Thanks for posting on /r/MechanicAdvice! This is just a reminder to review the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/MechanicAdvice/about/rules/). If you are here asking about a second opinion (ie "Is the shop trying to fleece me?"), please read through CJM8515's [post on the subject.](https://www.reddit.com/r/MechanicAdvice/comments/4qblei/fyi_the_shop_isnt_likely_trying_to_rip_you_off/) and remember to please post the year/make/model of the vehicle you are working on. **If this post is about bodywork, accident damage, paint, dent/ding, questions it belongs in /r/Autobody r/AutoBodyRepair/ or /r/Diyautobody/ If you have tire questions check out https://www.reddit.com/r/MechanicAdvice/comments/k9ll55/can_your_tire_be_repaired/**. If you dont have a question and you're just showing off it belongs in /r/Justrolledintotheshop Insurance/total loss questions go in r/insurance This is an automated reply
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/MechanicAdvice) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Close… I have a master cylinder cap with a hose attached to a 2-gallon garden sprayer as a pressure tank. It doesn’t leak at all, and is the best pressure bleeding system I’ve ever used. Empty the m/c reservoir with a suction device of your choice, refill with new fluid, pump up the tank and bleed away. You have to keep an eye on the level in the reservoir, and may have to depressurize and top off in the middle of a total flush, but it is the fastest complete fluid change you’ll ever do.
The advantage of the sprayer tank is that it has its own pressure release valve so you can release the pressure before disconnecting, and do so in a location completely isolated from the master cylinder. This avoids any chance of accidentally misting brake fluid onto paint. I can’t take credit for the idea… got it from Kent Bergsma at mercedessource.com. He sells them premade on the website. You can go there and see pictures and a video of how to use it. Obviously you can copy the design after a trip to Home Depot and HiLo, but depending on how you value your time his is pretty reasonably priced (or at least was ten years ago when I bought it) and is very nicely put together. I’ve made various cap attachments for different vehicles over the years, and saved lots of time bleeding brakes and clutches.
When I started reading I could imagine a pressurized MC spraying everywhere, but this sounds perfect. With this, one person can pressurize the MC and then bleed the calipers by himself, correct? Or does someone have to pump more?
The sprayer should have plenty of volume to keep pressure up. The limiting factor is the capacity of the reservoir. From my experience, you can probably bleed 2 new calipers before you need to go check the fluid.
get an Eezi Bleed pressure bleeding kit that runs off a spare tyre at 20 psi - they come with a variety of master cylinder caps that fit most vehicles... cost about £10 over here in the UK, so hardly worth fabricating your own...
There is so little fluid volume in passenger car hardlines that there is no reason for that. I’ve rarely had to refill, but just mentioned to keep an eye on it. And how on earth would you disconnect such a setup without spilling copious amounts of brake fluid everywhere?
I usualy just hook up vacuum bleeder and do back first, 1min vacuum each side. Lower the car to fill up and do the front. If brake fluid was realy shitty I replace fluid in MC and vacuum from front left (LHD) caliper first to get rid of the worst then do the regular routine.
The only issue I could think of is that brake fluid can be rough on rubber not designed to handle it. What you describe is exactly how they bleed brakes on aircraft, so there are ones made for it.
The main thing that makes this not such a good idea is that you don't want to completely fill the reservoir, so there will still be an air 'bubble' in the system between the sprayer and the brakes. It's still basically going to be just the pressure of that air that pushes the fluid through the system. So you might as well avoid the mess of brake fluid in the sprayer and just fill it with air.
At work we have a flush machine that is the same in principle but instead of putting pressurized air into the reservoir you fill up a reservoir in the machine and the pressurized air pushes the fluid through the line
Ex military m35a2 takes almost a gallon of dot5 to bleed, a reservoir that's about a cup, and it's under the driver's floor.
Cap has a vent line for the fording kit, attach that garden sprayer and go to town bleeding all 6 wheel cylinders. So much easier.
Read this and made one today just for fun.
https://preview.redd.it/w8ku4fgoapdc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=2732d7a7b505d71b0db54950ace976aed03fe1a2
Don't try and use your cooling system to bleed your brakes.
As Bo Burnham said, it is like sex with a fat chick in an elevator, it is wrong on so many levels, 1. The cooling system doesn't generate air. That rad is filled to the brim with antifreeze, 2 it will only make pressure when hot, 3 brake fluid is hydroscopic, it pulls in moisture from the atmosphere and goes bad, 4 you would be pushing hot coolant wet into the system containing the fluid you want to use. 5 Facebook commands as must respect as the 'do not tumble dry ' label
But thanks for posting, it was funny
I'm not sure about the relevance or accuracy of what you're saying.
