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I been contemplating bleeding my own brakes and now I have my doubts about it. Will a “mity Vac” and a helping hand do the job or do you need some special equipment for the job? Thanks in advance!
You will be doing a lot of pumping with a mity vac but it will work. I use a device called a vacula but that might be a little pricey for infrequent home use.
You have other viable options beside a helper with a foot or speed bleeders. Look up any of the inexpensive pressure bleeders (you can make one but by the time you get done dinking around, you would have already had bought one and been done)
Basically they are converted weed sprayers - you put fluid in them, attach them to the master cylinder in place of the cap, pump them to about 15-20 psi and open each bleeder until the fluid runs clear. Be sure to suck the old fluid out of the master and start with fresh right from the get go. This will be much quicker than a mity-vac.
Bleeding the brakes is very easy so do not be intimidated.
Last edited by Ed Ramberger; Feb 28, 2018 at 09:08 AM.
There is a specialty product called Motive that a lot of owners use when bleeding brakes on a C5. You will probably read some arguments against using that product however as it's a pressure bleeding system which has some disadvantages.
The other way to go is Speedbleeders. This does requires you to install new brake bleed screws onto the calipers, but the advantages of the Speedbleeder is the built-in valve that allows you to bleed the brakes by yourself without any specialty tools.
Regardless of what you do you should not let the brake master run completely dry. If it does then you will have to acquire a Tech II to properly cycle the ABS pump when re-filling.
I been contemplating bleeding my own brakes and now I have my doubts about it. Will a “mity Vac” and a helping hand do the job or do you need some special equipment for the job? Thanks in advance!
Very easy if you use a Motive Power Bleeder, or something similar, to supply the reservoir with new fluid. I bleed mine regularly by myself.
There is a specialty product called Motive that a lot of owners use when bleeding brakes on a C5. You will probably read some arguments against using that product however as it's a pressure bleeding system which has some disadvantages.
The other way to go is Speedbleeders. This does requires you to install new brake bleed screws onto the calipers, but the advantages of the Speedbleeder is the built-in valve that allows you to bleed the brakes by yourself without any specialty tools.
Regardless of what you do you should not let the brake master run completely dry. If it does then you will have to acquire a Tech II to properly cycle the ABS pump when re-filling.
This is not to provoke - it is to clarify. Please correct me if I am wrong, but manually bleeding the brakes bypasses the ABS unit. The only time he would need a Tech II is if the master was dry to the line and he keyed on the car which cycles ABS and it got air in it, or if he opened the lines to the ABS unit and it got air in it. Otherwise it's just manual bleeding. I haven't run my C5 dry, but I've had to bleed plenty of ABS cars and trucks when replacing brake lines and the system went dry. Filling the system and manually bleeding without cycling the ABS system kept it isolated. Thanks for any additional info!
Last edited by Ed Ramberger; Feb 28, 2018 at 09:30 AM.
This is what I use.
Fairly quick, can do it with one person, no pedal pumping needed, and the catch bottle has a big magnet on it to keep it stuck to the rotor. With my '99 I do a couple bleeds running the car in between making the ABS/Traction control pump activate to cycle some fluid through it.. Don't know how much good it really does but a little exercise can't hurt.
Speed bleeders can leak at the threads - that's why a lot of people say to put on teflon tape. If the threads leak, air gets sucked back in. Also, you are constantly pumping and if you are pressing the seals to the bottom of the bore and the bore has any roughness (as the seals never go there) you can end up killing the master.
Vacuum bleeders tend to suck air from the threads of the bleeders so it's typically faster to remove the bleeder and hold the vacuum bleeder right to the caliper. But - vacuum bleeders can be used to suck out the master cylinder. Also - this setup is not for a person with a small compressor. Using a mity vac will get you carpal tunnel.
The pressure bleeders are great but you can't suck out the old fluid - so it just gets pushed through. Also, you want to make sure they don't run dry so you don't introduce air and start bleeding all over. One other thing is not to pump them up too high or you can have seal issues in the master.
Personally, I would use a pressure bleeder, but I have the vacuum equipment long paid for. If I was starting new, I'd go pressure bleed. I used them in a shop long ago and they are fast and efficient.
Last edited by Ed Ramberger; Feb 28, 2018 at 09:41 AM.
This is what I use.
ABS/Traction control pump activate to cycle some fluid through it.. Don't know how much good it really does but a little exercise can't hurt.
Shows you are thinking this through.
Keeping fresh fluid in the system is good because abs systems typically cycle at start up. I always also tell people to actively cycle their abs systems a few time a year - a rainy or snow day in an empty parking lot works great. The key is that the system gets exercised and has access to good fluid.
Last edited by Ed Ramberger; Feb 28, 2018 at 09:48 AM.
Bled all the fluid out of my '04 last winter. Besides painting my calipers, I upgraded to steel braided flex lines, and Castrol GT LMA DOT 4.
Motive pressure power bleeder - check.
Speed bleeders with catch bags - check.
Tech II clone - check.
From all the research I did beforehand, I came to the conclusion that doing this job right required the aforementioned tools. Granted, the speed bleeders aren't totally necessary, since the Tech II's automatic bleeding procedure affords you ample time to open and close the bleeders manually. Regardless, the Motive and Tech II are instrumental in performing a complete, and thorough system flush and bleed, especially where the ABS system is concerned.
Refilling and bleeding the entire system took less than an hour. How did the brakes feel afterwards? In-freakin'-credible.
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Slideshow: A Jaguar designer's personal project imagines what a modern front-engined Corvette might look like if Chevrolet revisited the golden age of the Stingray.
Bleeding brakes
Shows you are thinking this through.