For a number of years, I have been a big advocate of one-man bleeder solutions and in particular, the Motive pressure bleeder. However, as I began to work on more cars, I found the Motive to be lacking coverage for exact-fit adapters on many common vehicles (i.e. Honda and Toyota). To solve this problem, I purchased a Mityvac with the brake bleeder kit, but soon discovered the flaws of vacuum bleeding - there was a 50/50 chance that I would introduce a small amount of air into the system.
Last weekend, I replaced the front struts on my father's Toyota minivan and had to bleed the brakes. (This is because the brake lines run through the struts, so you have to disconnect the lines in order to properly r/r the struts.) After bleeding the front brakes, I decided that it would be a good idea to also bleed the rear brakes so that the entire system had new fluid. With the help of an experienced friend, I only had to open/close the bleeder screw fewer than 10 times before new fluid was flowing out of the right/rear caliper. I was quite surprised by this, since I was always under the impression that the lines held a significant amount of fluid.
Judging from the amount of brake fluid I used to flush the rear calipers, I think I can flush a car with 1/2 to 2/3 quart of fluid. When using a vacuum or pressure bleeder, I often end up using 1.5 qt or more. I suspect that the manual method "forces/pulses" the fluid through, as opposed to gradual mixing that occurs when one uses a pressure bleeder. Lastly, I noticed that the brake pedal on my father's minivan was slightly firmer after the manual brake bleed - and the van had recently been flushed with a pressure bleeder.
So, I think I may be going back to manual bleeding. No hardware to buy and clean-up, less fluid used, and surprisingly quick and good results. Only issue is that you need a second person...
I guess the lesson learned here is that the "old-fashioned" method may sometimes work best, and is far less of a hassle than you were led to believe.
Last weekend, I replaced the front struts on my father's Toyota minivan and had to bleed the brakes. (This is because the brake lines run through the struts, so you have to disconnect the lines in order to properly r/r the struts.) After bleeding the front brakes, I decided that it would be a good idea to also bleed the rear brakes so that the entire system had new fluid. With the help of an experienced friend, I only had to open/close the bleeder screw fewer than 10 times before new fluid was flowing out of the right/rear caliper. I was quite surprised by this, since I was always under the impression that the lines held a significant amount of fluid.
Judging from the amount of brake fluid I used to flush the rear calipers, I think I can flush a car with 1/2 to 2/3 quart of fluid. When using a vacuum or pressure bleeder, I often end up using 1.5 qt or more. I suspect that the manual method "forces/pulses" the fluid through, as opposed to gradual mixing that occurs when one uses a pressure bleeder. Lastly, I noticed that the brake pedal on my father's minivan was slightly firmer after the manual brake bleed - and the van had recently been flushed with a pressure bleeder.
So, I think I may be going back to manual bleeding. No hardware to buy and clean-up, less fluid used, and surprisingly quick and good results. Only issue is that you need a second person...
I guess the lesson learned here is that the "old-fashioned" method may sometimes work best, and is far less of a hassle than you were led to believe.