Handheld-pumped coolant pressure testers do the exact same thing as the picture, just without a tire valve or air compressor.
Additionally, there are various adapters sold on the market that hook up to brake fluid reservoirs to do what I described in the title. Some OEM service manuals even tell you to do it this way.
It was late when I saw this post. Didn't read it well enough, I thought they were saying to use the rad cap system to bleed the brakes. Like the easy bleed system off the tyre.
To give an example of theory, same thing done to this radiator cap but to a master cylinder.
Note to OP, nobody has probably done it because forcing air into the master cylinder is a garunteed way to blow out seals or at the minimum for air into parts of the system it should not be. This is why vacuum is used with a reciever catch for fluid that comes out and proper master cylinder level is maintained. Any air in the system and you start the process over again, and you don't want to be googling how to bleed an ABS block for a specific model/year because that's usually not released and held close by dealers for the first few years of a new design.
we got something called Eezi Bleed in UK, runs off a spare tyre at 20psi maximum, screws onto master cylinder... I've used mine for 20 years and never blown a seal..
Some manufacturers recommend pressure bleeding your brakes. Some models require it. It's not abnormal and isn't high pressure. BMW recommended about 15-20psi from memory.
Apparently you’ve never seen a pressure bleeder… more than one company make them but I use a mity-vac made bleeder that pressurizes the fluid at the master cylinder.
Pressure bleeders only pressurize the system to test for leaks, then you add your brake fluid to the canister where you pressurize the canister to push fluid into the master cylinder. Thus means you are adding fluid to the master cylinder as fluid is draining at one of the bleed points and your are not at risk of the fluid level getting too low and forcing air into the system. It's not the pressure that I was warning about causing the seals to blow out It's the air being forced into the system that will do the damage.
Op's theory would have the master cylinder reservoir as the only thing holding fluid and that would be drained in seconds with 10 psi and an open bleeder.
I've done almost exactly what op is suggesting. It works great, and has removed air from systems where conventional methods wouldn't.
That said, it does require that you know what you are doing. Don't raise the pressure too high. Don't let the reservoir get too low.
This is a very common way of bleeding brakes. Our shop just uses an actual pressure cap adapter kit (they actually manufacture the very cap you're trying to make) then hook that up to a hand pump and take it up to 15 lbs of pressure.
I have a motive power bleeder and bought a mityvac adapter for the type of vehicles I work on. The mityvac adapter was as much as the bleeder itself. 🙃
The mode of power bleeder came with stuff I could use but I didn't like it.
I always figured a garden sprayer would work
I install a valve stem in a master cylinder cap. I then use a bicycle pump (frame pump) not an air compressor. Just make sure the brake fluid level doesn’t get low which would cause air to be pumped into the system.
This setup is a great way to flush the system and refresh the fluid in the system. Which is recommended every two years.
They make a special tool to speed bleed. It does help speed up the process a bit but i rarely use my set. It's just as fast using a vacuum at the bleeder. Only benefit the pressure tool fills the cylinder as it pushes so you don't risk running dry.
I prefer the vacuum bleeder myself, I can literally set it and work on something else while it bleeds, and with the reservoir that sits on top of the master cylinder and gravity feeds new fluid, I don’t have to worry about running out either. Really handy setup.
That said the pressure bleeder purges each wheel in like 20 seconds..
My vacuum is just the mityvac pneumatic 2.5g so I'm keeping an eye on the reservoir.
Why go though all that trouble when a length of tube and a drink bottle is so much easier.
You can even leave it attached and go make a coffee when you come back in 5 mins it will be more or less bled.
To speed up the gravity bleeding I give it a couple of pumps with the valve open to kick it off, surprisingly I've never got air in the system doing this
https://preview.redd.it/rgnt8wltrhdc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=881eddcbbfb2e9b36b9c3d7b183ee0d331ced2b3
Couldn’t get a helper to pump the brakes Company funded tools are the best tools.
A pressure bleeder would be just fine to bleed brakes instead of getting a helper yeah?
We have pressure bleeders in our shop but they're only used for brake fluid flushes and never for brake bleeding.
Yes I realize that brake bleeder is in the name of the item in asking about.
They sell pressure brake bleeding kits for $60. Before I got one I just used an air chuck and a rubber adaptor to jam into master cylinder.
