Any good way to bleed brakes without help?

[Jspafford]

I just took my brakes apart on the B2 and had the front rotors turned to get rid of a shimmy on stopping. The pedal is still spongy so I want to bleed out all the old fluid.

Is there any good way to do this without help.

[MAKG]

You can get replacement bleeder screws with a check valve in them. Crack them open, then go to town on the brake pedal.

[Hardwareman]

They sell those?

I can count on numerous times those would have been a life saver to me. Where can you get them?




Allen

[MAKG]

I've even seen them at Kragen, not generally a place for anything special. I believe Help! sells them, so they are everywhere.

Here's one (a bit pricey for what it is, though):

http://www.partsamerica.com/ProductDetail.aspx?MfrCode=DOR&MfrPartNumber=12707&PartType=909&PTSet=A

[Jspafford]

How about these? Any good?

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=92924

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=92474

Other than being harbor freight junk, it is cheap and I don't plan on making a profession out of it.

[blue83ranger]

at least on a motorcycle if you just crack the bleeder and keep fluid in the mastercylinder it will bleed itself just using gravity (takes awhile) at least it has worked for me.

[MAKG]

Pressure bleeding works with the correct equipment. I don't see why that Harbor Freight stuff won't work, aside from getting tired hands.

Vacuum bleeding does NOT work. You just suck air past the seals, as they were meant to hold off pressure, not vacuum.

[WingsOfSaturn]

I use a cut to length 2x4 when my son is too lazy to help or is out chasing girls. Pump up the brakes, place the 2x4 between the seat bottom and the brake pedal. Then open and close the bleeder screw. You can even move the seat back as the pedal gets firmer. This takes a little longer since you dont get that big squirt from the pedal going to the floor but it does work.

[sdjr]

at kragen, I bought a plastic tube/collection bottle with attached magnet set up. The magnet hold the bottle above the caliper to the frame rail. open the bleeder, and then just press the pedal until no more air bubble in the tube. Pretty easy, works great. Good luck.

JR

[Sasquatch_Ryda]

You can do just a gravity bleed if you're all alone. Start at the right rear, left rear, right front and then left front letting each bleed till clean fluid comes out.

I like our brake bleeder at work, hook it up the reservoir, attach an air line, set it to about 28-30psi and work your way around bleeding. It tops up the master as you go. Makes quick work of it.

[Crash]

For solo brake bleeding, I use a length of clear tubing about 2' long [or longer] - put it on the bleeder screw, open er up, and start pumping. The length of the tube prevents drawback and since it's clear you can see any of the bubbles.

Works great, and is cheaper than the beer you would have to give your buddy while sits on his ass and pumps the pedal...

[nuts&bolts]

GRAVITY! Crack all the bleeders at once, or one at a time. Take the lid off the master cylinder and keep it full. Leave the lid off. I wait for a steady stream of fliud before tightening the bleeder back up. If its being stubburn, usually after replacing all the lines front to back. Jack the front of the vehicle higher in the air or park on a hill. If no fliud comes out the rear bleeders, bleed the proportioning valve. Gravity works for me!

[Mark_88]

at kragen, I bought a plastic tube/collection bottle with attached magnet set up. The magnet hold the bottle above the caliper to the frame rail. open the bleeder, and then just press the pedal until no more air bubble in the tube. Pretty easy, works great. Good luck.

JR

I just tried this system from PowerBuilt (bought it at Canadian Tire) and so far I've bled the back brakes in about thirty minutes...just going to do the fronts now...amazing!

I like how the bubbles travel up the tube into the little bottle...progress you can see!:yahoo:

[Mark_88]

All done! Only had a few small problems with the Bleed-o-matic system...the hoses provided do not fit the bleeder nipples so I had to improvise with a small chunck of rubber tubing and a connector...

Oh, and the bottle didn't stay on that little screw they provided with the magnet attachment...might write to them to suggest adding the adaptor for larger nipples as well as using a bigger screw to hold the magnet plate onto the bottle...

Otherwise, neat little system...for less than $20...

[gnardoom]

I use a cut to length 2x4 when my son is too lazy to help or is out chasing girls. Pump up the brakes, place the 2x4 between the seat bottom and the brake pedal. Then open and close the bleeder screw. You can even move the seat back as the pedal gets firmer. This takes a little longer since you dont get that big squirt from the pedal going to the floor but it does work.

nothing wrong with that method, i move the seat forward and shove a breaker bar in there

[4x4junkie]

Yeah, gravity has always worked for me too. I'll also use the hose on the nipple and give it a few pumps along the way just for good measure.

[Mark_88]

Snow brush works for me...when I'm not using it to clear the snow, that is...

