Speed Bleeders (love them)

[Donald]

Decided to install the SS Speed Bleeders I had bought for my pickup. All four of the old ones came out (good sign) and I screwed the Speed Bleeders in. Since I was there and these are Speed Bleeders I decided to do a brake flush since it would only take a few extra minutes per wheel and I had already sucked out the old brake fluid from the master cylinder reservoir. Was very easy.

I do have two questions:

1) on one or two of the old bleeder screws, the end that goes in the caliper was not nice and cone shaped, rather it looked like the very end was ground flat. So mostly cone shaped but the very end was ground flat.

2) How hard should the pedal pressure be to overcome the spring & ball one way valve? Should I even notice I have Speed Bleeders vs just a partially open regular bleeder screw? The reason I ask is one some of the wheels I had to press pretty hard to push old fluid out and on others it was very easy. I tried to open each one 1/2 turn.

My Motive brake bleeder is still in the box. One advantage to the Motive is you would actually be at the caliper seeing the fluid get pushed out. And could see it change from dirty to clean.

 

[wings&wheels]

I've seen both shapes of bleeder screws. Odd that you would have different types on the same caliper though.

One note of caution; if the master cylinder is old or the vehicles maintenance history is unknown, I would not push the pedal, and the master piston, much past its normal stroke. Any corrosion, crud, etc. that has collected on the normally unswept portion of the cylinder may damage the seals.

 

[slacktide_bitog]

Yeah, speed bleeders are awesome

You won't need a lot of pressure, just the normal amount of force you'd hit the brake pedal with. You won't even notice you have a speed bleeder. You open the speed bleeder the same amount you'd open a regular bleeder screw.

 

[Donald]

I've seen both shapes of bleeder screws. Odd that you would have different types on the same caliper though.

One note of caution; if the master cylinder is old or the vehicles maintenance history is unknown, I would not push the pedal, and the master piston, much past its normal stroke. Any corrosion, crud, etc. that has collected on the normally unswept portion of the cylinder may damage the seals.

I did not push it farther than normal.

 

[Mav123]

Decided to install the SS Speed Bleeders I had bought for my pickup. All four of the old ones came out (good sign) and I screwed the Speed Bleeders in. Since I was there and these are Speed Bleeders I decided to do a brake flush since it would only take a few extra minutes per wheel and I had already sucked out the old brake fluid from the master cylinder reservoir. Was very easy.

I do have two questions:

1) on one or two of the old bleeder screws, the end that goes in the caliper was not nice and cone shaped, rather it looked like the very end was ground flat. So mostly cone shaped but the very end was ground flat.

2) How hard should the pedal pressure be to overcome the spring & ball one way valve? Should I even notice I have Speed Bleeders vs just a partially open regular bleeder screw? The reason I ask is one some of the wheels I had to press pretty hard to push old fluid out and on others it was very easy. I tried to open each one 1/2 turn.

My Motive brake bleeder is still in the box. One advantage to the Motive is you would actually be at the caliper seeing the fluid get pushed out. And could see it change from dirty to clean.

Where can we buy them, rockauto ?

 

[Donald]

Where can we buy them, rockauto ?

There are some knockoffs. But this is the real McCoy. I ordered SS ones for a little extra along with the bag that's used for bleeding.

http://speedbleeder.com/index.htm

 

[artbuc]

Don’t you still have problem with air sucked in past threads when you release pedal?

 

[DukeOfFrontenac]

Don’t you still have problem with air sucked in past threads when you release pedal?

They are essentially a check valve, no air gets back in. I just started using these with my cars and motorcycles. Every vehicle I intend on keeping is getting them in the future. They're great. You can find cheapies online but the originals noted above are clearly better made. The trick is finding the correct size.

 

[artbuc]

When I vacuum bleed, air is sucked back past threads. Ball check will not stop that.

They are essentially a check valve, no air gets back in. I just started using these with my cars and motorcycles. Every vehicle I intend on keeping is getting them in the future. They're great. You can find cheapies online but the originals noted above are clearly better made. The trick is finding the correct size.

 

[slacktide_bitog]

When I vacuum bleed, air is sucked back past threads. Ball check will not stop that.

the ball check is a one-way valve. Air can get out but not in.

 

[Hohn]

the ball check is a one-way valve. Air can get out but not in.

He's saying the threads are an alternative leak path.

Vacuum bleeding has a more significant pressure differential than what a Speed bleeder will do. Sloppy threads are always a potential leak path.

There's no such thing as zero air in your brakes, it's just a matter of how close to ideal you can achieve and what is sufficient.

 

[Dave1027]

He's saying the threads are an alternative leak path.

Vacuum bleeding has a more significant pressure differential than what a Speed bleeder will do. Sloppy threads are always a potential leak path.

There's no such thing as zero air in your brakes, it's just a matter of how close to ideal you can achieve and what is sufficient.

That's why I ended up going with the Motive pressure bleeder. It totally negates leaky threads.

 

[Donald]

With the Speed Bleeder you just open it a tiny amount and the one way valve does the rest. So yes you could get air through the threads if you opened them a lot more than necessary.

They work and are SS. Heck I would buy then just for being SS. Who wants to replace a caliper because you snapped a bleeder?

 

[iCurious]

This is very true that by opening the bleeder valve you are introducing air through below the threads not at the nipple. This is why I always perform the traditional pump and hold method after any type of bleeding method besides the pressure bleeding method.

Any air can be seeing through the hose is a fail bleeding procedure in my book.

 

[D1dad]

I bought a cheap plastic bottle and installed a line with a check valve. Seems to work as good as my Orion pressure set up once everything’s bled properly. I’m actually going to finish converting my other 2 cars over to Bosch 5.1 this weekend….maybe. They don’t need flushed but, the wife and I are officially empty nesters and I can only irritate her so much before I get bored with it.