever had the C clamp Idea, it was pretty slick. The kind I use has a little chain that loops around the MC and hooks onto the adapter, and you screw down on the adapter plate to make the seal. Just be careful, as long as you dont pump like 90psi into the thing, you shouldnt have any problems, or at least I havent

Jim

 

[stioc]

Yep, I've tried several one man bleeders and I now use the Motive Products pressure bleeder. Though the pump is not as smooth it does the job better than anything else I've tried.

I have a MityVac pump too - great for sucking power steering fluid etc out of the reservoirs and for troubleshooting vaccum operated parts.

 

[rdnkjeeper]

speed bleeders

Am I the only one who uses speed bleeders as a one man tool

NOPE, that is what I use too!

 

[Runner94]

I have on of the Mity bleeders. It works OK. That't it, just OK. The Motive Products pressure bleeders are the way to go in my point of view. When I do bleed brakes, which is about every 3 years, the vacuum type just wasn't what I was looking for. I might be in the market for a Motive bleeder. The Magnum seems to be the best universal unit. And the price is well within what I would consider reasonable.

My 2 cents.

 

[Roadster]

Another vote for the Motive Products power bleeder.

If you have a European car (e.g., BMW), they make an adapter unit that simply screws onto the master cylinder like a cap, and avoids the J-hook-chains-and-wing-nuts contraption used on American cars. Works like a charm.

 

[Fast Orange]

Thanks for all the responses-
It looks almost unanimous-Motive Products it will be.I think the Power Bleeder Pro will suit my needs the best-2 Qt. capacity and adapters that should fit every thing I've got. The Magnum ,with it's 4 Qt. tank would be better in a shop that dealt with brakes daily,but it's larger capacity isn't needed for occassional use.That,combined with the price of Synpower fluid pushed me to the smaller unit.
I also searched and found the main site for speed bleeders and found a real applications chart-and pricing less than my local parts store.They show availability for all 3 of my rides,so theres another order.
I realize I don't need both the pressure bleeder and the speed bleeders,but with both,I know I'll get the brakes right,one way or the other.

Thanks again,
George

 

[Ed ke6bnl]

I have a used old shop type pressure bleeder at home and the differance I believe is the commercial ones have a bladder inside and you PUMP THE PRESSUERIZED AIR over the bladder and do not introduce air into the brake fluid. brake fluid is hydraphillic it wants to obsorb any water it can, this is a disadvantage of these new pressure bleeders, so all the extra fluid in the tank will likely be trash the next time of use, just a thought Ed ke6bnl

 

[ultgar]

Another vote for the Motive Products power bleeder.

If you have a European car (e.g., BMW), they make an adapter unit that simply screws onto the master cylinder like a cap, and avoids the J-hook-chains-and-wing-nuts contraption used on American cars. Works like a charm.

You can make something fairly similar using better materials....see

Above unit shows the GM twist-lock adapter although I made some nice ones for GM cars with rectangular reservoirs (eg, the old Impala & Suburbans) and Euro models...see below

 

[Geeforce]

I want to get the Motive bleeder for my Hondas but I can't figure something out. So you pump up the cannister to apply pressure to the reservoir and then bleed all the brakes but what about refilling the reservoir with fresh fluid. Does the Motive bleeder also pump in fresh fluid as well?

 

[bmwpower]

I want to get the Motive bleeder for my Hondas but I can't figure something out. So you pump up the cannister to apply pressure to the reservoir and then bleed all the brakes but what about refilling the reservoir with fresh fluid. Does the Motive bleeder also pump in fresh fluid as well?

You put fluid in the Motive bleeder first, then hook everything up. Pressurizing the bleeder causes new fluid to be pushed from the bleeder into the reservoir and thus, old fluid out of the reservoir, etc.

 

[bmwpower]

Why buy? Make your own. Buy a $12 sprayer and convert it

^^^ What I did.

 

[RedRacer74]

We use an fitting connected to an extra master cylinder cap for the vehicle, two pieces of hose with the threaded ends already attached, a valve, and a guage all from Home Depot and use a low psi while connected to a nitrogen tank or a portable air tank. Its the cheapest setup out there and works awesome. I will post a pick of the setup this weekend.


I also have had Speed Beeders on my cars and they work great too.

 

[Geeforce]

You put fluid in the Motive bleeder first, then hook everything up. Pressurizing the bleeder causes new fluid to be pushed from the bleeder into the reservoir and thus, old fluid out of the reservoir, etc.

Cool, thats what I thought. It's going on the list for my birthday gifts my family has been asking about. The list is heavily geared towards filling out my tool repertoire along with several gear head magazine subscriptions that I can't get enough of..... this stuff beats getting clothes!

 

[tubeman]

I bleed my Z06 brakes evertime I go to the track and have found that the pressure type (bug sprayer) bleeders are the best. Buy an extra cap and convert it. To keep the mess down I don't even put any fluid in the can. Just top off the resevoir and don't bleed it empty. That way you don't waste super expensive brake fluid cuz its toast after you open it.

Most resevoirs have plenty of extra capacity to do it this way.