[Evan]

Vacuum bleeding does NOT work. You just suck air past the seals, as they were meant to hold off pressure, not vacuum.

Interesting that you mention that. I borrowed a vacuum bleeder last week when I was running the lines for my rear discs. It was absolutely WORTHLESS. I thought I was maybe doing something wrong, or it was broken, but maybe not. I was suspisious of it the moment the guy at Autozone demonstrated it to me.

Ended up doing it the old fashioned way. I like those check bleeder screws you linked to, but they seem a little pricy.

[Mark_88]

Try the Powerbuilt one-man bleeder kit if you can find it...or just hook a clear plastic line to the bleeder screw and attach it to a similar plastic bottle and hang it above the brake cylinder or caliper...pump the brakes a few times and watch for bubbles...when they stop flowing close the bleeder and move to the next wheel...

they cost under $20, but you may need some adaptors to fit the nipples since the plastic hose that comes in the kit doesn't fit all nipples...

If you want to make one yourself, finding a 'similar' bottle may be needed...they have a plastic line connected to the top inside the bottle...not sure if this is actually needed to make it work but mine had one...and when it fell off it didn't work right...

Oh, and you might want to buy some of those gloves that protect against chemicals...about $5 for a bag of 10...my hands are still chapped from getting brake fluid on them...nasty stuff!

[MAKG]

I do have one of those "one man bleeder kits," but the reason is that it makes for a cheap hand vacuum pump. I use it for diagnosis. Like, how I discovered all the vacuum diaphragms were burst in my Chevy, when I got it (choke pull-off, power brake booster, charcoal cannister, blend door actuator). Something tells me it was backfiring at one point....

[fordboi415]

spring loaded quick bleeders, (jegs)

[krugford]

On my 67 F100, I would pump it up, lean a cinder block on the pedal, get out, crack the bleeder, repeat many times.... It worked for me. Bleeders with the check valve would have been nice...

[schultp]

I use the Motive Products Power Bleeder system. Absolutely works great! Take a look at: http://www.motiveproducts.com/index.html

Paul.

[spittinfire]

MAKG, explain to me why you can't bleed a system with a vacuum? you are pulling fluid past the seals intended to hold pressure as to mentioned. By doing so you are pulling fluid into the areas needed to hold fluid and produce the pressure needed to operate the system. So by flooding the cylinder(master or caliper) behind the seal you are filling the system and meeting the requirements for a hydralic system to function properly.

I will say that even though I do use a vacuum to pull fluid thru the system I like to bleed the system the old fashion way to finish it off. That does requre 2 people....if my dad isn't around, I'll round up my mom, girlfriend, neighbor, anyone who can operate a brake pedal. Peave of mind for me, I've found it less then necessary....

[MAKG]

You're not pulling fluid past the seals. You're pulling AIR. Which will put bubbles into the output no matter how much pumping you do.

[spittinfire]

So you're saying you're pulling air thru the entire system, from master cylinder down and then out the bleeder?

[krugford]

You're pulling air past the seals in the caliper. Without knowing specifically that your calipers are meant to operate with a negative pressure in the system, it's best to assume the seals are only designed to operate with a positive pressure differential (fluid-environment).

There are some master cylinders on the market that operate on a closed system (i.e. negative pressure when you let off the brakes to retract the pads), though these are usually found in go-karts, bicycle brakes, solar cars.... Such a system also allows you the simplicity of rigidly mounted calipers and brake discs without having to "float" one or the other.

[Mutant Pony]

I work on brakes nearly every day. I very seldom ever need help bleeding(I bleed just fine, LOL). I own a power bleeder, It sits on a shelf covered in dust. I have a vacuum bleeder that I use every now and then, just to get things flowing. 98% of the time it is gravity that does the work. Only if the master has been run dry do you need anything more.
I feel that pumping the brakes just makes your job harder. It brakes up the air bubbles and sends them into any high spot they can find. Gravity pushes them straight down and out. If you do it right and don't run the master dry, you can do the whole system in less than an hour.

[Joshs93four-oh]

Take it from someone else who knows and flags billions of hours working on cars in a shop...Pressure or vacuum bleeders are good to get the process going if you replace a front to rear line on a customer's car or something else happens that runs the master dry. You will always find a little air in the system even after power bleeding. If the master runs dry you will almost always have to crack the line nuts on the master also. The way I do it, for example when doing a rear brake overhaul- Do one side, crack the bleeder and let it GRAVITY BLEED while overhauling the other side. By the time the first side starts dripping, the second side is done then I close the first one and open the second side. Gravity bleeding is the best way to bleed a system when you are by yourself! Even when bleeding a system with someone pumping I still open the bleeders and gravity again for a few seconds afterwards and STILL find just a little air leftover on about every car. Josh
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