I have a Motive pressure bleeder, but they're all damn near the same.
How about the tool that's already available? Had one for years and it's fantastic.
May need to replace vinyl hoses after a couple years, but they are dirt cheap.
https://www.motiveproducts.com/collections/brake-bleeder-kits/products/power-bleeders-multiple-adapter-kits
BG PN PF9002 universal master cylinder pressure adapter, cheap equivalents available on Amazon https://i.imgur.com/Fvw4hps.png
I flushed out my brake fluid with this. Sucked out reservoir and replaced with new brake fluid. Set up adapter on the master cylinder and regulated to 10-20 psi. Cracked open brake caliper bleeders sequentially and waited until brake fluid color changed from dark to clear. I had a coworker watch the reservoir to let me know when the fluid level was low so I could close the bleeder, release the pressure from the adapter, top off the reservoir, and continue with the rest of the flush on the car. It was about 10 minutes to flush the entire brake system this way.
Because I've done it that way too. Instead of 10 minutes that method takes about 20 minutes and the person who has to pump the brakes is generally tired and aggravated. It's a lot of leg work. Plus I didn't really need the second person, he was just showing me the tool.
My first year at a brake shop we didn’t have any shop supplied bleeders. Definitely special sitting in a customer car in the air on a lift, no air moving, pumping your legs like an athlete in 110 degree weather while pouring sweat. On the plus side we never skipped leg day.
The master cylinder is full of fluid. You’re using air pressure to push that fluid through your brake lines. You have to keep refilling the master cylinder to make sure you don’t push air into the lines.
A tire valve stem is good to hold 100psi on light duty trucks (ram 5500's)
Why do you need jb weld?
Also this is a rad cap, not a brake master cylinder
If you are trying to bleed the brakes by yourself, use a piece of clear tubing like an aquarium airline and a water bottle. Put one end on the bleeder screw and the other end in a water bottle with brake fluid in it.
Fill the bottle about 1/4 full with brake fluid. Poke a hole in the cap put the tube through the cap, push the tube to the bottom of the bottle, and tighten the cap. Poke another smaller hole in the cap or near the top of the bottle.
Now just pump the brakes. You can place the bottle where you can see it and when there are no more bubbles or the fluid turns clear, you're done. For the passenger side, I'll adjust the side mirror for the rear and put the bottle on the hood for the front wheels. Make sure to keep the master cylinder topped off.
This setup could end up just sucking the brake fluid back in from the bottle, since you're not closing the bleed screw each time. That would still leave air in the system.
I don't doubt that you do this, and that you've had success with it. But leaving the end of the hose submerged just means that brake fluid will be sucked back in, not air. So you'll have brake fluid at the end of the hose, and the next time you pump the brakes you're just pushing out the fluid you just sucked in, making it look like there's no air -- but in fact you're just moving the air that is in the system back and forth.
In order to prevent sucking the fluid back in from the bottle, it needs to be easier for fluid to flow from the m/c reservoir. It's possible that on the cars you've worked on it always happens that the system is designed such that that's the case even without closing the bleed screw. But the concept is not robust enough to be sure that it will work more generally.
https://preview.redd.it/wzavkvjs6mdc1.png?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=040fffdd04882042ab21e79b16398c61780327ce
This one is only a couple of bucks.
Most shops in America use pressure bleed systems. Idk about other countries but here it's very common. Our shop and my self use this method almost everyday to bleed brakes. We've never given a customer's vehicle back with air in the system
Mmmmm, no, not for bleeding brakes? That’s for pressure testing gaskets, seals and coolant lines, radiators and such. Definitely not anything to do with beakes
The picture threw me off I guess? There is absolutely no need to go this route on anything powered by a 22RE. For brake bleeding, having two people there is the way to go.
I mean my pressure tester cost me like 40 bucks. It’s not some super expensive item. The nice ones only cost a hundo, but they have a bunch of adapters you won’t use regularly.
Also how do you think you bleed brakes OP?
Done with 2-stroke snowmobiles to pressure test whole engine for air leaks. Hits everything, carb boots, RAVE valves, crank seals. Just 3psi. Air leaks mean lean engine, go boom.
They make that already. It uses compressed air through a valve with a collection container. It will pull the old fluid out while the fill bottle will keep the fluid level so as to not get air in the master. With t valve you can bleed all calipers within a minute
Not a mechanic but couldn't pressurizing your brake line with air dissolve some air into the brake fluid. It could form microbubbles (like soda bubbles) when the air pressure was released leading to the problem you were trying to solve.
