Speed bleeders?

[Jim Gustafson]

Anyone here have experience with these on their brake calipers?

Thanks,
Jim Gustafson

[TimH]

I use them to bleed brakes and clutch by myself, have had no issues. Well worth $10/pair at NAPA or elsewhere.

[Rick Kirchner]

Fantastic invention. couldn't live without 'em.

[EACIII]

I bleed my brakes and clutch myself and no need for Speed Bleeders. The front I can reach through and operate the pedal with one hand while opening / closing the bleeder with the other. For the rear I have a modified hockey stick I use to push the pedal down while at each of the rear corners. No biggie and free.

Ed

[alangbaker]

I'm with the "speed bleeders are great" camp.

[BrianT1]

Does anyone use a vacuum pump to bleed the brakes by yourself?

Brian

[TimH]

Does anyone use a vacuum pump to bleed the brakes by yourself?
Brian

Yes I have. Not, not worth the trouble. Requires a lot of pumping to pull significant volume.

[nomis]

Simplicity first Speed Bleeders ROCK no sticks no assistants all with one hand !

[Steve Demeter]

I use a vacuum pump and find the tough part is opening the bleeder enough to let fluid out and not having air pulled in around the threads. So I pull each bleeder , clean it off and coat the threads with Syl Glide grease.

Now vacuum pump works great.

[DanW]

I've been using one of these for almost 25 years. Easy and quick.

https://mossmotors.com/eezibleed-kit...xoCI04QAvD_BwE

[TimH]

I've been using one of these for almost 25 years. Easy and quick.

https://mossmotors.com/eezibleed-kit...xoCI04QAvD_BwE

Now that is cute...

[ExKartracer]

It was recommended to me to add an air fitting to an extra reservoir cap and apply about 5# or so of air pressure. Keep checking the reservoir. Tried it and liked it. Easier with plastic reservoirs as the fluid level is visible. Mini pressure regulators are cheap.
https://www.harborfreight.com/14-in-...uge-68226.html

[stonebridge20]

https://www.pegasusautoracing.com/pr...asp?RecID=8466

[DanW]

Now that is cute...

It works as advertised from tire pressure - 10 to 15 PSI is plenty. It comes with a set of caps and gaskets that will fit most Girling and AP masters. I can bleed both ends of the car faster than pumping the pedal for one end. Also works great when you're trying to push the air from the high points of the system.

The pumper types work great as long as you have a cap and gaskets to adapt to your masters.

The vacuum ones are nearly worthless, particularly the ones from Hazard Fraught. The vacuum always pulls air through the bleeder threads on the caliper.

[RussMcB]

I've been using one of these for almost 25 years. Easy and quick.

https://mossmotors.com/eezibleed-kit...xoCI04QAvD_BwE

I think I'll give this a try.

If you're not in a hurry to get one, this UK seller on ebay.com (not the ebay.co.uk site) has a good price and free shipping:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/12312401805...&s=ci&mail=sys

[problemchild]

If you like buying tools, then devices like this may be for you.

If you don't, a used Gatorade bottle with coat hanger hook and 50 cents worth of hose will do just fine.

[DaveW]

If you like buying tools, then devices like this may be for you.

If you don't, a used Gatorade bottle with coat hanger hook and 50 cents worth of hose will do just fine.

^^
This. I bleed everything by myself, and I have no issues getting all the air out. No need for special tools. The key to this is to route the bleed hose so it goes upward a few inches before ending downward into the bottle. I use a clear hose so I can see bubbles and fluid in the hose during the process.

[TimH]

I bleed everything by myself, and I have no issues getting all the air out. No need for special tools. The key to this is to route the bleed hose so it goes upward a few inches before ending downward into the bottle. I use a clear hose so I can see bubbles and fluid in the hose during the process.

..and for the rear tires you're right there next to them rather than trying to spot the bubbles from up by the pedal. Being up there is the only downside to speedbleeders.

[DaveW]

^^
This. I bleed everything by myself, and I have no issues getting all the air out. No need for special tools. The key to this is to route the bleed hose so it goes upward a few inches before ending downward into the bottle. I use a clear hose so I can see bubbles and fluid in the hose during the process.

..and for the rear tires you're right there next to them rather than trying to spot the bubbles from up by the pedal. Being up there is the only downside to speedbleeders.

How do you pump the brake pedal from close to the rear? Long stick, or what? I do all of the operation from the front, except for loosening/tightening the bleed screws and moving the bleed bottle.

[RussMcB]

For normal bleeding (and by that I mean two people, one to pump the peddle, then hold it down while the 2nd person opens and closes the bleed screw before first person lets pedal back up), ...

If you do it yourself, it seems some fluid flows backwards when you lift the pedal to walk to the back of the car to close the bleed screw, and that's not ideal, right?

If that's true, I can see how the EEZIBLEED tool is a good substitute for the pedal pumper person.

[DaveW]

For normal bleeding (and by that I mean two people, one to pump the peddle, then hold it down while the 2nd person opens and closes the bleed screw before first person lets pedal back up), ...

