Brake bleeding systems/tools

[Vicegrip]

We use Motive bleeders at the track on the cars all the time. Fresh brake fluid is a requirement in the rules as well as to keep from stuffing your car in a wall or tree after boiling old fluid. The Motive system is very handy as they do not require an air hose are cheap and easy to use if you have the basic tricks down. $45 is the avrage price if you shop around some.
Easy way to clean is to drain as much fluid out as you can then hold the thing by the cap with the tank dangling and spray Brake Kleen in the cap and down the hose into the tank. Then slosh it around and pour out. Spray the tank some more and slosh it out. Spray the pump too as it gets fluid on it. Leave ever thing to dry and then close up. Good idea to put the cap gasket into the tank for storage. They have a habit of faling out and getting lost.

Pressure bleeding has a good feature over gravity as it stirs up the "silt" in the system. As I pressure bleed I also pump the brake pedal 4 or 5 times the normal stroke but in sharp little stabs. This stirs up the crud and you can even see the color change from the dirt when it is done on an old system.

Be careful not to over push the pedal if you use the pump the brakes method. After time the master cylender can get crud and rust in the lower portion of the cylender. When you pump you can push the piston well past the normal stroke, run the seals over the crud and cut them up.

 

[jimmycrackcorn]

http://www.tsmmfg.com/Troubleshooting.htm#1

This is fallowed with a 2 man bleeding process to ensure no air, i think this is what kartracer post was referring to.

 

[eschoendorff]

fill reservoir ... replace lid of reservoir ... crack bleed screw from farthest from reservoir ... jack up that corner so it's a bit higher than rest of car, not much, just a little higher is fine ... run rubber hose from cracked bleeder screw down into a container to catch purged fluid ... open beer

best results is do this one Friday evening ... let it sit all night .. check on Saturday morning. for some reason Friday & Saturdays work best ... maybe it's the beer.

No... I know what gravity bleeding is. I just never heard of doing it before the two man bleed. What's up with that?

 

[-lecroix-]

why would you do it afterwards? i have only used and seen the gravity version used as a "rough in" version of bleeding a system ... the two man version is used to finish it off as this pressurizes the system with the pumping of the pedal and the forcing of hydraulic fluid thru the system.

dunno, maybe i've been doing it all wrong ... but i've never had a brake system failure ... road or track

 

[eschoendorff]

why would you do it afterwards? i have only used and seen the gravity version used as a "rough in" version of bleeding a system ... the two man version is used to finish it off as this pressurizes the system with the pumping of the pedal and the forcing of hydraulic fluid thru the system.

dunno, maybe i've been doing it all wrong ... but i've never had a brake system failure ... road or track

What I'm getting at is an either/or thing. I've never heard of doing a gravity bleed a two-man bleed. I have heard of doing a gravity bleed or a two-man bleed though.

In the end, you can just get speed bleeders (like a couple people already said) and just do the two-man method with one man. Just make sure you get the actual speed bleeders. The knock-offs aren't worth a damn and do not seal up well.

http://speedbleeder.com/

 

[mulepackin]

Thanks for the link Esch. I was just about to ask about speedbleeders. I've never heard of them. I guessed this was what they would be.

 

[bmwpower]

What I'm getting at is an either/or thing. I've never heard of doing a gravity bleed a two-man bleed. I have heard of doing a gravity bleed or a two-man bleed though.

In the end, you can just get speed bleeders (like a couple people already said) and just do the two-man method with one man. Just make sure you get the actual speed bleeders. The knock-offs aren't worth a damn and do not seal up well.

http://speedbleeder.com/

I should really look into those. I've heard about them for years, but never trusted them (I was worried one would fail or loosen during driving). They're cheap enough. You still have to get out and observe the fluid coming out to determine if you bled enough or not.

 

[malibu101]

Be careful not to over push the pedal if you use the pump the brakes method. After time the master cylender can get crud and rust in the lower portion of the cylender. When you pump you can push the piston well past the normal stroke, run the seals over the crud and cut them up.

Now there is a man who has learned the hard way.
I'm right there with you

 

[kartracer55]

What I'm getting at is an either/or thing. I've never heard of doing a gravity bleed a two-man bleed. I have heard of doing a gravity bleed or a two-man bleed though.

In the end, you can just get speed bleeders (like a couple people already said) and just do the two-man method with one man. Just make sure you get the actual speed bleeders. The knock-offs aren't worth a damn and do not seal up well.

http://speedbleeder.com/

The deal with gravity bleeding is that it is, as lecroix said, a rough in to bleeding. Gravity bleeding is most important when you replace a component, such as a caliper or a brake line. You let gravity pull the fluid through to fill everything up. There is a lot of volume to be filled up when you replace a caliper, so you just let them sit and fill up prior to bleeding, otherwise you can pull air back up if you try to fill this space up by going right to a 2 man bleed, because the air pocket will create tons of bubbles which will float back up to the M/C and you will be bleeding forever trying to get it all out.

Some people say speed bleeders leak over time, although Ive never seen it myself.

Jim

 

[eschoendorff]

The deal with gravity bleeding is that it is, as lecroix said, a rough in to bleeding. Gravity bleeding is most important when you replace a component, such as a caliper or a brake line. You let gravity pull the fluid through to fill everything up. There is a lot of volume to be filled up when you replace a caliper, so you just let them sit and fill up prior to bleeding, otherwise you can pull air back up if you try to fill this space up by going right to a 2 man bleed, because the air pocket will create tons of bubbles which will float back up to the M/C and you will be bleeding forever trying to get it all out.

Some people say speed bleeders leak over time, although Ive never seen it myself.

Jim

Ok... i see what you mean. Speedbleeders have a special sealant that goes on the threads and you have to re-apply it every 10 uses or so.

 

[Geeforce]

I have the Motive as well and have used it many times on my Integra. I like the fact that it fills the reservoir as you bleed so you don't have to keep checking the fluid level as you bleed/flush. Just make sure your seal at the reservoir is good otherwise fluid will start pooring out. Cleaning is very easy.
I also use one of those ear irrigation bulbs (or turkey baster) you get from the drug store to purge the old fluid from the reservoir before bleeding.
Let us know what you decide to go with.
Scott

 

[ovilla]

I'm another fan of speed bleeders. Getting the wife to help bleed brakes at odd hours was never easy and I was never sure that she was doing it right. Anyway, good luck on the new "future" purchase.

 

[vjquan]

I've got the Griot's Garage one man brake bleeder (they call it 'Brake Fluid Extractor' #85700) and used it for the first time today. I did a master cylinder replacement and was kind of skeptical that it would be as good as the two man method. Let me tell you that it works as advertised! No need for a helper and no worries about overextending the MC.

http://www.griotsgarage.com/search.jsp?searchtext=85700&search.x=0&search.y=0

 

[ImportTuner]

I've got the Griot's Garage one man brake bleeder (they call it 'Brake Fluid Extractor' #85700) and used it for the first time today. I did a master cylinder replacement and was kind of skeptical that it would be as good as the two man method. Let me tell you that it works as advertised! No need for a helper and no worries about overextending the MC.

http://www.griotsgarage.com/search.jsp?searchtext=85700&search.x=0&search.y=0

That's the low cost vacuum bleeder; instead of using a compressor to create the vacuum, you use the hand pump; handy when you are at the track when no compressor is available ...