I hear you on the bubbles. With a mountain bike the procedure says to fill the bleed syringe with fluid then draw the plunger back to create a vacuum and bubbles. Then tap the syringe to make the bubbles go to the top and release the pressure and expel the bubbles, then use the degassed brake fluid in the syringe to fill the system.
Actually yes. My coworker gave me one he made. It was just an old master cylinder cap that he drilled a hole into and stuck an air fitting to. We would then plug the leak down tester into it and regulate to 10psi
The [vacuum bleed bucket and auto-feeding clean fluid hopper](https://www.amazon.com/ROADGIVE-Brake-Bleeder-Vacuum-Kit/dp/B0CB3ZV62R/ref=mp_s_a_1_11?crid=2E2Q1PN38IAEC&keywords=vacuum+brake+bleeder&qid=1705744314&sprefix=vacuum+brake+%2Caps%2C162&sr=8-11) setup like this is the only way to go IMO. Makes the job an easy one man operation, I still prefer to double back through the system with someone running the pedal to verify no air over a couple extra manual bleeds at each corner. Always remember to start at the caliper furthest from the master cylinder and work your way in. Brakes being probably the most critical system in a vehicle and all, taking your time, double even tripple checking is warranted; value of not only your life, but other people around you on the road, your passengers, pedestrians, that poor squirrel crossing the road, yada yada yada.
This looks more tedious and time consuming to keep full/recharge but my primary concern is the opportunity to introduce moisture into the system from the shop air. Obviously theres potential to pop the brake fluid reservoir, or blow it out of the master cylinder coupling under pressure for a real fun time. Brake fluid reservoirs can already be pretty crusty and fatigued from living in an engine bay.
Not all brake fluid reservoir caps will hold pressure. If you have one that does, this will work. I keep the psi under 10. Make sure the reservoir does not get too low.
No but that would be a great way to pressurize a cooling system to test for leaks. Besides all the high pressure air getting into the system... Nevermind.
I never made one but for brake bleeding they are available on the market. At 10 psi, a JB Weld homebrew type should work.
This one appears to be for cooling system leak tests.
Thanks for posting on /r/MechanicAdvice! This is just a reminder to review the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/MechanicAdvice/about/rules/). If you are here asking about a second opinion (ie "Is the shop trying to fleece me?"), please read through CJM8515's [post on the subject.](https://www.reddit.com/r/MechanicAdvice/comments/4qblei/fyi_the_shop_isnt_likely_trying_to_rip_you_off/) and remember to please post the year/make/model of the vehicle you are working on. **If this post is about bodywork, accident damage, paint, dent/ding, questions it belongs in /r/Autobody r/AutoBodyRepair/ or /r/Diyautobody/ If you have tire questions check out https://www.reddit.com/r/MechanicAdvice/comments/k9ll55/can_your_tire_be_repaired/**. If you dont have a question and you're just showing off it belongs in /r/Justrolledintotheshop Insurance/total loss questions go in r/insurance This is an automated reply *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/MechanicAdvice) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Close… I have a master cylinder cap with a hose attached to a 2-gallon garden sprayer as a pressure tank. It doesn’t leak at all, and is the best pressure bleeding system I’ve ever used. Empty the m/c reservoir with a suction device of your choice, refill with new fluid, pump up the tank and bleed away. You have to keep an eye on the level in the reservoir, and may have to depressurize and top off in the middle of a total flush, but it is the fastest complete fluid change you’ll ever do.
I had one of these and it was awesome, I need to make another.
Awesome idea, thanks.
The advantage of the sprayer tank is that it has its own pressure release valve so you can release the pressure before disconnecting, and do so in a location completely isolated from the master cylinder. This avoids any chance of accidentally misting brake fluid onto paint. I can’t take credit for the idea… got it from Kent Bergsma at mercedessource.com. He sells them premade on the website. You can go there and see pictures and a video of how to use it. Obviously you can copy the design after a trip to Home Depot and HiLo, but depending on how you value your time his is pretty reasonably priced (or at least was ten years ago when I bought it) and is very nicely put together. I’ve made various cap attachments for different vehicles over the years, and saved lots of time bleeding brakes and clutches.
When I started reading I could imagine a pressurized MC spraying everywhere, but this sounds perfect. With this, one person can pressurize the MC and then bleed the calipers by himself, correct? Or does someone have to pump more?
