Bleeding brakes

[Mrb00ns]

Hi,

I'm about to upgrade my brakes to 4 pots on the front and better pads at the rear so will need to bleed my brakes. 
 

I've done this before but as a 2 man job. Look to be lots of one man kits on the market, just looking for recommendations as to the one which people have found works best. I've seen the reviews of some of the cheaper models aren't too good. 
 

I don't have an air compressor so am looking at manual versions. 
 

Thanks in advance. 
 

Best,

Chris

[Amos91]

Not used it myself, but have seen plenty of recommendations around here for this Sealey one -

 Sealey Bleeder

[michaelf]

Hi,

I've used this -

Sealey VS820 Brake And Clutch Bleeder Vacuum Type 2.5L Fluid Bleeding Kit

and found it to work very well on both the Caterham and a couple of cars with ABS, I use it with their -

Sealey VS0212 Brake Bleeding Bottle

just for convenience but you can make something similar.

Brgds, Mike

[Jonathan Kay]

Lots of discussions in the archives on gadgets, experiences and hints.

I use the cheap Gunson Eezibleed with a spare tyre and no liquid in the reservoir and a valved tube on the nipple:
https://www.caterhamlotus7.club/forum/techtalk/brake-bleeder-kit

Jonathan

[Beagler]

Ive got the Sealy also. Great bit of kit. Just ensure you totally release pressure before removing at M/C and put bin bag or similar under M/C and drape down car side incase of spillage

 

[SM25T]

Gunson Easibleed here .... but no fluid in their bottle. Easy one man job working at each caliper in turn. No need to touch the pedal.

[ScottR400D]

"I've used this -

Sealey VS820 Brake And Clutch Bleeder Vacuum Type 2.5L Fluid Bleeding Kit

and found it to work very well on both the Caterham and a couple of cars with ABS, I use it with their....... "

Is it a Vacuum type? From what I've seen it is a pressure bleeder. 

[andy_harries]

I use the Sealy pressure one in the first link. It's great,  as long as you don't forget to put the gasket in the cap that goes on the reservoir. 

 

If you do,  be prepared to use half a roll of kitchen towel mopping up the mess.  Don't ask me how I know.....

[michaelf]

#7 It is a pressure bleeder, the link I used described it (mistakenly) as a vacuum bleeder for some reason

 

[ScottR400D]

#9 thanks for confirming.

It was important to me because I've found that the rear calipers, particularly, don't facilitate the use of a vacuum type, air just gets sucked down through the threads and out again rendering the process very uncertain and inconsistent. 

[Mrb00ns]

Thanks. I shall ponder the choice from your experience (and Jonathan thank you for the archive links also). 
 

As a related follow up, what order do you bleed the brakes in?

[Jonathan Kay]

The dogma is "Furthest first" but I have no idea if it makes any difference in practice.

Jonathan

[7 wonders of the world]

When your fitting new calipers, gravity is your friend and will do 99% of the work for you, fill the reservoir, crack open left front inner nipple tube on into a bottle and wait until fluid appears, then outer then FR inner then outer.

 A couple of pumps with a freindly leg and your done.

Don't forget if you have ingested air in the rear calipers you need to bleed these remove form the axle with the nipple pointing vertical as CC fit the calpers in a different orientation to which they were designed for, a few gentle taps with the hammer shaft to dislodge any lingering air bubbles helps too.

Also make sure the pips on the rear pads engage in the piston, set the brake with the footbrake before adjusting the handbrake too,

...and if you haven't already done so its a perfert oppertuinty to replace the ridiculur rigid rear pipe with flexible ones.

Fluid wise for road use ATE Typ200 offer one of the bestboiling points at a very sensible price 

[Toby S]

Gunson Eazibleed for me too - I've used it both with fluid in the bottle and without and it worked fine each time - make sure you choose the correct cap as there are a couple which seem pretty similar - for added securtity (especially when beleeding it with fluid in the bottle), I also strap the cap down once fitted and tight with a couple of old cycle toe clip straps either side as a precaution to lessen the pressure on the the threads  

[Wrightpayne]

I use an eazibleed on all vehicles now but without filling its reserve resovoire. If the system hasnt been drained I evacuate the mastercylinder with a syringe and fill with new fluid (so you're not clearing all the old fluid via bleeding). Then I'll go around the bleed points twice. On some vehicles the clutch shares the same resovoire so make sure you do that too.

