HomeMade brake bleeder idea?

[old_man]

I run an electric vacuum pump and a catch jar. If I didn't have the pump, I would get a $9 venturi vacuum pump from HF and do it. When you pull a vacuum to suck the fluid through, the bubbles get bigger and are more easily flushed. The little hand pump has such a small catch jar that it is worthless IMHO.

I don't just bleed, I run it until you get clean fluid due to flushing the system. I have someone stay at the master cylinder and keep it full. I can go around to each wheel and have a full flush/bleed done in less than 10 minutes. Vacuum bleeders also will bleed clutch systems where nothing else will work.

 

[winterbeater]

It takes about an hour to get a good gravity flush, but $9 buys enough beer for two full flushes and it's slow enough that you don't need to buy beer for a helper.

Bleeding brakes: The best way is the GRAVITY method. The only problem is it takes a lot of beer and you don't want to drive right after. (CAUTION: YOU MUST BE 21 TO BLEED YOUR BRAKES THIS WAY!) I use it whenever I replace brake cylinders or calipers, but mostly it's just to change the brake fluid, which I do whenever I change shoes or pads. Ideally you change brake fluid at least every other year. If you worked on old cars and saw rusty pistons, you'd know why, but people also say that old brake fluid boils and won't stop you right.

1.) Get the car in a position where you can open up the bleeders. I always like to break them loose with a 6 point socket being careful not to break them off. If you can, spray them with breakaway or similar a day before.)
2) Starting with the bleeder furthest away from the master (pass. rear), open it about 1 turn. You can put a little hose and cup on it if you want to keep the old fluid from running all over. Make SURE to keep the master cylinder topped off with fluid and DON'T let it get down to where air gets back into the master cyl. Let it flow this way until the fluid comes out of the bleeder clean. This will take at least 2 cups or so of brake fluid. Using gravity alone, you can drink 2 beers while topping off the master cylinder for the first corner. (CAUTION: Do not store brake fluid in beer cans or put beer into master cylinder. Drinking a little brake fluid however will probably not kill you. Beer in your brake lines might.) Snug up bleeder good when you're done.
3.) Proceed to drivers rear and repeat. It won't take as long because the long brake line has already been purged of the old fluid. So you have to drink your beer faster.
4.) Pass front. Drink even faster.
5.) Drivers front. Etc.

Patience can be substituted for beers, but that's no fun.

This prevents the rubber pieces from going any further than they are used to and self destructing.
"

 

[Hudson Bend]

You want to gravity feed your brakes and drink beer? No problemo. You have buddies around with the skills to pump your brake pedal while you bleed and keep the reservoir filled? No argument here. But once you try a low pressure homebrew system like the one Maud 'Dib is talking about, it's like finding a new tool that makes a grunt job effortless. And it works with or without gravity, the buddies, or the beer.

I scavenged an extra reservoir cap from the JY and drilled a hole in it for a small hose fitting. I also found a brass fitting to screw onto the nipple beneath the cap's rubber gasket that works as a back siphon limiter in the reservoir. Cost $4 or $5 total. Works great. Flushed system twice in fifteen minutes with no issues and very little mess. And now my buddy buys the beer so that he can use my low pressure bleeder.

 

[kastein]

I've bled my brakes alone before, it involved a lot of very fast hat changing... ended up filling the reservoir to the brim, opening one bleeder valve, sitting on the ground next to the car pushing the brake pedal with my hand watching the fluid in the clear tube I was using, then very quickly stopping pumping, filling the reservoir back up, and turning the bleeder valve off. Much easier with two people but it can be done if you are stuck and don't have a helper handy.

 

[Hudson Bend]

The point of this post is not to dispute using a gravity brake bleed as an option nor to doubt that one person can do a gravity bleed.

The post, the low pressure tank system as presented, is just an extremely handy tool for bleeding brakes by yourself. The pump creates a pressure (low and non-damaging to brakelines or master cylinder), and the tank provides a continuous supply of brakefluid to your existing reservoir, which ensures an airless flow through your brakelines. In a way, it is a gravity bleed on steroids. In effect, you've created a heavier atmospheric pressure to speed the fluid's flow...hell, it's another tool with a great reason for making it. And it allows you to wear just the one hat.

 

[Muad'Dib]

You want to gravity feed your brakes and drink beer? No problemo. You have buddies around with the skills to pump your brake pedal while you bleed and keep the reservoir filled? No argument here. But once you try a low pressure homebrew system like the one Maud 'Dib is talking about, it's like finding a new tool that makes a grunt job effortless. And it works with or without gravity, the buddies, or the beer.

I scavenged an extra reservoir cap from the JY and drilled a hole in it for a small hose fitting. I also found a brass fitting to screw onto the nipple beneath the cap's rubber gasket that works as a back siphon limiter in the reservoir. Cost $4 or $5 total. Works great. Flushed system twice in fifteen minutes with no issues and very little mess. And now my buddy buys the beer so that he can use my low pressure bleeder.

