Speed Bleeders - worth it?

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As a stand alone tool it works well for 1-man brake bleeding, there are some inconveniences: after you push the brake pedal several times you need to stop and get out of the vehicle to check and/or top off the reservoir. Each vehicle needs a set and the cost can be very high for 3-4 vehicles.

Lucky for me, I have fluid extractor to do oil change in the E430. It's a perfect tool for that job and then I use it to do ATF and bleed the brake. It's so easy to bleed the brake system of any vehicle, just attach the tube then pump 4-5 times, watch the fluid coming out of the bleeder valve, top off the reservoir while the extractor is siphon the fluid. I can bleed the brake in less than 20 minutes (doesn't count the time to raise the car and remove/reinstall the wheels). From my point of view, a good fluid extractor is an essential tool for DIY.
 
Pressure bleeding is the only way to go. Manual bleeding is iffy on older cars with poorly maintained systems - it is possible to damage the master cyl. Vacuum bleeding has been a miserable fail for me, in all forms; I almost always end up with a soft pedal.

Speed bleeders sound like a good idea, but do not seem worth the trouble considering how infrequently brake fluid is serviced. Plus, I cannot see it being quicker than a pressure bleeder for routine fluid replacements.

For the OP, a Motive cap for Nissans is available for your fleet and is the way to go.
 
^^^X a dozen.

been there and done that with speed bleeders. They are simply an unnecessary add on on a regular car.

They worked great on my tracked cars way back when you needed to change the poor quality fluid we used to use. But who needs to service their brakes every few weeks? These days my track rat and my 2nd trackable car both run to the races on their own 4 wheels and drive themselves home, too.
 
Originally Posted By: Eddie
A really neat idea but, not worth it as I bleed only once every 2-3 years and a friend helps with the old fashion way.


I feel the same way about adding a valve to drain oil. Can't see the point.
 
Vacuum bleeding is #1 for me.
Gravity bleeding is slow, but works on the same principle.
One vacuum pump system will work on all cars - no adapters or extra costs.

For one car, speed bleeders can be great. I'd make the installation carefully, clean things really well, use brake grease on the threads, and make sure the dust cap is on.
 
Originally Posted By: The Critic
Pressure bleeding is the only way to go.


I agree. In an age when reasonably priced pressure bleeders are readily available, I don't know why people do anything else.

Maybe you can get one of these bad boys to go with your new impact gun. It's their "low cost" alternative. The adapters are sold separately, though.
 
Why? Because vacuum bleeding is cheaper, doesn't require adapters for every car, only requires opening the bleeder, can be done with one man, is virtually foolproof, and works great! The instructor at Bendix brake school loves it.

If you want to spend more money , then get a pressure bleeder. And get an adapter for every car that will be serviced. And keep removing and replacing the cover to fill the reservoir [on many].
 
I agree with Mechtech2.

I had Motive pressure bleeder with adapters for German car(s) and Japanese car(s).

I used it on E430, it was fairly easy to hookup and do the front wheels, but the rear wheels was so slow, not much faster than gravity bleeding.

It was difficult to hookup to the LS400. Again, front wheels was fairly fast and rear wheels was so slow, I had to stop and used the Mityvac and bleeding was done in less than 5 minutes for 2 rear wheels.

With Mityvac extarctor, bleeding 4 wheels can be done in less than 10 minutes, other works take much longer time to do: raise the car, take off the wheel, re-install the wheel, lower the car. Do it 4 times because I don't have jack stand and only one jack.

I sold the Motive bleeder and adapters on Ebay and Craigslist.
 
Originally Posted By: mechtech2
Why? Because vacuum bleeding is cheaper, doesn't require adapters for every car, only requires opening the bleeder, can be done with one man, is virtually foolproof, and works great! The instructor at Bendix brake school loves it.

If you want to spend more money , then get a pressure bleeder. And get an adapter for every car that will be serviced. And keep removing and replacing the cover to fill the reservoir [on many].


Cheaper? Taking Mityvac as an example -- yes, the small hand held is cheaper than something like a Motive. Get into a something that will hold a decent amount of old fluid, and that's no longer the case.

Adapters? Might be an issue for some, if they own a variety of cars. Most European cars likely have an Ate reservoir that has been using the same cap design for over 40 years. Irrelevant to a pro who should have the right tools in any case.

Foolproof? What happens when an inattentive user sucks the reservoir dry? Or, perhaps, is the miniscule capacity most of those vacuum bleeders have serve as a failsafe? Good chance to leave plenty of old fluid to leave behind in the system.

And why would one need to keep removing the cover? The pressure reservoir holds at least a liter of fluid. Fill it once, pump it up, and do all wheels, plus the clutch without any further intervention.

Or are we talking about two different things? Yeah, using a vacuum tools is fine if all one wants to do is crack the screw, get a few air bubbles and siphon a little fluid out.

To me, that's a half measure. I prefer a full flush. Tomato, tomato I suppose.
 
Mechtech is the first person (and I guess HTS_TR) that I have come across who has used both vacuum and pressure bleeding and still prefers the vacuum method. Many people claim that vacuum method does not work and with the pressure method, there is always a risk of big mess if the adapter does not fit well on the reservoir.
 
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The main reason I like pressure over vacuum is the super convoluted path the fluid must follow with ABS pumps and extra piping.

Just seems that a flushing is so much more thorough.

But on my car I just gravity bleed it. Simple, but slow.
 
Originally Posted By: Carmudgeon
Cheaper? Taking Mityvac as an example -- yes, the small hand held is cheaper than something like a Motive. Get into a something that will hold a decent amount of old fluid, and that's no longer the case.

Yes, in my case it costs me nothing because I bought Mityvac 7201 mainly to do oil change in my E430. I didn't think about using it to bleed the brake, so I bought Motive power bleeder for it. Turn out that vacuum works better on my cars and no extra cost for me in using it.

I also use Mityvac to change ATF and to siphon any fluid anywhere. Motive power bleeder cannot do anything else other than brake job.

It depends on you, if you want different tools for it singular job or you want a versatile tool to do many jobs.
 
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