 

One risk of the old way with two people, one pumping the pedal & the other opening and closing the bleed nipples, is pushing the pedal beyond its normal range of operation which can damage the seals.

Just my 0.02p worth

[7 wonders of the world]

If the bores on the M/C are in good condition theres no problem otherwise should you suffer a crcuit failure and need to go beyond the normal range you will be up the creek......

If your going to find a weak point in the system I'd prefer to do this whilst staionary in the garage 

[SLR No.77]

I now use a Sealy pressure bleeder, previously used a Gunson Eezibleed but concluded it was rubbish, the air connection to the tyre is such a low quality item I couldn't get a good seal.

Last year I tried to give the Eezibleed away on our local WhatsApp groups, nobody was interested so it's going in the bin.

Stu.

[Geoff Brown]

#12 JK - The 'dogma' as you put it is not incontrovertibly true but it makes technical sense that bleeding the farthest away corner (longest pipe run first) from the MS - rear LH, then working thus - rear RH, front LH, front RH expunges the air more efficiently from the system. 

I quote 'efficiently' lightly as the standard rears can be pigs to bleed thoroughly if you are unlucky.

I uitlise the Gunson Eazy Bleed with empty bottle to avoid the mess of spillage. Used consistently since 1994 on three Sevens. Never a problem though one should go around a second time to ensure complete bleeding.

AND - do not activate the handbrake until finished !

 

[Graham Hutton]

I use the Sealey thingy and it has been pretty good. I was building a new car and so was quite suprised at the volume of fluid I got through, once I'd realised how pointless it was to top up the bottle with the stuff full of air bubbles that had just flushed through....... We live and learn. Anyhow, it works well and made it a single person job without difficulty at all.

 

[ScottR400D]

#18 Geoff, I've read that the quality of the Gunson has deteriorated over recent years. Poor quality connectors, caps etc. Is yours an older version?

A couple of reviews:

Had one of these years ago and it was great. Like many 'modern' things , plastic master cylinder caps are now used instead of the old metal ones. Guess what? they don't seal as well and leak like a sieve around the master cylinder cap spewing brake fluid all around.
Ended up having to use 2 people, one to put the tyre vale on when the other was at the bleed nipple and number one person taking pressure off as each bleed was complete. Overall pretty naff, slightly easier than the old pump the pedal method but not much.

Poor quality materials. This product is a good idea spoiled by substandard parts.
The tyre valve attachment ceased to function and leaked air. The washers for the various types of clutch/brake fluid reservoir could not be stopped from leaking fluid out of the reservoir top dribbling into the engine compartment.
I did complete the job, but only after buying a replacement tyre fitting and ignoring the loss of fluid, which led to an unsatisfactory clean up job!
Not to be recommended.

[Gridgway]

Also note that I have found in the past that new calipers (or newly cleaned ones) can be much harder to bleed than old ones that have fluid remining in them.  Probably obvious!  Tricks are to tap the calipers with a hammer.  Also to "block" the brakes.  Push the pedal down (with the bleed nipples closed) and jam open with a bit of wood wedged against a seat, thus keeping the brakes under pressure.  Leav all night and bleed again the next day.  Might be a myth, but has got tricky air out for me in the past.

[7 wonders of the world]

See #13, you need to remove the calipers to bleed them in order to rotate the bleed nipple to be uppermost an use a wedge or wood or wind back tool to hold he piston.

[Iamscotticus]

No myth.

Method is used to bleed motorcycle front MCs.

[Gridgway]

Just to be picky.,do MCs actually get bled?  I guess so.

[Geoff Brown]

ScottR400D - Late reply - Yes my Gunson Eazy Bleed is about 28 years old. Only had the cap seal replaced once & is very reliable BUT I do not fill the container with fluid. Far too risky even with a well behaved device when it is dangling adjacent to body work how ever much protection is afforded. 

A few years ago I visited a near by Caterham official dealer on their open day. There were two Sevens awaiting collection by the owners & both had that distinctive tell tale 'trickle mark' of damaged paint on the body side panel below the MS when a device such as or similar to a Gunson misbehaves.

Owners did not spot this but were well pi**ed off when I drew their attention to it !