Bleeding brakes by yourself?

[das_peikko]

Originally Posted by svhanc
I have had Speed Bleeders on my vehicles for years. Never had a problem.


They would work great if you could leave them tight; but as soon as you loosen them up, the fluid wants to go out around the threads instead going through the check valve.

 

[240_Ed]

I use a pressure bleeder that uses the spare tire to provide the pressure, with a simple valve to flip the air supply on/off. Works really well.

 

[Garak]

Originally Posted by Gasbuggy
If you have to bleed brakes this is the best investment you'll ever make. Makes doing it by yourself the best method. And the pressure gets rid of the impossible to get out air in some ABS systems.

I was sorely tempted. When I had the bleeding job on the G37, the Canadian Motive dealer was across the country and therefore a tad inconvenient. I gambled with gravity bleeding and it was great. I still definitely want one of those yet. I just have to get around to it.

Gravity bleeding wouldn't have been as helpful with the taxis (rush rush rush) but on the farm, I could have saved headaches.

 

[Hounds]

Originally Posted by jay929
I saw a video of some guy putting tubing in a water bottle filled with some brake fluid and bleeding it himself. No air bubbles cause the tubing goes in the brake fluid. Does it work well or should I just drag my old lady in the garage with me to help

It works and works well. I've been doing it for YEARS. It's crucial, of course, to ensure the tubing stays in place on the brake bleeder itself. Thus, if you are doing this by yourself, chose the right size tubing for a tight fit on the brake bleeder, and when you push on the brake pedal, do it s-l-o-w-l-y. You are only trying to get the fluid out; there's no need to rush that aspect of the task.

And since you mentioned you wanted to avoid having to "drag the old lady into the garage," I decided to go with the one-man/person method because the one-and-only time that I asked my wife to be act as the brake pedal pusher, when I said, "OK, push now, " she replied, "I am. The pedal's going straight to the floor!" "What!?" I yelled. As you may have guessed, despite my explicit instructions regarding her role and task, she was pushing on the clutch pedal.

PS: If, instead, you are considering using a Motive bleeder, they work well enough on German cars. They, however, don't work worth a [censored] on Hondas where you have to fashion a Rube Goldberg arrangement to lash the bleeder to the master cylinder.

 

[exranger06]

I also have a Motive power bleeder and I'm a big fan of it. On cars where I can't use it though (Hondas), I use speed bleeders.

 

[cos]

exranger06,

Why can't you use a power bleeder on a Honda?

 

[1JZ_E46]

Motive power bleeder. Couldn't be easier. Works for Hondas too.

 

[WhyMe]

i have both a motive and vacuum bleeder. i use the motive for my e46 . i don't use it on my honda as i don't trust the chain system. honda and toyota seem to use the non tab push seal resouvoirs for brake fluid. i use the vacuum for those. i am deftly afraid of brake fluid under pressure squirting everywhere

if i had to take just one i would take the vacuum bleeder. As long as there is a bleeder valve i can bleed it.

 

[Yah-Tah-Hey]

Originally Posted by slacktide_bitog
Speed bleeders are awesome

Had Russell Speedbleeders since 08.

 

[HowAboutThis]

MityVac? Love mine, super easy.

 

[exranger06]

Originally Posted by cos
exranger06,

Why can't you use a power bleeder on a Honda?

Motive doesn't make a cap that fits Honda master cylinders. I remember reading something on their website about how they tried to design one, but couldn't get it to seal. I can't find it on the website now. They just recommend using one of their universal adapters for Hondas. I have one of their universal adapters, tried to use it, couldn't get it to work, gave up and haven't tried to use it since.