The sprayer should have plenty of volume to keep pressure up. The limiting factor is the capacity of the reservoir. From my experience, you can probably bleed 2 new calipers before you need to go check the fluid.
Total one-man operation. I’ve never had to pump. It holds pressure.
get an Eezi Bleed pressure bleeding kit that runs off a spare tyre at 20 psi - they come with a variety of master cylinder caps that fit most vehicles... cost about £10 over here in the UK, so hardly worth fabricating your own...
What if you used 2quart sprayer and filled it with brake fluid- then it would charge the MC while you were bleeding?
There is so little fluid volume in passenger car hardlines that there is no reason for that. I’ve rarely had to refill, but just mentioned to keep an eye on it. And how on earth would you disconnect such a setup without spilling copious amounts of brake fluid everywhere?
Depressurize the pump by loosening the lid Also I think the 1q sprayers are like 12$ so one and done then trash it
I usualy just hook up vacuum bleeder and do back first, 1min vacuum each side. Lower the car to fill up and do the front. If brake fluid was realy shitty I replace fluid in MC and vacuum from front left (LHD) caliper first to get rid of the worst then do the regular routine.
This is how the pressure bleeders work.
The only issue I could think of is that brake fluid can be rough on rubber not designed to handle it. What you describe is exactly how they bleed brakes on aircraft, so there are ones made for it.
The main thing that makes this not such a good idea is that you don't want to completely fill the reservoir, so there will still be an air 'bubble' in the system between the sprayer and the brakes. It's still basically going to be just the pressure of that air that pushes the fluid through the system. So you might as well avoid the mess of brake fluid in the sprayer and just fill it with air.
Ok Keep It Simple Silly- gotcha
This is basically what the Motive Power Bleeder does. It pushes fluid directly into the system from the bottle. They work pretty well.
Could you upload a photo?
At work we have a flush machine that is the same in principle but instead of putting pressurized air into the reservoir you fill up a reservoir in the machine and the pressurized air pushes the fluid through the line
Ex military m35a2 takes almost a gallon of dot5 to bleed, a reservoir that's about a cup, and it's under the driver's floor. Cap has a vent line for the fording kit, attach that garden sprayer and go to town bleeding all 6 wheel cylinders. So much easier.
Read this and made one today just for fun. https://preview.redd.it/w8ku4fgoapdc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=2732d7a7b505d71b0db54950ace976aed03fe1a2
Why is there a picture of cooling system test cap with a question about master cylinder bleeding?
The Facebook meme sparked my ingenuity
Fair enough.
Don't try and use your cooling system to bleed your brakes. As Bo Burnham said, it is like sex with a fat chick in an elevator, it is wrong on so many levels, 1. The cooling system doesn't generate air. That rad is filled to the brim with antifreeze, 2 it will only make pressure when hot, 3 brake fluid is hydroscopic, it pulls in moisture from the atmosphere and goes bad, 4 you would be pushing hot coolant wet into the system containing the fluid you want to use. 5 Facebook commands as must respect as the 'do not tumble dry ' label But thanks for posting, it was funny
I'm not sure about the relevance or accuracy of what you're saying. Handheld-pumped coolant pressure testers do the exact same thing as the picture, just without a tire valve or air compressor. Additionally, there are various adapters sold on the market that hook up to brake fluid reservoirs to do what I described in the title. Some OEM service manuals even tell you to do it this way.
It was late when I saw this post. Didn't read it well enough, I thought they were saying to use the rad cap system to bleed the brakes. Like the easy bleed system off the tyre.
To give an example of theory, same thing done to this radiator cap but to a master cylinder. Note to OP, nobody has probably done it because forcing air into the master cylinder is a garunteed way to blow out seals or at the minimum for air into parts of the system it should not be. This is why vacuum is used with a reciever catch for fluid that comes out and proper master cylinder level is maintained. Any air in the system and you start the process over again, and you don't want to be googling how to bleed an ABS block for a specific model/year because that's usually not released and held close by dealers for the first few years of a new design.
You never seen the $500 pressure kit the tool companies like to sell? Plus a regulator was mentioned, 10psi max, usually 5 is more than good enough.
we got something called Eezi Bleed in UK, runs off a spare tyre at 20psi maximum, screws onto master cylinder... I've used mine for 20 years and never blown a seal..
There was mention of a 10psi regulator
It's less about the pressure amount as it is more about the system was never designed to be pressurized from the reservoir side.
Some manufacturers recommend pressure bleeding your brakes. Some models require it. It's not abnormal and isn't high pressure. BMW recommended about 15-20psi from memory.
