bleeding brakes (by vacuum)

["Kerry Pinkerton" <pinkertonk@xxxxxxxxx>]

I have a mityvac tool also and have never been able to successfully bleed
with it.  My Brother-in-law manages a Goodyear store and they have a
pressure bleeder which is where I got the idea.  On my FIRST antique car (41
Plymouth), I just could NOT get the brakes bled.  He held the pressure cap
on the old MC lid and I cracked the bleeders.  We dumped about a gallon of
fluid on the floor but it worked when nothing else did.

KerryP
Patch panels fabricated
Pinkertonk@xxxxxxxxx
dte.net/57imperial
Imperials -- 50 Limo, 57 roadster, 61's, 64, 68 Convert, 73, a 66 300 and a
bunch of lesser marques
----- Original Message -----
From: kenyon wills <imperialist60@xxxxxxxxx>
To: <mailing-list@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Tuesday, March 18, 2003 12:17 PM
Subject: Re: IML: bleeding brakes (by vacuum)


> That garden sprayer (pressure) idea is ingenious and probably cheaper than
> mine.
>
> I used a mity-vac vacuum hand pump.  It's a relatively cheap grey plastic
> hand-squeeze tool with a vacuum gauge on it.  It looks like a really
> distorted squirt gun from one angle.   I bought 15 feet of clear 1/4"
> diameter "surgical" hose at the hardware store.
>
> I looped the hose over a rafter (you can do it over the car's roof with
> something heavy set up there holding it up) and connected the hose to a
> bleeder screw at the farthest wheel from the MC and drew a vacuum.  I then
> opened the bleeder screw, having topped off the MC to the brim beforehand.
>  The vacuum pump is at the other end of the hose, and should be at hand
> level if you cut the hose to the appropriate length, but that isn't
> crucial.
>
> When the bleeder screw opens, the vacuum sucks fluid from the MC through
> the line into the clear hose.  When you are no longer seeing bubbles
> coming out and it's just solid fluid being pulled out, you're done.
> I did this on a dry, new system and it worked great to pull entirely new
> fluid the whole way with me topping off the MC occasionally.
>
> Repeat with each line from longest (farthest from MC) to shortest and you
> should have 100% fluid and 0% air.  The bonus on this one is that if you
> pinch off the end of the hose at the bleeder as you remove it, you can
> retain the fluid in the clear hose and dump it back into the bottle or
> dispose of it if it's not new and clean.   No drippy mess this way.
>
> When the vacuum pressure diminishes and everything settles down, the open
> valve can't leak and let air back in, as it has the fluid that came out of
> it in the hose still still connected to it, and the bleeder screw is
> closed before the hose is removed.  I mormally bleed things once more a
> month after changing fluid just to make sure, but usually don't find that
> anything changes, hence my faith in the method.
>
> This is the exact opposite mechanical principal from Kerry's pressure
> system, but works the same.  I liked being able to see the solid fluid
> climb the hose to the doorsill from the wheel just to be certain, but
> that's just me.  No bubbles are the main indicator.
>
>
> -Kenyon
>
>
> --- Kerry Pinkerton <pinkertonk@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> >  Hugh, there is a relatively simply process for pressure bleeding your
> > system that will ensure NO air is in the system.  Get a small pump up
> > garden
> > sprayer. (I think I gave 12 bucks for mine at Home Depot) Find a extra
> > master cylinder cap, drill a hole in it and put some type of hose stem
> > on it
> > that you can adapt to the garden sprayer hose.  Fill the garden hose
> > with
> > fresh brake fluid and give it a few pumps.  Then start cracking the
> > bleeder
> > valves.  The fluid will be pushed through the lines under pressure and
> > no
> > air should remain.
> >
> > This is easy with two people but do-able alone.  It doesn't take much
> > pressure.
> >
> > I did this on my 54 so I could remote fill the master cylinder which was
> > under the fragile carpet.  I just put a vacuum cap on the end of the
> > modified cap when finished.
> >
> > KerryP
> > Patch panels fabricated
> > Pinkertonk@xxxxxxxxx
> > dte.net/57imperial
> > Imperials -- 50 Limo, 57 roadster, 61's, 64, 68 Convert, 73, a 66 300
> > and a
> > bunch of lesser marques
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: Hugh & Therese <hugtrees@xxxxxxxx>
> > To: Imperial Mailing List <mailing-list@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> > Sent: Tuesday, March 18, 2003 12:17 AM
> > Subject: IML: bleeding brakes *
> >
> >
> > > * Read with a cockney accent for full effect
> > >
> > > Intending to dive the Imperial on Sunday I backed it out of the garage
> > and
> > > washed it.  I cannot remember the last time I washed it, so it was
> > kind of
> > > nice to reacquaint my knuckles with all its nooks, crannies and
> > crevices.
> > > Things got a little hectic and I ended up not using it and it stayed
> > on my
> > > short but steep driveway until around 10:00 PM.  Oh, you can only
> > imagine
> > my
> > > joy when I restarted it to move it back into the garage to find I had
> > no
> > > brakes.  I did when I left the garage, which is level, of course.
> > >
> > > The friend who helped with the brakes last year, of whom some of you
> > do
> > not
> > > have the highest opinion, and I had discussed the still less than
> > acceptable
> > > braking I was getting from the car.  I have only tried to bleed and
> > adjust
> > > the brakes once since last year.  No air was found, but a one or two
> > shoes
> > > needed to be adjusted, now the new shoes had seated.  We concluded
> > there
> > was
> > > indeed still air in the line and that what we would have to do is jack
> > up
> > > the rear end for a few days and let the bubbles rise through the fluid
> > of
> > > their own accord so we could try to expel them once and for all.
> > Yesterdays
> > > impromptu experiment hopefully indicates that the idea just might
> > work.
> > So,
> > > when rain has moved out of the forecast, and both Mark and I can find
> > some
> > > time in our crowded schedules, I will park it outside, nose down, and
> > see
> > if
> > > the trapped air cannot be coaxed out of the system.
> > >
> > > If we should fail I do not know what to do next.  Since two
> > professional
> > > shops and countless hours of amateur labor have not managed to resolve
> > the
> > > cars poor brakes, I am left with a rather obvious but unpalatable
> > > alternative.
> > >
> > > Hugh
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > -----------------  http://www.imperialclub.com  -----------------
> > > This message was sent to you by the Imperial Mailing List. Please
> > > reply to mailing-list@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx and your response will be
> > > shared with everyone. Private messages (and attachments) for the
> > > Administrators should be sent to webmaster@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> > > To UN-SUBSCRIBE, go to http://imperialclub.com/unsubscribe.htm
> > >
> > >
> >
> >
> >
> >