Pittsburgh Brake Bleeder and Vacuum Pump Kit

[supton]

Originally Posted By: ST2008
Originally Posted By: SHOZ
I'm using a MityVac bottle. At 15"Hg it starts to collapse so you need one with some stiff sidewalls. A heavy duty lab vacuum bottle would work.


I recycled a damaged bottle from the Blackstone oil kit. I glued two brass inserts (watts, A-8 96760-PT,1/4" OD) in to the bottle cap with epoxy. Now I can extract oil directly into a new bottle without draining my oil. The other good thing about this bottle cap is it also fits with many 1 quart oil bottles.


I've been wanting a larger tank for my Mityvac, I will have to try something like this.

I noticed after a couple of years the rubber hoses on mine are starting to give up. I suspect it is the nature of the beast, as it has seen atf, brake and gear fluids.

 

[Ducked]

Originally Posted By: Vikas
Brake fluid really does a number on all the extractor type tools having rubber parts whether it is a simple turkey baster or an over-sized syringe.


Havn't had any problem with my 70ml syringe over maybe 3-4 years of continuous exposure to brake fluid. (continuous since I havn't cleaned it between uses). Are there not rubber components in the braking system? Is this not why you have to avoid contamination with mineral-oil based products?

If I did have a problem at 30NT (just under a US dollar) currently it'd be painless enough to replace, and also cheap to have one dedicated to each fluid. Similarly it could be used disposably if, for example, it was used to collect an oil sample, since that probably would attack the piston seal.

I have used it to remove old brake fluid from the master cylinder, caliper and wheel cylinders, and for testing the vacuum ignition advance, as well as for bleeding the brakes.

Lately I bleed the brakes by cycling 50-60 mls of fluid in and out of each bleed nipple several times. This back-flushes the system, which I'm told can screw up the master cylinder by everting seals. It so far does not seem to happen with this car, and before I knew any better I applied quite a lot of pressure, so I think I'm in the clear. With another system it might be different.

Do the more sophisticated alternatives (probably not available here anyway) have any advantage other than capacity and instrumentation (I could use a vacuum guage with the syringe if I could be bothered to set up a T-piece) to offset the cost and complexity?

 

[Ducked]

Originally Posted By: Trav
I just used mine a short time ago to diagnose leaking vacuum operated headlights on an old Buick Riviera.
It is very useful tool for use on the old MB cars with vacuum locking system which includes the fuel door and trunk, being able to apply vacuum to individual components in the engine compartment with the small tool makes life easier.
It seems most posters are talking about its fluid transfer ability which it does fine for small amounts but its value as a diagnostic tool is far beyond that, its one tool I wouldn't want to be without. I use the Mityvac 8500.







I've had some success using a syringe to diagnose vacuum leaks in the spaghetti around my '80s carburettor, by pulling say, 50mls of vacuum, holding it for say, 30 seconds, and letting go. If the plunger doesn't return very far, there's a leak.

Crude but cheap, and, with a bit of experiment, reasonably effective.