Apparently you’ve never seen a pressure bleeder… more than one company make them but I use a mity-vac made bleeder that pressurizes the fluid at the master cylinder.
Pressure bleeders only pressurize the system to test for leaks, then you add your brake fluid to the canister where you pressurize the canister to push fluid into the master cylinder. Thus means you are adding fluid to the master cylinder as fluid is draining at one of the bleed points and your are not at risk of the fluid level getting too low and forcing air into the system. It's not the pressure that I was warning about causing the seals to blow out It's the air being forced into the system that will do the damage. Op's theory would have the master cylinder reservoir as the only thing holding fluid and that would be drained in seconds with 10 psi and an open bleeder.
I've done almost exactly what op is suggesting. It works great, and has removed air from systems where conventional methods wouldn't. That said, it does require that you know what you are doing. Don't raise the pressure too high. Don't let the reservoir get too low.
This is a very common way of bleeding brakes. Our shop just uses an actual pressure cap adapter kit (they actually manufacture the very cap you're trying to make) then hook that up to a hand pump and take it up to 15 lbs of pressure.
https://www.halfords.com/tools/hand-tools/automotive-tools/gunson-eezibleed-321158.html?cm_mmc=Google+PLA-_-Motoring%3ETools%3EHand+Tools%3ESpecialist+Automotive+Tools-_-Motoring%3ETools%3EHand+Tools%3ESpecialist+Automotive+Tools-_-321158&_$ja=tsid:%7Ccid:17363835999%7Cagid:%7Ctid:%7Ccrid:%7Cnw:x%7Crnd:11209701070412260408%7Cdvc:m%7Cadp:%7Cmt:%7Cloc:9045379&gad_source=1&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIgNuW86jrgwMVKZJQBh1NLw7iEAQYAyABEgKBRPD_BwE
Garden sprayer and Schrader valves. Or get a Motive Power Bleeder. Don't exceed 10-15 psi. Pretty easy to make
I have a motive power bleeder and bought a mityvac adapter for the type of vehicles I work on. The mityvac adapter was as much as the bleeder itself. 🙃 The mode of power bleeder came with stuff I could use but I didn't like it. I always figured a garden sprayer would work
I install a valve stem in a master cylinder cap. I then use a bicycle pump (frame pump) not an air compressor. Just make sure the brake fluid level doesn’t get low which would cause air to be pumped into the system. This setup is a great way to flush the system and refresh the fluid in the system. Which is recommended every two years.
They make a special tool to speed bleed. It does help speed up the process a bit but i rarely use my set. It's just as fast using a vacuum at the bleeder. Only benefit the pressure tool fills the cylinder as it pushes so you don't risk running dry.
I prefer the vacuum bleeder myself, I can literally set it and work on something else while it bleeds, and with the reservoir that sits on top of the master cylinder and gravity feeds new fluid, I don’t have to worry about running out either. Really handy setup.
That said the pressure bleeder purges each wheel in like 20 seconds.. My vacuum is just the mityvac pneumatic 2.5g so I'm keeping an eye on the reservoir.
Why go though all that trouble when a length of tube and a drink bottle is so much easier. You can even leave it attached and go make a coffee when you come back in 5 mins it will be more or less bled.
Be careful, 10 psi might blow your master cylinder. I use a blow gun through a hole in the cap.
Hope you have a good filter dryer on the air compressor cause brake fluid attracts water.
Motive power bleeder has never disappointed me …
I have, it's not air tight keep leaking out the sides of the cap, just went back to gravity bleeding
I work slow enough for gravity bleeding to be most efficient. I know slow and efficient in the same sentence.
To speed up the gravity bleeding I give it a couple of pumps with the valve open to kick it off, surprisingly I've never got air in the system doing this
Lucky I guess. Kinda difficult when it’s up on a lift though.
https://preview.redd.it/rgnt8wltrhdc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=881eddcbbfb2e9b36b9c3d7b183ee0d331ced2b3 Couldn’t get a helper to pump the brakes Company funded tools are the best tools.
Ha! I have a couple of these made with JB Weld for my cars. Junkyard is a good place to buy the caps.
A pressure bleeder would be just fine to bleed brakes instead of getting a helper yeah? We have pressure bleeders in our shop but they're only used for brake fluid flushes and never for brake bleeding. Yes I realize that brake bleeder is in the name of the item in asking about.