If you do it yourself, it seems some fluid flows backwards when you lift the pedal to walk to the back of the car to close the bleed screw, and that's not ideal, right?

If that's true, I can see how the EEZIBLEED tool is a good substitute for the pedal pumper person.

One-person bleeding...
By routing the bleed hose upward, any minor amount of brake fluid that may flow back into the bleed fitting has no bubbles, and the bleed fitting is surrounded by brake fluid. I have not had any issues with air being sucked back into the calipers. One does have to open the bleeder only as far as necessary to do the job. If you open it all the way, sucking air back in could become an issue.

I even perform the periodic replacement of brake fluid in all my street vehicles using the same method. It works well there, also.

The only time air was left in the brake system was when our Audi had the brake fluid changed by the dealer service dept. as part of a more extensive 115K-mile service. I corrected it myself using the above method. It was less hassle than taking it back to the dealer and waiting...

[alangbaker]

^^
This. I bleed everything by myself, and I have no issues getting all the air out. No need for special tools. The key to this is to route the bleed hose so it goes upward a few inches before ending downward into the bottle. I use a clear hose so I can see bubbles and fluid in the hose during the process.

^^^

This. Well... ...and I use speed bleeders.

I only crack them open as little as possible to keep them as snug in their threads as I can.

[problemchild]

If you like gadgets, go for it.

If you like simple, cheap, and efficient ..... then no gadgets or fancy tools required. The key, as Dave mentions above, is to have the bleed hose go up from the bleed fitting. Once you learn to do that, the procedure becomes a breeze ...... with or without gadgets, and your search for a better way will have ended.

[hdsporty1988]

If you do like fancy gadgets, then check out https://www.motiveproducts.com/. I originally bought one of their products in order to completely change brake fluid by myself in my classic cars but now also use it on the racecar.

[TimH]

How do you pump the brake pedal from close to the rear? Long stick, or what? I do all of the operation from the front, except for loosening/tightening the bleed screws and moving the bleed bottle.

Um, I confused you with DanW and his air pressure system. I thought that system has an advantage over speedbleeders because you could just sit right by the rear tire while the air pressure does all the work.

[DaveW]

AHAH...now I understand.

[DanW]

Um, I confused you with DanW and his air pressure system. I thought that system has an advantage over speedbleeders because you could just sit right by the rear tire while the air pressure does all the work.

DaveW is much faster and better looking.

[john f]

I take an old brake fluid can, poke a hole in the side of the can up high, and push a pc of clear hose in the hole down to bottom of can.
Put hose on fitting and hold can against vacuum cleaner hose, open fitting and wait for fluid. Easy and neat. Just my $0.02.

john f

[Raceworks]

Anyone here have experience with these on their brake calipers?

Thanks,
Jim Gustafson

Been using them for about 6 years now. Just remember they can wear out like anything else, or get rounded off by accident. I always have a couple spares with me.

[EricP]

One-person bleeding...
By routing the bleed hose upward, any minor amount of brake fluid that may flow back into the bleed fitting has no bubbles, and the bleed fitting is surrounded by brake fluid. I have not had any issues with air being sucked back into the calipers. One does have to open the bleeder only as far as necessary to do the job. If you open it all the way, sucking air back in could become an issue.

I even perform the periodic replacement of brake fluid in all my street vehicles using the same method. It works well there, also.

The only time air was left in the brake system was when our Audi had the brake fluid changed by the dealer service dept. as part of a more extensive 115K-mile service. I corrected it myself using the above method. It was less hassle than taking it back to the dealer and waiting...

I believe Carrol Smith said this was the way to do it in Tune to Win (or one of his books) As I remember, he basically said all the “fancy” bleeder stuff was unecessary if one didn’t open the bleeder too far and just pumped the brakes slowly.

[Jim Gustafson]

Does anyone use a vacuum pump to bleed the brakes by yourself?

Brian

I have not had the best results doing it this way.

Jim

[nomis]

tools and new products sometimes miss the mark
vacuum is fine as it is just that therefore not adding
pumping your system is introducing air which 100% is contaminated with H2O, not your friend when it comes to brakes !!!!
go the conventional route or speed bleeders

[RussMcB]

Reviving this thread because I finally got around to trying my new Eezibleed last night (and hope not to stir up discussions about unnecessary bleeding gadgets ).

It worked great. It was nice to sit at the bleed screws and carefully watch the fluid flowing out without being concerned about any other aspects.

It's also nice that the supply bottle has plenty (12oz?) of new fluid, so it is fewer trips back to the master cyls to see if they need to be topped off.

Downsides: My clutch and brake caps are different, so it's not easy to do them both with the basic kit. I needed to swap some parts around. (I'll elaborate if anyone cares). I'll probably use the Eezibleed for the brakes and do the clutch conventionally.

It takes a (very) few more minutes to set up, so if you have a buddy around, that's probably much faster. Otherwise, if you're alone in your shop, this is a good tool.