As from another post I have active on brake fluid. I am going to replace my fluid and just ran across speed bleeders. Do they work as advertised? Or will it be a good option for changing out fluid.
Thanks Hawkeye56

 

I hate them. Inevitably they will allow air back into the caliper.

 

I bought a power bleeder so I can easily flush the entire system when I need to bleed my brakes.

 

I tried speed bleeders when I installed SS lines, and dumped them. Got a power bleeder.

 

So a big know to speed bleeders.
what brand and model of a power bleeder works best with our cars.
Thanks Hawkeye56

 

https://www.motiveproducts.com/
I have one and love it. They offer adapters for just about any car on the road. I just flushed an entire Golf system in <10 minutes with no help.

 

If you're not interested in spending the money or having another thing in your garage....you can do the same thing in the same time w/o a power bleeding system.

 

Never used speed nor power bleeders.

I prefer to slip a clear plastic hose over the bleeder, immerse the other end of the tube into a soda bottle with a little brake fluid in the bottom.
Once you crack the stock bleeder brake fluid will soon seep out into the tube.
Then you can simply pump the brakes till clear fluid comes out and close the bleeder.
Refill the MC and move on to the next wheel.

I did this to my "new" '89 soon after I had it home. Very quick and easy...and cheap...

 

Agree - you can also let gravity do its' thing if you have patience and watch the brake reservoir so it does not go dry !

 

Check out "Stahlbus speed bleeders", spendy little units, but they are designed and work like "speed bleeders" should be! Completely different than the $20 ones. Just throwing the option out there 👍

 

I will check out the power bleeder, As stated i could use a soda bottle and let the wife pump the brakes. For the gravity drip I do not have the patience for this lol.
Thanks Hawkeye56

 

You can do that same procedure and not waste time w/the hoses, FYI

 

Really? You can "gravity bleed" out a car in about 5 minutes or so. How much patience do you have?



.

 

Oh no I did not mean the gravity way to be 5 minutes, Probably a hour or longer.

 

No it's not. Or, it doesn't have to be.

Strictly gravity bleeding; letting gravity do the work should take ~20 minutes? Or so?

But, There are numerous ways in which you can speed up the process dramatically:
1. Siphon out all the fluid from the reservoir, then fill and gravity bleed. Should only take a couple minutes for the new/fresh fluid to make it to the calipers/bleeders.
2. Pump the pedal. Open one or more bleeder, pump the pedal until you get fresh fluid to that or those calipers....wait a minute for the caliper to fill and bleed, close the bleeders. Wait...WHUT? That's right, you can open a bleeder or several and pump the pedal by yourself (no helper). Yes you'll draw some air back into the caliper on each pedal release, but over all, it's a net gain and you're moving fluid from the res, down and out the calipers....fast. When you're done pumping, there will be some air drawn into the calipers on your last pedal release...that's O.K. Wait about 20 second or so and the caliper will have filled and be bled out. Easy.
3. Compress the calipers all the way. Siphon out the fluid from the res. Fill with new fluid, w/o opening any bleeder, pump the pedal to move the pads back out to the rotors. You've just changed ~90% of the fluid in the system, fast.


Bonus (for all bleeding methods):Always compress the calipers all the way before starting. Why? Think about the volume of fluid in the caliper bore(s) (large volume). Think about that compared to the volume in the lines (small). You can bleed out the system all day long and are you really replacing all the fluid in the caliper(s)? No. The brake line typically comes in to the bore near the top...near the bleeder. So while some fluid is being replaced, most is likely not, and just stays in the caliper. Especially true in multi piston calipers. SO...push the pistons all the way back in, then bleed how ever you chose to, then pump the pedal to move the pads back to the rotor....and you're filling the bores with fresh fluid.

I do this stuff for a living, so I want the fastest, easiest, best way to do it with the least help and the least expensive tools. Once the wheels are off, I can bleed out my 'Vette's brakes in about 10-15 minutes with no help and no tools other than a 10mm wrench and some catch buckets. Hope this helps.

 

Thank you so much for the details. I would have never thought of pushing the pads open to drain the bores. To open the pads is it best to remove the calipers and then reinstall so they can refill or can it all be done with calipers attached.
Thanks again for the tricks to your trade.
Thanks Hawkeye56

 

Same way as if you were going to replace the pads with new. Either use a C-Clamp on the center of the old pad to push the pistons flat, or use a pad spreader tool inside the caliper to compress the pistons. Either method requires removal of the calipers, which thankfully is a 30-second job on our cars.

 

Thank you
Hawkeye56

 

When I have to start bleeding brakes by myself, I pour some fresh brake fluid into a jar. Then I stick the hose (I use clear vinyl tubing so I can see) down into the fluid. A small box end wrench with the hose stuck through it to keep it in the fluid, works quite well. Then with the other end stuck on the bleeder (sometimes I even hose clamp them in place to make a good seal) you can pump the pedal yourself and it won't suck air back into the caliper.

Yes there is a chance some old fluid could get sucked back in, but I just start this way. Then when I have help, I finish with a good bleeding.

An old trick I learned a long time ago is to whack the caliper with a rubber mallet. If there are any air bubbles adhering to the inside, the shock will break them free and allow them to float up to the bleeder.

 

I want to Thank every one for all the great advice.
Thanks Hawkeye56