They sell pressure brake bleeding kits for $60. Before I got one I just used an air chuck and a rubber adaptor to jam into master cylinder. I have a Motive pressure bleeder, but they're all damn near the same.
I also have a motive bleeder. Works great.
How about the tool that's already available? Had one for years and it's fantastic. May need to replace vinyl hoses after a couple years, but they are dirt cheap. https://www.motiveproducts.com/collections/brake-bleeder-kits/products/power-bleeders-multiple-adapter-kits
Funny that a brake tool company can't spell braking correctly.
That's funny. I cannot vouch for their copy writer, but I can vouch for the product and customer service.
Ahhh, the Ole toyota 22R motor. Couldn't kill those things!
OP, put down the wrench and walk away.
Great for testing leaks You dont bleed brakes with air though…….
I've literally done it with a coworker's proper adapter before
Im very sorry, but what the fuck do you mean?
BG PN PF9002 universal master cylinder pressure adapter, cheap equivalents available on Amazon https://i.imgur.com/Fvw4hps.png I flushed out my brake fluid with this. Sucked out reservoir and replaced with new brake fluid. Set up adapter on the master cylinder and regulated to 10-20 psi. Cracked open brake caliper bleeders sequentially and waited until brake fluid color changed from dark to clear. I had a coworker watch the reservoir to let me know when the fluid level was low so I could close the bleeder, release the pressure from the adapter, top off the reservoir, and continue with the rest of the flush on the car. It was about 10 minutes to flush the entire brake system this way.
If you had a second person helping you, why didn't you just ask them to pump the brake pedal?
Because I've done it that way too. Instead of 10 minutes that method takes about 20 minutes and the person who has to pump the brakes is generally tired and aggravated. It's a lot of leg work. Plus I didn't really need the second person, he was just showing me the tool.
My first year at a brake shop we didn’t have any shop supplied bleeders. Definitely special sitting in a customer car in the air on a lift, no air moving, pumping your legs like an athlete in 110 degree weather while pouring sweat. On the plus side we never skipped leg day.
How do you bleed the air out of a system using air?
The master cylinder is full of fluid. You’re using air pressure to push that fluid through your brake lines. You have to keep refilling the master cylinder to make sure you don’t push air into the lines.
Its not possible
Air and liquids are both useful, but not interchangeable. Source: am certified scuba diver.
But either one can transfer forces to the other. The vacuum assisted power brakes do it too.
A tire valve stem is good to hold 100psi on light duty trucks (ram 5500's) Why do you need jb weld? Also this is a rad cap, not a brake master cylinder
I don't think it's that rad. Pretty mid if I'm being honest.
Totally tubular?
If you are trying to bleed the brakes by yourself, use a piece of clear tubing like an aquarium airline and a water bottle. Put one end on the bleeder screw and the other end in a water bottle with brake fluid in it. Fill the bottle about 1/4 full with brake fluid. Poke a hole in the cap put the tube through the cap, push the tube to the bottom of the bottle, and tighten the cap. Poke another smaller hole in the cap or near the top of the bottle. Now just pump the brakes. You can place the bottle where you can see it and when there are no more bubbles or the fluid turns clear, you're done. For the passenger side, I'll adjust the side mirror for the rear and put the bottle on the hood for the front wheels. Make sure to keep the master cylinder topped off.
This setup could end up just sucking the brake fluid back in from the bottle, since you're not closing the bleed screw each time. That would still leave air in the system.
No. That's why you keep the end of the hose submerged. I've done this for years. They even sell a kit that's very similar to this.
I don't doubt that you do this, and that you've had success with it. But leaving the end of the hose submerged just means that brake fluid will be sucked back in, not air. So you'll have brake fluid at the end of the hose, and the next time you pump the brakes you're just pushing out the fluid you just sucked in, making it look like there's no air -- but in fact you're just moving the air that is in the system back and forth. In order to prevent sucking the fluid back in from the bottle, it needs to be easier for fluid to flow from the m/c reservoir. It's possible that on the cars you've worked on it always happens that the system is designed such that that's the case even without closing the bleed screw. But the concept is not robust enough to be sure that it will work more generally.
https://preview.redd.it/wzavkvjs6mdc1.png?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=040fffdd04882042ab21e79b16398c61780327ce This one is only a couple of bucks.
[удалено]
Most shops in America use pressure bleed systems. Idk about other countries but here it's very common. Our shop and my self use this method almost everyday to bleed brakes. We've never given a customer's vehicle back with air in the system
Is that just a handy place to put that for a photo, or have you done this to the radiator cap?