I basically did the same thing as you. I drilled a hole in the cap to fit a brass threaded male / hose barb fitting into it. Then from the under side i used the same fitting except the threaded side was female. I also used a fender washer between the cap and hose barb fitting to help spread the load out a bit so i could get it nice and tight. The problem im having though is when i start to pressureize the system, the cap starts to loose pressure between the cap and MC. What did you do to fix this problem?
Im thinking the only way around it is to replace the fender washer with a 4x6" peice of sheet metal (or something) and drill two holes on the far ends. Then do as i showed in the picture above and use some j hooks with a speed nut through these holes attached to a small section of chain... then tighten it up.

 

[wim hoppenbrouwers]

Hallo. Don't forget to grease the threads of the bleeder scews. :laugh3:


'92 XJ

 

[yjoffroad]

napa sells the mity vac, about $60, works real good, they also sell a cheap version for about $30, works the same, easiest way to one man bleed, if out on a trail, gravity works great, has gotten me out of a few pinches

 

[wim hoppenbrouwers]

napa sells the mity vac, about $60, works real good, they also sell a cheap version for about $30, works the same, easiest way to one man bleed, if out on a trail, gravity works great, has gotten me out of a few pinches

Hallo. Maybe you can give us a discount?:roflmao:

 

[lazyxj]

I made this pressure bleeder late one night when I needed to get the brakes finished and no one was around to help.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/lwade/sets/72157604930479626/
I use my air compressor, along with a pressure regulator, to provide 10-20 psi air to the bleeder.

 

[winterbeater]

The problem with putting pressure to it is that you have to remove your setup and refill the master all the time. This consumes valuable beer time. And the Mityvac sucks. (LOL)

 

[Muad'Dib]

Thats why the garden sprayer method is so nice.

 

[rysam]

And it works without the beer.

nothing works without beer.

 

[lazyxj]

The problem with putting pressure to it is that you have to remove your setup and refill the master all the time. This consumes valuable beer time. And the Mityvac sucks. (LOL)

My pressure bleeder is quick and easy to fill due to the air/on-off valve and a removable brass cap. The bleeder stays in place.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/lwade/2473044253/in/set-72157604930479626/

A remote reservoir would be nice. Still, it does not take long to bleed an entire system.
I also like using your gravity method...one beer per wheel.
I just can't that method late at night; I would fall asleep half way through the third wheel.

Mityvacs work fine too. Back in the R-12 days, I had a compressor, out of an old drinking fountain, that I used to vacuum A/C systems. It worked great for bleeding brakes.
[FONT=&quot]No matter what method used, being able to do it by myself is the big advantage.[/FONT]

 

[Muad'Dib]

Well as an update to my dillema, i tried everything with the cap that i made and i just couldnt get it to seal up. At about 5-8 PSI, it would start leaking where the cap meets the reservoir. I picked up a small bracket at ace with two j hooks, two speed nuts, and a foot of chain. I enlarged one of the holes to go over the hose barb that the vinyl tubing went on. Then i used the two existing holes for the J hooks. After that the cap worked great. Was able to pump it up to 20 PSI no problem.

Basically its just like this, but its not a molded cap.. but the one i made:

Ill have to snap a pic when i have a little more time so you can see what i did.

 

[Ecomike]

open up the cap on brake bottle..crack open 1 zerk at a time let drip for about 10 min..go to the next and so on..slow drip..i always do mine like this...brakes great..||charles||

I don't see how gravity bleeding gets air out of the lines?

 

[TiRod]

Well, it's supposed to. I always resorted to the buddy system because it didn't. And she doesn't like being out in the garage at some odd hour with an old grumpygus in an environmental extreme. It's never good weather when I have to work on something.

Beer? Maybe that explains all the customers coming in who are incapable of understanding simple situations, like "That fan clutch needs to come off the water pump if it's a core." Or, "No, those size brake pads are off the 4 cylinder, not a V6. That's why they're wrong." (Maybe sober they would have remembered what engine was in it.)

I've tried the Mighty Vac, too. The little catch can is too small.

This is a great idea, a small "hudson" sprayer should work quite well. It's basically an inexpensive addition to the one I already have - spray wands get old and broken, so a old hose now has a new life. Caps and gaskets are no big deal.

My sprayers have stored weed killer, miuratic acid, and worse for years - I doubt brake fluid for a few hours will make a difference.

 

[ehall]

I made a bleeder bottle from a jar, brass plumbing fittings and rubber grommets. The top of the jar is basically two barbed fittings. I can hook it up to engine vacuum and pull fluid out through that. One thing on my to-do list is find a positive pressure check-valve so that I can pump the pedal and get air and fluid out of the line, but outside air will not be sucked back in.

 

[sjx40250]

I think HF sells a vacuum system that includes a bottle to invert in the Res. I found that the vacuum method is problematic in that if the nipple is loose enough to get good flow, the vacuum sucks air through the treads and I don't know when i really have removed all the air. That is why I now prefer the gravity method. Yeah it takes longer, but I couple that with some other maintenence activity like oil change + cleaning out the rig.

 

[Matthew Currie]

I don't see how gravity bleeding gets air out of the lines?

It will eventually, as long as fluid remains in the reservoir. think about it. Once the fluid starts flowing down the line, where will the air come from? I don't like gravity bleeding because it's so slow, but it can be done. I still prefer vacuum. Just draw out at least as much fluid as your educated guess says is the capacity of the lines in question, and don't worry about the air coming past the threads.