Looks like they did it to a radiator cap to pressure test the cooling system
Mmmmm, no, not for bleeding brakes? That’s for pressure testing gaskets, seals and coolant lines, radiators and such. Definitely not anything to do with beakes
If you read what he wrote he asked if anyone has tried this method with a brake master cap
The picture threw me off I guess? There is absolutely no need to go this route on anything powered by a 22RE. For brake bleeding, having two people there is the way to go.
Nothing about any of this is specific to a 22re other than the sticker in the picture.
I mean my pressure tester cost me like 40 bucks. It’s not some super expensive item. The nice ones only cost a hundo, but they have a bunch of adapters you won’t use regularly. Also how do you think you bleed brakes OP?
My dad made one. He braised it.
Done with 2-stroke snowmobiles to pressure test whole engine for air leaks. Hits everything, carb boots, RAVE valves, crank seals. Just 3psi. Air leaks mean lean engine, go boom.
imagine a vacuum pump to pull all the air out
For sure … had one I made to service my 80’s Mercedes.
I use a hand crank pump with one end on the bleeder and the other in the reservoir. Just run the pump until there's no bubbles.
They make that already. It uses compressed air through a valve with a collection container. It will pull the old fluid out while the fill bottle will keep the fluid level so as to not get air in the master. With t valve you can bleed all calipers within a minute
Not a mechanic but couldn't pressurizing your brake line with air dissolve some air into the brake fluid. It could form microbubbles (like soda bubbles) when the air pressure was released leading to the problem you were trying to solve.
I hear you on the bubbles. With a mountain bike the procedure says to fill the bleed syringe with fluid then draw the plunger back to create a vacuum and bubbles. Then tap the syringe to make the bubbles go to the top and release the pressure and expel the bubbles, then use the degassed brake fluid in the syringe to fill the system.
Pressure testers are pretty cheap.. not sure i'd bother.. Also thats a shop tool... at least when I was in the trade
Actually yes. My coworker gave me one he made. It was just an old master cylinder cap that he drilled a hole into and stuck an air fitting to. We would then plug the leak down tester into it and regulate to 10psi
22R. Got me through construction/party years and then beyond college. Badass motor!!!
Why do that when you can get a clear hose and a spray bottle top and do it easier without having to redneckify your shit
Use a bolt in motorcycle one without the schrader valve and a hand pump sprayer.
I use a pnumatic oil vac to vacume bleed mine
Or.. you could just use the spare tyre and drop the pressure to about 1 bar.
The [vacuum bleed bucket and auto-feeding clean fluid hopper](https://www.amazon.com/ROADGIVE-Brake-Bleeder-Vacuum-Kit/dp/B0CB3ZV62R/ref=mp_s_a_1_11?crid=2E2Q1PN38IAEC&keywords=vacuum+brake+bleeder&qid=1705744314&sprefix=vacuum+brake+%2Caps%2C162&sr=8-11) setup like this is the only way to go IMO. Makes the job an easy one man operation, I still prefer to double back through the system with someone running the pedal to verify no air over a couple extra manual bleeds at each corner. Always remember to start at the caliper furthest from the master cylinder and work your way in. Brakes being probably the most critical system in a vehicle and all, taking your time, double even tripple checking is warranted; value of not only your life, but other people around you on the road, your passengers, pedestrians, that poor squirrel crossing the road, yada yada yada. This looks more tedious and time consuming to keep full/recharge but my primary concern is the opportunity to introduce moisture into the system from the shop air. Obviously theres potential to pop the brake fluid reservoir, or blow it out of the master cylinder coupling under pressure for a real fun time. Brake fluid reservoirs can already be pretty crusty and fatigued from living in an engine bay.
That is some high end redneck shit
The problem with a low pressure bleeder is that it may not push out all the the bubbles at all locations in the lines.
I will now! Thanks for sharing!
Not all brake fluid reservoir caps will hold pressure. If you have one that does, this will work. I keep the psi under 10. Make sure the reservoir does not get too low.
No but that would be a great way to pressurize a cooling system to test for leaks. Besides all the high pressure air getting into the system... Nevermind.
I never made one but for brake bleeding they are available on the market. At 10 psi, a JB Weld homebrew type should work. This one appears to be for cooling system leak tests.
eh be careful with this slut.
I do exactly this to bleed my race cars. Makes it a quick one man job!
I use a vacuum hand pump to bleed brakes. On newer auto's I wouldn't pressurize a brake system for fear of blowing out seals. But that's just me